A great guide to getting your music distributed worldwide with a lengthy overview of the steps to take and the companies that will help you. A little dated now being from 2009, but lots that is still of relevance and a complete overhall of the PDF is underway I am told by the writer. Its another free download and is due soon, you can sign up for notification here http://bzzz.in/LmTlFO via www.buzzsonic.com

1. THE BUZZSONIC.COM DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION GUIDE
Exploring The Digital Music Distribution 'Jungle'
Originally published in Buzzsonic.com April 2009
Written by Adrian Fusiarski @buzzsonic
I've touched on music distribution issues here before with Tunecore, Bit Torrent and even good old
analogue vinyl but thought I'd dig around a bit deeper as there seems to be new distribution services
springing up on a regular basis these days. Be they aggregator or 'widget' type tools. Ill be covering
digital music aggregators here first and covering website widgets later in the week.
Things To Consider When Choosing Digital Music Distribution
With the Internet its easy to research background on companies these days. That’s what Google is for.
Do it. Search around the distributors website. Look for the names of people running the company. Put a
shout out on Twitter or music forums if you need user feedback on any service.
What is the distributors background, how long has the company been around? What is the revenue
model ? Upfront yearly admin fee (like Tunecore) or a percentage of sales (CD Baby take 9%).
Which digital retailers do the aggregators distribute too? Also, check the distributors list of bands,
artists and labels that are using their services. Always a good reference point. Its reassuring to know
that Tunecore (who I use) also handle digital distribution for established artists such as NiN, David

2. Byrne & Brian Eno and Jay Z and newer MP3 blog faves like MGMT.
Also you need to know that you wont be signing away rights to your music and that you wont be tied
down to any lengthy fixed terms
Music industry scribe Moses Avalon has a good breakdown of distribution terms for a few aggregators
on his website. Its a couple of years old and as such covers only the longer established companies but is
still very relevant.
Territories
Is the distribution deal exclusive? Does it allow you to distribute your music to additional regions or
outlets or are you bound to a single distributor?
You should have the option to choose availability of your music by territory too. Maybe you want to be
on iTunes in the USA but not Europe and so on. Several reasons for this, but mainly you may have a
deal in another country so want to restrict a particular release.
Don't rule out the possibility of using more than one distributor. Distributors like Tunecore and CD
Baby don't cover niche retailers like Beatport and TrackitDown for instance.
For smaller 'specialist niches' ( electronic/dance music for one) you would have to look at other
aggregators to get you into places like Beatport, DJ Download and TrackitDown and the like. If you're
releasing electronic music you really do want to be on the biggest electronic music stores. DJ's head
here first for the higher bitrate downloads and upfront exclusives, not to iTunes.
All distribution deals should be none exclusive. You're not signing a record deal OK. Use your logic
though, don't try and use multiple aggregators to get on the same stores.
The Stores
By default the major aggregators- at the very minimum- should be getting your music onto what I call
the 'Big Five'. For better or worse these are the stores Joe and Jane public get the majority of their paid
downloads from.
The 'Big Five' are : iTunes (and you can go worldwide with Apple, or just by territory), the now Best
Buy owned Napster, Rhapsody, eMusic and Amazon MP3 (a 'distant second' in market share). Lots of
aggregators will bump up the number of "stores we distribute to", claim by counting regional
variations.
For instance Texas based Catapult Distribution claim over sixty stores, but thirty of these are iTunes
and Napster regional variations. Just a small point really but worth noting.
Stores that I would call 'second division' outlets (ie: fractional market share, compared to iTunes)
would include Zune, FYE/MusicNet, VCast and the like. For the UK you'd add Tesco Digital and HMV
to that list. Big high street brand names, small online share.

3. The Digital Music Aggregator List
AWAL - (Sheffield/London, UK) - Take 15% cut but doesn't seem to be a sign up fee. No upload area,
good old fashioned mail in signed agreement and CD for encoding. Handling Arctic Monkeys, Sparks,
Klaxons and Moby and 100s more. Aimed more at labels as apposed to individual artists. Promotion
and licensing services too. Co-owned by ex-Comsat Angel Kevin Bacon (no not that one!). No store
listing but iTunes seems to be the biggest focus.
