GarageSpin

Mike - I'm not sure about this one. Let's look over some items from their site and FAQ.

>>>TuneCore also penalizes artists $20 if they remove their music less than 6 months after uploading it.

Well, that's not a friendly policy! According to their FAQs, it's a means to keep you from behaving "frivolous":

>>>"We charge a $20.00 early termination fee to discourage people from frivolously uploading and requesting albums be taken down right after they went up."

So, they're looking to discourage behavior by threatening the artists with potential fines?

What????

As I read through their FAQs, I'm finding a few more things people should consider about this service:

* 4-6wk turn around on getting your music posted. Which is the same if you don't use Tunecore, which means there's no advantage here.

* All payments go through them. Ok, so what happens when they go out of business? Why are the checks going to them? Are the songs not registered to the artists at these services?

* Then there's this line in their FAQs:
"Correcting mistakes after payment can be very expensive."

When I read this, it sounds so, "1990."

In partial defense of Tunecore, I do have to point out that both iTunes and Rhapsody apparently do make it difficult to impossible to get anything changed. Beyond making the request to those bodies, I'm not sure how much work on Tunecore's part would be needed. Especially if they had a Web application which handled their business. This leads me to wonder why they consider changes so "expensive."

====

Overall, my suggestion to independent artists is:

1. first see some data on indie music sales from itunes and rhapsody and see if it's worthwhile

2. check out alternatives to this service, like theorchard.com - although, I'm not sure what their policies and fees are

3. spend a few hours and see what it will take to submit your music on your own, and if it's possible.

4. And lastly... watch those frivolous behaviors!

;)

Gideon,

Thanks for confirming my misgivings about this company. I tried to be 'nice' while reviewing, but honestly, I found myself rather annoyed when reading their many stipulations and poor-a#s excuses and explanations for bad policies.

So yup, The Orchard is a better route. :)

-M

Guys,

Don't forget CDBaby's digital distribution, which is free, if you're already selling through CDBaby. This gets you on a lot more download services, and all you have to do is click one button.

Eric

Hi all,

This is actually an opportunity. You folks have seen our "pitch" and read our FAQ and still feel we're not the way to go. Maybe I can improve it.

Can you tell me specifically what things we could change about TuneCore that would make us the choice for y'all? What's good, what's bad? We're only live for a week now. I want to know ways to make the site and the service better for everyone.

Thanks. Feel free to write me, or just post here. As you can see, we read what people say, and at least care enough to ask. :)

--Peter

Peter Wells
Chief Operations Officer
TuneCore.com
peter@tunecore.com

Hi Peter,
Glad to see that you are a part of the conversation.

I'll send you an email directly.

Gideon

Hey Gideon,

Thanks, cool. We're so early in this business there's room to change practically anything. We'll do what it takes to make folks happy. It's great people can reach out and suggest ways to make things better.

Thanks!

--Peter

Hi Peter,

Thanks for participating in the conversation, just the fact that you're both listening and discussing is much appreciated. I wish the best for any service that genuinely offers to help artists promote their music.

Perhaps you could answer one question that keeps arising: What advantage does TuneCore offer over submitting music to iTunes directly? We've speculated, but it's honestly a tad unclear.

Thanks,

MikeB

Hey MikeB,

It's a fair question. The truth is, iTunes doesn't take individual artists. They aren't set up for it. We've heard all sorts of stories of people who try and try, get put on lists, get rejected, wait six, seven months. Check around the iTunes site and you'll see they simply won't do it.

That's the problem, it's the reason we founded TuneCore. If only large labels and the like are big enough to secure an open channel to iTunes, then they "hold the keys" and can control access to the iTunes store. We're a key holder, but we offer what we believe is a much more fair deal. We don't take a percentage of your back end, we charge a nominal up-front fee to get your music in the door, and we handle all the paperwork for transferring the earnings back to you.

So it's that simple. There is no way for the individual to get onto iTunes themselves. So we make it possible for $0.99 a song. We hope folks will see it's a fair deal.

Thanks, and feel free to write if you've any other questions.

--Peter

Peter Wells
COO
TuneCore.com