The uproar about Tunecore? (blog)

Ok, so, in short:

Tunecore has upped their prices per album per year to $49. The reason? They say it will be better than paying for extras a la carte and they cite these 34 improvements. What I’d like to know is if it’s worth it to you. You’ll have to check out the list of improvements which include things like Apple Artist Ping pages, Tunecore charts and promotion services. 

I would also like to hear what you think of the comments left by other artists. There are several in support of a price increase. Or, maybe they are just grateful for the improvements. I don’t know. But, what I do know is that CDBaby responded by offering 50% for musicians transferring from Tunecore to CDBaby: http://cdbabylovesyoumore.com/  

(Original story here on Digital Music News)

Yes, CDbaby is all about the little guy. It reminds me of how Lefsetz talks about record labels. Make a little bit off of a lot of people. I think it applies to most businesses in the internet era and, from the indie music perspective (or, at least the indies I’m hearing from), it seems like Tunecore is headed in the wrong direction. 

To be fair, it sounds like they spent some real money on these improvements hoping to their customers would benefit. Still, what did they think would happen? Surprising your customers with 150% cost increase? Ouch. 

 – LM

Merch Sales Squared! (Cha-ching)

As mentioned in the previous blog “For the Indie Do-It-Yourself-er”, ladies and gentlebands, SQUARE!

Square is a FREE app with a FREE card reader that allows you to accept credit card payments from your Apple IOS or Google Android device. Oh, yeah it does. 

I downloaded this app when I first read about it a few months back but, I never activated it because I was slightly suspicious of it. It wasn’t until  Claude “Butch” Morgan stopped by my table at one of his events and said “Laura, you need to get one of these.” that I decided to take a closer look. This thing is awesome. No charge for the app. No cost to sign up. No charge for the card reader. No recurring charges. You only pay a fee per transaction. If you have the card in hand and can swipe it it’s 2.75% +15 cents. If you have to enter the credit card number in manually, it’s 3.5% +15 cents. You can then text or email your customer their receipt right then and there. If you are worried about security, read this. 

Why accept credit cards at your shows? You will absolutely increase merch sales if you do. A lot of people don’t like to carry a lot of cash when they go out and, when they have it, they are spending it on food and drink. It’s all about making it “stupid easy” for the customer to buy. This’ll do it for you. Sign up is really easy. All you have to do is give the pertinent info and verify your bank information and the money gets deposited into your account in a flash. 

Now all you have to do is be sure your device is charged before the show. 🙂

 

 -Laura Marie

P.S. Even Bob Lefsetz is blogging about it. If you don’t know who Bob Lefsetz is, subscribe to his blog to get a brutally honest take on the music industry. Sometimes the truth hurts but it can also set you free. So, fly my little broken birdies, FLY!

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