If you’re an aspiring musician or vocalist who has worked hard on an album, one of the first thighs you’re going to want to do is share that album. Below is some advice on how to publish your songs on various popular online websites.
How to Publish Music on iTunes
Apple
The first thing you need to do is fill out an iTunes Music Store application. This allows Apple to take a look at the content you wish to share to ensure it is appropriate and legitimate. People aren’t just allowed to upload random music they make as this could harm the iTunes store reputation and possibly reach the wrong audience.
Upload Your Music
Once your music has been approved, you will be directed to upload your music on a specific webpage. From here, your music will show up in iTunes where you will be able to customize your online iTunes image to your own specifications. You can upload different album covers and write a little blurb about yourself and band. You can also specify cost.
How To Publish Music On Amazon
This website is owned by Amazon and is the right place you should go to upload MP3 files of your music. There is no signup fee and it works a lot like iTunes where you can fill in track names, upload album art. It can take up to 3 weeks for your listing to go live.
Amazon Advantage
This website was designed specifically for musicians that wish to sell hard copies of their albums. It also links directly to the Amazon website and can be linked in conjunction with your CreateSpace account. A subscription costs around $30 a year.
CD Baby
This site can be used to sell both MP3’s and hard copies of your music. There is a one-time fee of about $40, but CD baby boasts all the features the other websites do –plus it’s geared toward independent musicianship.
Free Streaming Sites
Pandora and Spotify
Spotify pays royalties to all bands who put their music up –no matter if you’re Justin Timberlake or the teenagers from the local high school with a garage band.
TuneCore is a company and website that you upload your music to, allowing them to do the rest of the work for you. Once your album is submitted, it takes about a week for it to go live. Keep this in mind if you’ve got a specific release-date in mind.
Pandora works much the same way. Visit the submittal page and follow the directions given to get your music streaming in no time.
Unfortunately, unlike digital distributors like iTunes and Amazon, which give artists and rights holders an average of 60-70 percent of profit, the pay-per-play rate on major streaming sites like Pandora can be as little as one-tenth of one cent.
If you are interested in getting paid back more by a streaming company, you may consider a smaller streaming company like Arena.com, which gives an average of 21 cents per play to the artist. These small companies also tend to focus on promoting indie artists, which makes it a great springboard for any up-and-coming musician.
Marcela De Vivo is a freelance writer and online marketing professional in the Los Angeles area. Her writing covers everything from health, marketing, and tech, but as an avid music fan she loves writing on the music industry, and helping young artists reach their potential.
