The Independent Retail Advantage by George Ziemann -- August 28, 2008 When I wasn't looking, the laws of the universe changed. To put it briefly, the RIAA does not and will not control access to the retail music market in the same manner as they did with physical distribution and radio. In fact, you can make more money without them. They started out controlling it, make no mistake about it. When iTunes opened up, DRM was required and your local band was not allowed. Every online music service has had to endure a colonoscopy from the RIAA to avoid being erased completely. A funny thing happened. iTunes became the largest retail music outlet in the country and all the record labels can do is bitch about it. Then threatened to pull their songs. Sold 5 billion songs for them but they're not happy about it because the labels can't control the price. Meanwhile, there are thousands of extremely good acts which the record labels do not want (or do not want a record label), who would be glad to get the opportunity to put their music in a retail market, but you need a record label for that. There have been a few opportunities to get something on iTunes (sell CDs through CDBaby for instance), most of which were some sort of side benefit of purchasing another traditional service, often guaranteeing only "consideration." Today, the entire traditional industry can be bypassed. The do not control the gates to the digital retail environment. An independent artist can get global retail distribution through iTunes, Amazon MP3, EMusic, Napster, Rhapsody and other outlets. You no longer need to be approved by the buffoons at the record labels with the 90% failure rate. Now, if you're an independent musician who wants to put an album (or even one song) on iTunes or Amazon or EMusic, go to Tunecore, pay the fee and you're there. I'm not going to give a sales pitch for these guys other than to say, yes, it IS that easy, which is why I already added my first album to the retail market. Also important is that it takes a while. If you've got an album ready and want to offer it in time for Christmas, you need to get it into the system now. Best of all, the RIAA members have negotiated for us already, confident in the erroneous assumption that they were to be the only suppliers, as always. The New Deal Every service has established a fee that they pay for every song sold, namely the amount they have to pay the RIAA members. At Apple (through Tunecore), it's 65 cents, comparable to what the majors are paid. Amazon lets you pick from pricing tiers; other services have different structures. Here's the indies' advantage, using the Apple pricing example. Joe Rock Star and Andy Indie both have a five-member band. They both sell 1000 copies of their respective tunes this afternoon. Joe Rock Star's record label collects $650 in licensing fees and pays Joe $150. Maybe. If Joe has already recouped his advance. Each member of the band gets $30. Andy is his own record label. He collects $650 in licensing fees. Each member of his band gets $130. This tilts the playing field in favor of the independents, at least the paycheck end of it. It has the potential to open up the world of music again as it hasn't been since the 60s, in terms of variety, experimentalism, and creativity unbound by corporate restrictions, accounting periods or stock value. No Excuses I have been leading the bitch fest against the RIAA for almost 6 years now. My chief complaint has been that they are always in our way, blocking every entryway into the marketplace, actively interfering with any effort to be part of the "legitimate" music business without them. Now there is. They are no longer in the way. You can get global retail distribution without them. No long-term contract required; you keep your rights; no record label taking the lion's share. We can finally put our music where people are actively buying music. This changes everything. Every day the RIAA continues its current course of action (punishing the audience) and its long tradition of not paying the artists, gives the independents one more day to get another step ahead of them. I put up an 11-song album. It cost $35 for a year. A mere 53 songs (or 6 albums) sold would cover the cost. Even a mediocre song should be able to do that much by accident. If you've got any following at all, or a big enough family or circle of friends, it ought to be a snap, unlike selling CDs. No physical production expense, No printing inserts (easily the most expensive part of the physical package), no returns, you don't have to worry how to collect micropayments from customers, process credit cards, or run to the post office every time you sell a record. This doesn't mean the world is suddenly going to be peaches and cream for independents. It just means that significant artificial barriers are gone. We can now compete and our sales will be counted. I, for one, intend on going in and taking some of the RIAA's money. If I, or any other independent, sell one song, that's 65 cents that Warner Music and EMI didn't get and they need it now more than ever. It's a real lost sale, as opposed to the fantasy losses they suffer from invisible internet pirates. The first one will taste best. That's the first creative incentive I've seen since the RIAA nuked Napster. I've waited a long time for this. 36 years, to be exact. But I've finally got an album in the legitimate retail market (other than my own website) and I didn't have to sign away my rights to do it, or put my fate in the hands of a record label and the "flavor of the month" test. Now it's up to the music we offer and our ability to attract an audience. The best part is that when unsigned artists start turning this opportunity into success, there will be no sad stories about how the record label kept all the money. That makes it better than the 60s.

Related Content Tunecore