IRIS - (San Francisco, USA) - Take a 15% cut of sales. Impressively comprehensive list of retailers
and mobile music outlets worldwide. Again, another outlet aimed more at label catalogs than DIY
artists. Submissions for consideration are initially via an online form. In house marketing arm too.
CD Baby - (Portland, Oregon, USA)- $35 one off sign up fee and take a 9% cut of download revenue.
Digital distribution sticks to the 'big 5' retailers and some of the 'second tier' stores. Can get your CD’s
into US stores via one stop distributor Super D. Now owned by New Jersey based CD manufacturer
Discmakers. @cdbaby
101 Distribution - (Phoenix, Arizona, USA) – The 101 Basic setup is $49.95 and you get 75% payout
of all sales. Distribution to iTunes and all the 'majors'. @101Distribution
Nimbit - (Framingham, MA, USA) -$15 per album sign-up fee and they take a 20% cut for getting you
on iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody and CDFreedom . They do the encoding so you mail in your CD and
artwork. They have a number of extra services like CD duplication, merchandising, online storefronts,
widgets and download cards. @nimbit
IODA - (San Francisco, USA) - One of the longest established digital music aggregators with an
impressive list of distribution partners and services. Again, one of those services that is aimed at labels
vs individuals. Hopefuls can apply here. @iodapromonet
Catapult - (Frisco, Texas, USA) - $25 set-up fee (plus $20 for a barcode) which includes placement on
the usual big five stores plus Verizon's VCast, Tesco Digital and HMV Digital (UK), Puretracks
(Canada), Zune and FYE. Full list here. Artist keeps 91% of sales which is inline with CD Baby and
means you can expect something like 56c from a 99c download. Like most USA based services
(excluding IODA) there's a lack of niche outlets, with the majority being USA and Canadian
mainstream retailers.

4. ReverbNation - (Durham, NC/New York, USA) - RN looks like it was designed for the MySpace
generation with its ADD inspired layout! Nevertheless dig around and there's a bunch of great services.
Digital distribution will cost artists a one off $34.95 sign-up fee and get you on iTunes worldwide, and
the rest of the 'big 5'. 100% of sales goes to the artist. Where RN possibly beats out similar priced
outlets like CD Baby and Tunecore is with the additional viral marketing tools. There's a bunch of free
promo tools, widgets, email lists, and a Sonicbids feature beating EPK . @ReverbNation
SongCast - (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA) - Another relatively new name (to me at least). Songcast
offer the basic 'big 5 ' distribution deal for $19.99 sign-up and $5.99 a month. You keep 100% of sales
but with the monthly fee that works out at $91.96 for the first year. Something like triple the fees of
other 'entry level'* distributors like Tunecore, ReverbNation and CD Baby. Oh, they throw in a free
bar-code. Difficult to see why you'd go here and pay more to get on the same major download
platforms though.
KJER - (Brabrand, Denmark) - KJER use the services of IODA to get artists and labels on one of the
most comprehensive retail store lists mentioned here (presumably the same list as IODA itself). Their
client list seems to be mainly European independent labels though their services extend to clients
worldwide and their website invites individual artists to submit material for distribution. Further details
on their blog and on the main website FAQ. The lack of information on their website doesn't fill you
with confidence.
Ditto Music -(Birmingham, UK) - Ditto have a massive retail partner list including the usual big 5, all
the major dance music stores, mobile music outlets and white label branded stores too. The service
seems to be geared towards artists aiming to crack the UK download charts and Ditto claim to have
ushered seven unsigned artists into the UK top 40 already. There's a sliding scale of sign up fees
depending on the amount of stores you want to be on, from the basic 25 UK Pounds ($36) package
which includes iTunes and Amazon UK but not eMusic, Napster or Rhapsody bizarrely. A total of 70
UK pounds ($103 approx) gets you just about everywhere in Europe, including those 'illusive' dance
retailers Beatport, Trackitdown, DJDownload, Stompy, XpressBeats and Juno. Artists keep 100% of
revenue. There's an additional 55 UK pounds service to register your release with the chart authorities
Catco/PPL. @Dittomusic , MySpace.
RouteNote - (Redruth, UK) - Routenote are another UK based distribution service (and a new service,
less than a year old) that'll get your music on iTunes, Amazon eMusic, Snocap, iMeem and LastFM,
though no Rhapsody or Napster. Nothing different here really, though there's no sign up fee and artist
share is 90% of revenue. @routenote
Symphonic Distribution -(Tampa, Florida, USA) Symphonic is aimed squarely at getting dance music
artists across the variety of niche electronica and digital dance music retailers worldwide (and as such
is of great interest to me!). They service just about all the dance specialists, including Beatport, Juno
Download and TrackitDown . They will also get you on iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic and Amazon with
their SymDirect offshoot which seems to be their 'mainstream outlet'. As far as I can gather. 100% of
sales royalties go to the artist and an album sign-up fee would be $29.99. Promising, I really like the
look of these guys. MySpace.
Musicadium - (Brisbane, Australia/Tokyo, Japan)- Australian based digital distribution setup that lets
you keep 100% of sales in return for a sign-up fee of $39Aus per album, (about $28US). They seem to
be limited to iTunes, eMusic and Amazon MP3 right now though more retailers are promised. Blog.
@musicadium
Tunecore - (Brooklyn,New York,USA) - I like Tunecore a lot. I use them, I trust their service and

5. they're fair to the artist. They're pretty transparent too with an informative blog, free PDF downloads
and multiple Twitter accounts. They service the ubiquitous 'big 5' stores as well as smaller retailers and
outlets like Lala, Shockhound and Amie St. There's a $19.98 sign-up charge which is yearly and artists
keep all the sales $$$. More FAQs here. I think the common consensus into what would make
Tunecore better than it is, is more stores. Recommended for the mainstream retail distribution.
@tunecoregary @TuneCore @viva
Feiyr.com - (Traunstein, Germany) - German based digital distributor that is an offshoot of major vinyl
distributor Dance All Day. Feiyr supply a massive selection of dance retailers across Europe and also
the 'big 5' retailers worldwide. Recommended for their wide and specialist coverage. Sign up fee is
around 10 Euros and the artist share seems to be variable. Not the best website in the world.
The Orchard - (New York, USA/London, UK) - Another company (like IODA) that seem to have been
around forever. Offer a comprehensive list of download stores worldwide and other services like sync
licensing, marketing and video distribution. Again, like all the 'higher end' distribution services there's
an application process here. Not aimed at artists with one off releases.
Conclusions?
Given my own niche (dance/house music),if I ever get around to getting my arse in gear with new
tracks this year I’ll probably give Symphonic, Feiyr or Ditto the nod for the additional coverage and
niche stores. If I was just wanting distribution on iTunes, Napster, eMusic, Rhapsody and Amazon I'd
probably head for ReverbNation for their impressive additional promo tools. Neither CDBaby,
Tunecore, ReverbNation or Nimbit cover any different ground retail wise between them which means
they’re all chasing the same market. ReverbNation and Nimbit probably edge it with their extra
features.
For labels with a few artists or bigger names and a regular release schedule IODA is the one for me.
They've been around since download stores were born just about and cover more stores worldwide than
anyone else I've mentioned here.
*Footnote. By 'entry level' stores I refer to the fact that these are aimed more at individual artists vs
the bigger catalog/label distributors that have more barriers of entry. Not a sleight on any of the
service providers here.
Related Reading
How To Effectively Promote and Sell Your Music on iTunes (MusicianWages.com)
How To Get Your Music Distributed on iTunes (And Keep Most Of The Money) (Buzzsonic.com)
The Future Of Music Distribution-Your Computer (EQMag.com)
Primer On Content Aggregators and Digital Distribution (TheMusicBizLawyer.com)
Download Store Comparison Part Deux (Fatdrop Blog)
The Long Fail-The Cost of Digital Distribution (MusicThinkTank)

6. Worldwide Online Stores Map (Pro-Music.org)
What Every Musician Should Know About Digital Distribution, Part II (Tunecorner)
Promoting Your Music On iTunes (ArielPublicity.com)
My Problem With eMusic (Hypebot)
9 Ways To Ride The Digital Music Wave Free eBook (Musicadium.com)
Online Music Distribution-The Indie Band Survival Guide (IndieGuide.com)
Official UK Top 40 Download Charts (TheOfficialCharts.com)
Getting Your Singles Online-A BPI Guide For Independents PDF (TheOfficialCharts.com)
IFPI Says 95% of Music Downloads Are Illegal (TechDirt.com)
How Can I Sell My Music Online? (NewMusicStrategies.com)
IFPI publishes Digital Music Report 2009 (FierceWireless.com)
Digital Distributors:Choose The Right One For You (MosesAvalon.com)
Why Most Digital Distribution Start-ups Will Fail (CNet.com)
Amazon’s MP3 Store, One Year In: No iTunes Killer; Probably Won’t Be (AllThingsD.com)
iTunes Competitors: We're Number 2! No, We're Number 2! (BusinessInsider.com)
Vanity Labels:The New Majors? (MosesAvalon.com)
Bacon And Quarmby (Sandman Magazine)
Twitter List
I'm going to start adding Twitter account link of people/companies mentioned in my posts simply
because it ads transparency and more importantly allows you to 'connect' to people of interest. If you
want too.
@Moses Avalon
@beatport @Beatportal
@Trackitdown
@eMusicNews
@DJDOWNLOAD
@amazonmp3
@Puretracks
@discmakers
Digital Music Distribution Round-Up Part Two
Originally published in Buzzsonic.com April 2009
I didn't get to mention all the digital music distribution outlets that I wanted too in my (part 1) post a
few days ago, 'Exploring The Digital Music Distribution ‘Jungle’', so I thought I'd update the list in this
'quick' additional post. Thanks also to the feedback and suggestions I got, especially from 101
Distribution and @Charles at 247 Entertainment.
Again I'll refer to the major download retailers as the 'Big 5' which right now would be iTunes,
Amazon MP3, eMusic, Napster and Rhapsody.
Pro Music - Online Music Stores - Not a distribution company but an online worldwide map of legal
online digital music retail stores listed by country and maintained by the IFPI and a very good resource

7. for checking out worldwide outlets. The same website maintains weekly download chart links across
mainland Europe and Japan. Right now Lady GaGa seems to be universally topping the charts across
Europe with 'Poker Face'.
EPM Electronic - (Maastricht, Netherlands & London, UK)- European based company with a very
comprehensive list of stores they service, including the 'big 5' worldwide and a very large selection of
niche and independent retailers, including all the major electronic dance music stores across the USA,
the whole of Europe, Asia and the Far East. Also cover some of the major mobile platforms like Nokia,
Vodaphone and 3 Mobile. MySpace.
Its one of those application deals, where you fill in a short form and upload a music sample. There's no
terms on the website but there's a demo page for label management.
WaTunes -(Atlanta, Georgia, USA)- One of the newer aggregator/distribution channels around,
WaTunes are different from just about all the rest in that there is no sign up fee (at the moment) and the
artist gets to keep 100% of sales royalties. They distribute to four of the ' big 5' (excluding Rhapsody),
plus Shockhound, Zune, Beats Digital and Masterbeat. I'm not entirely comfortable with the 'everything
is free' revenue model tbh as it doesn't exactly stimulate financial stability. CEO Kevin Rivers is
blogging here and tweeting here if you want to fire questions. MySpace.
Vidzone Digital Media -(London, UK) - leading distributor of Independent music via mobile networks
internationally. More than 130 distribution partnerships across 40 countries. Have a very informative
PDF of digital music FAQs too. A checklist of the basics and more advanced info on need to know stuff
like UPCs, Metadata and ISRCs. Aimed at labels rather than individuals.

8. Digital Pressure -(Hollywood, CA, USA)- Another long standing big player on the digital distribution
front and one of the first. Digital Pressure have been around since 1997 and are a subdivision of Peer
Music. Seem to work more with labels/catalog and a percentage cut with no upfront fees. MySpace.
Twitter.
"Our contracts with content owners are four-year, non-exclusive distribution agreements. These simple
contracts empower Digital Pressure to become your exclusive agent for all of the partners within our
global distribution network, but allow you to distribute your music outside of our relationship through
any other service or site, including your own." Contact page.
Ingrooves -(San Francisco, CA, USA) - Long standing distributor who also specialize in licensing
music. Main site was down at time of writing. Another aggregator working with a percentage share.
MySpace.
Zebralution -(Berlin/London/LA)- One of the longer standing independent digital music distributors
headed up in Berlin, Germany with multiple regional offices worldwide. Huge network of retailers
worldwide including the 'big 5', genre specific retailers and mobile music outlets. Warner’s acquired a
significant stake in the company in 2007. There's an application process for labels here. MySpace.
The CAN -(Australia) - Oz based Chaos Artist Network supply all major digital retailers globally
(iTunes etc) and traditional retailers throughout Australia (JB Hi Fi, Sanity, Big W, Leading Edge etc).
Distribute physical product, CD’s and DVDs as well as servicing digital retailers. Part of the Stomp
entertainment group. MySpace.
EarBuzz.com -(New Jersey, USA)- Two programs offered here, the earBuzz set-up, which costs $25
sign-up and $2 a month for you to sell Cd’s and downloads on the earBuzz website. An additional $39
enters you into the WWX program which gets you into the 'big 5' retailers, ringtone store Myxer, We7
and LaLa. There's same day payout for sales onsite and 100% royalty share. MySpace.
DashGo -(Santa Monica, CA,USA) - A slightly different selling point from Dashgo. They distribute
music via the usual 'big 5' retailers and also offer placement on social music outlets including LastFM,
iMeem, Blast My Music, iLike and YouTube which includes analytics breakdown. Also provide "full-

9. service digital sales and marketing solutions, promoting your content to digital retailers, securing
positioning with social sites, and soliciting coverage on influencer blogs and discovery sites." Also
offer the Audioswop service with YouTube. Twitter.
Kontor New Media -(Hamburg, Germany)- Worldwide digital content distribution of music, video,
ringtones and audio books. Include the 'big 5' and a bunch of dance music outlets, Zune, Nokia, FNAC,
7 Digital and mobile music retailers. Contact. MySpace.
Consolidated Independent - (London, UK)- Not a service for individual artists. CI only works with
labels or distributors with more than 200 tracks in their catalog. Fees start from £150 a month. Cover
just about every retailer on the planet it seems and promise to get labels into ones that aren't already on
their list.
FineTunes-(Hamburg, Germany)- Not to be confused with Finetune. Finetunes distribute across all the
major digital retailers as well as providing software solutions for labels, download stores and artists
websites. Twitter. MySpace.
Related Reading
Digital Distribution For Unsigned Artists (PDF) (Chaos.com)
WaTunes Sells Your Music On iTunes And Amazon Free Of Charge (Techcrunch.com)
Get Music Online-Online Music Stores (Pro-Music.org)
DashGo Connects Musicians and Labels to Social Media (Mashable.com)
IFPI Digital Music Report 2009 (32pg. PDF) (IFPI)
The Digital Top 40 FAQ PDF (VidZone Digital Media)
Independent Distribution Solution:Getting Records from Concept To Consumer (Narip.com) (MP3
audio files with PDF and Excel Spreadsheet documents in a zip file.$59.99)
Music and Metadata (XML.com)
Digital Distribution (BeMuso.com)
Should I Do Something About Metadata? (NewMusicStrategies.com)
The Ultimate Digital Music Distribution Round-Up (Part Trois)
Originally published by Buzzsonic.com August 2010
I've actually been promising an update to my two earlier posts on digital music distribution for waaay
too long now, so apologies to all for the horrible delay (April 2009? What the..). Anyway. In case you
missed them…
Part 1: 'Exploring The Digital Music Distribution Jungle' April 2009
Part 2: ''Digital Music Distribution Round-up Part 2' April 2009
There were seventeen companies mentioned in Pt.1 and thirteen in Pt.2. Out of them, the only change
to report from part one is that Australian based Musicadium has been rolled into Valleyarm.

10. In part two, WaTunes dropped their bespoke distribution service and changed tack to become a ‘social
music store’ and now choose to go thru ReverbNation for distribution services.
The rest, as you were.
Rather than go over the same points here you’ll be much better off catching up with the first two parts.
To make things a little more convenient I’m welding the three pieces together as one PDF so you can
print and study at leisure.
Some points you may want to take into consideration when choosing a distributor.
Location. Is your distributor of choice in your own country? Possibly a key issue because of currency
differences and support concerns. Do they phone support? A physical address?
Read the websites about page to find out names, history and credentials. If they have none, move on.
Use Google. A lot.
Always amazes me when some site pops up claiming combined “20+ years industry experience” but
giving no actual NAMES. Then you get a PO BOX for a mailing address. Run. In the opposite
direction.
The reason I have a lot of time for companies like Tunecore is simply that they do what they say they
will and do it well. They're financially stable with industry chops and you’ll see SVP Peter Wells all
over the web answering Tunecore queries on forums and blogs and Twitter. Accountability.
Going back to most of my bad experiences with vinyl distributors in London, years back, was that once
you’d handed over your records, trying to get hold of anyone after the release, get sales figures or even
talk to anyone that mattered was like trying to hunt down Bin Laden. I piss you not. Getting your hands

11. on any money was even harder!
Digital distribution has changed all that. Thank God!
There are probably close to 50 digital distributors vying for your attention these days, compare and take
your time. And remember this, between them, iTunes and Amazon control close to 80% of the US.
market. Everyone will usually be offering their services as standard alongside eMusic, Rhapsody, Zune
and Napster.
Some will be offering MySpace, Spotify and the like. The more the better.
How Much $$ From iTunes? Tell Me, How Much !!
These figures should be close give or take a cent or two making allowances for currency fluctuations.
For convenience sake I’m using the mighty $$ simply because I live in the USA. The US. figures are
based on a 99c download with the foreign equivalent. Take into account that download prices differ
from country to country, its not a 99c worldwide set price.
Japan 89-92c , Australia/New Zealand 88c, USA 66c, Canada 67c
UK 66-73c, Europe (28 countries) 90c.
Don't forget also as a writer there’s a 9.1c (I think that's right) mechanical royalty for publishing (in the
USA) that you’d get separately either via your publisher, or, if like me you don't have one, your local
PRO.
I worked out that with my old 17 point deal with Tripoli Trax, from a 12 inch single retailing at $5, I
would see approx. 85c. From a 99c download as an independent I'll see around 70c. Weird huh. Five
times the cost but only 15c more. The good old days.
Newer Trends
Other than the five or six DSPs that have the lions share of the market there’s competition now between
distributors to offer more stores to differentiate. There’s also more niche distributors springing up
especially in the dance music field.
I’m always slavering on about Tunecore but their one ‘fault’ is their narrow choice of DSPs. Add
Beatport and TrackItDown and we’d be spot on. Anyhow..
The other trend we’re seeing now is ultra fast delivery to services like iTunes, especially from
distributors like Ditto and Tunecore (amongst others, I’m sure).
Where you could once be chewing your nails for 6-8 weeks it is now taking as little as an HOUR for
delivery to Apple’s market leader iTunes after your finished product has been approved by your
distributor.
So lets look at more digital distributors, in no particular order (maybe soon!)
Zimbalam (Paris, France) Paris based Zimbalam are an offshoot of Believe Digital and have a decent
list of 25 stores including the usual big guns. They also supply Spotify, several of the larger mobile
operators in Europe, including Orange, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile and Virgin. They also include four of
the larger dance stores (but not Beatport from what I can see). Album price is $29.99. There’s an annual
‘subscription’ fee of $20 (taken from your royalties) and your cut from sales is 100%. There’s a 5 store
distribution deal, the ‘Electro Pack’ which is aimed at electronic stores and is only $4.95 (but omits
Beatport). Payment is by Direct Debit. Bonus. Twitter Twitter UK Blog

12. Digital Music Distribution (UK) Worryingly Spartan amount of info on DMD on their website except
to modestly proclaim themselves, “the UK’s number one online music distribution”. Mmm. To get any
real info on number of stores and terms you have to download a PDF which scrolls on for about 13
pages, all in upper case (and Paypal only has one L guys). Its really not worth the effort, especially
when you get to the album pricing of 100 quid (an eye popping $155!) for six months. Everything on
the website is VAGUE. We supply to 12 stores + many more?. Royalty is around 40-50% of retail etc.
Big major FAIL and in light of much better competition everywhere else wont be around very long.
Next.
Label Worx (Beverley, UK) Back with the professionals with North Yorkshire based set up, Label Worx
who have a great looking site and specialize in distribution for indie dance labels. There’s some quality
control so not everyone will get in but they supply all the major dance stores plus iTunes, eMusic,
HMV, Spotify and Zune. There’s a neat added service called Promo Manager for DJ mailouts and
there’s a sliding scale fee on sales which starts at 20% and dips down to 10%. No sign up fee, Direct
Debit or Paypal payment. Aimed more at labels than individuals. Blog. Twitter
Indie Pool (Canada) Canada's largest distributor (digital and physical) and exclusive supplier of
independent music to Canadian Puretracks retailer chain and HMV. List 40 download platforms they
supply too but there is a lack of detailed info on the website(compared to others) just a contact page. If
you're a Canadian indie then probably for you.
Dig Dis! (Germany) Dig Dis! Is the digital distribution arm of Music Mail who have been around for
20 years and are known as a distributor of 12 inch vinyl more than anything. Now specializing in
digital distribution (since 2004) for dance music labels. Cover just about all the worldwide dance stores
as well as the majors. One for labels vs individual artists and as such no online sign up/upload set-up
just an email contact. Facebook
MJM Distribution (New York, USA & Munich, Germany) One of the most complete lists of digital
download stores I've seen yet and then some. So if you'd like your music on sale in legal stores in
Macedonia, Malaysia, South Korea, most of the Arab States and Eastern Europe, these are your guys.
You get a 70% royalty payout, with no sign up and free UPC and ISRC codes. Payment is quarterly and
there's 24/7 sales access. Another one aimed at labels not individuals, with a query sign up page.
Link Music Services (Massachusetts,USA) These guys have a limited number of stores they supply to
(but promise more), covering just 35 iTunes stores worldwide and Amazon MP3. On the upside
everything on the site looks straightforward and if its straight vanilla mainstream exposure you're
aiming at then great. ISRC and UPCs are supplied and its a $9.99 sign-up and $5.99 annual renewal,
100% royalty to you, paid monthly. Sounds great. Facebook

13. Syntax Distribution (California,USA) Christian digital music distributor which should mean they'll get
you into that niche area. The website is woefully out of date, the About page is blank and there is a
severe LACK of info and if it wasn't for the active Facebook and Twitter pages I would have thought
the whole enterprise was kaput. So, if the Christian market (and it IS a sizable one!) is where your at,
you can use their contact page or social networks to find out more. Facebook Twitter
Valleyarm (Australia) Valleyarm swallowed up Musicadium so have taken over as one of the main
Aussie digital distributors recently . They supply just the mainstream leaders right now, so iTunes,
eMusic etc. You supply UPCs and IRPCs and keep 100% of the take. Signup is a steep (compared to
most) 169Aus$ (or $151US). Though that is the one flat fee with no annual renewals. Twitter Facebook
Kisumusik (Crawley,UK) 'Interesting' looking UK newcomer (to me at least). The Who Are We? page
actually says nothing of the sort, so.. Standard stores offered and its close to $46 for an album with
100% royalty which includes UPC and ISRC codes. Upload is via FTP after payment. Quarterly
payment. Doesn't look that great. Twitter
EPM Music (Maastricht, Netherlands & London, UK) Electronic dance music distributor with offices
in London and the Netherlands. Another service that is aimed at indie labels vs. individual artists too.
Its an application process and they'll get you into a huge amount of dance outlets and majors
worldwide. Twitter Facebook
EmuBands (Glasgow, Scotland) Scottish based distributor that look OK to me if a bit pricier than most.
There's a sliding scale of upfronts, $79 for an album (6+ tracks), $55 an EP (3-5 tracks) and $39 for a
single. I rounded up the pricing as best I could from sterling. Price includes UPCs and ISRCs and you
get 100% royalty. Outlets include all the majors worldwide including Spotify, Nokia and iLike. Only
thing I didn't like the look of was that music submission is via good old fashioned CD thru the post or
WAVs via YouSendIt. But if you can get used to that, looks OK and they have a couple of extra
services like video distribution to iTunes and SMS purchasing. Now SMS purchasing is something I
hadn't really thought about but would be good for a pre-order promo. Just had an idea... Facebook
Twitter
iMusician Digital (Zurich, Switzerland) And here come the Swiss. Massive list of store's supplied (over
200 claimed but I wasn't counting). Including all those stores and countries you've never heard of
(your chance to become big in Lithuania perhaps?) and all the ones you have. Prices range from $19 for
a single to $29 for an album submission. Codes are $12 extra. You keep 85% of the sales. It looks good
until you see that they don't actually deal direct with the stores and use a third party distributor (more
than likely someone like IODA). This is a point worth asking ANY distributor because it means there's
an extra slice disappearing from your pocket and in this case here it means you'd likely see 57c per
download vs more like 68c dealing direct.
Record Union (Stockholm, Sweden) Impressive looking set-up from the Swedes here including a LOT
of social media activity which is always kinda reassuring these days as it makes companies more
visible and ultimately more accountable. So anyway. All the usual major outlets supplied here including
the ubiquitous Spotify and also 7Digital, 24/7, Nokia, Vidzone and a bunch of dance outlets including
Beatport. Nice. Basically they got you covered. Navigation is a bit confusing on the site with its ultra
busy look but I dug out the FAQs. Sign up is free but you have to pay $10 for a UPC , ISRCs are free.
They take 15 percent from revenue, although they also take an extra $5 a year from each release from
sales. Looks good. Blog Twitter Facebook YouTube
The Genepool (Plymouth, UK) You have to email to get a full stores list but included on the site are the
ones you'd expect (which now includes Spotify I guess), T-Mobile, 7 Digital, Zune etc. There's a one
off $16 set up fee for each release and you get 90 percent royalty from iTunes stores, 80 percent from
all the others. Another setup where you have to mail in a CD (or use FTP) and email in artwork which

14. seems a bit clumsy these days, what gives? Anyway, that aside they can also press vinyl and go through
Universal in the UK for physical distribution. N-Dubz and Hard-Fi started here apparently.
Related Reading
iTunes Distribution In a Day: Yes, Someone Is Taking It There.. (DigitalMusicNews.com July 2010)
Ditto cause debate on iTunes upload times for unsigned bands (CMU July 2010)
Online Music Stores (Pro-Music.org)
Interview: Jeff Price, TuneCore's Outspoken CEO (Hypebot July 2010)
Which Music Distribution Service Rocks the Most? (MusiciansGuide.co.uk March 2010)
A Conversation With Peter Wells Tunecore Co-Founder (One Movement World)Feb 2010
Digital Distribution for your Music 2 (MusicianCoaching.com Feb 2010)
Will Google Kill iTunes? (Fool.com June 2010)
DOJ questioning Apple's hold on digital music (ZDNet May 2010)
Digital Music Distributors Compared (again) Routenote Nov 2009)
Music Retail:The Rise of Digital (Mint.com Nov 2009)
How To Get Your Music Into Digital Music Services (Future of Music Coalition-PDF) Oct 2009
Solving the Digital Music Distribution Dilemma (Music Think Tank) Sept 2009
MusicNomad’s Guide to Distribute Your Music Online (MusicNomad.com) Sept 2009
Signs of Change, Ingenuity in Music Distribution (CreateDigitalMusic) July 2009
Less People Are Going To Be Making Money Out of Music as Middlemen (FatDrop) July 2009
How to Use iTunes to Drive Up Your iTunes Revenue (MusicThinkTank) April 2009
The Right Way To Get Your Music On To iTunes/Amazon/etc.(MusFormation.com) April 2009
Universal/TuneCore deal opens major doors for indie artists (ARS Technica July 2009)
Digital Music Distributors Compared (RouteNote.com) Feb 2009
Despite Declining CD Sales, CD Baby Experiences Growth in 2008 (Techdirt) Feb 2009
How To Effectively Promote and Sell Your Music on iTunes (MusicianWages.com)
Digital Music Distribution: Weird Al and Kid Rock Take Different Paths (ReadWriteWeb) Oct 2008
Why I’m Choosing TuneCore over CDBaby (TheMusicSnob.com) July 2008
Digital Music Distribution-The Ten Things You Need To Know (Knol) July 2008
Gone baby gone: Crunch time for vinyl distributors (Resident Advisor Feb 2008)
David Byrne On Digital Age Music Distribution (LaShawnBarber.com) Dec 2007