Selling music online - have you ever considered this?

Great questions Art.

Well, I know a bit but I would love to know what you know about it.

I’m not to sure about owning domain names, like if I buy a web site service from yahoo and I want to move to another host can I keep my name or does yahoo own it?

And, is going with a service like yahoo even a good idea, will it interfere with my growth?

I’m also not sure of the laws concerning owning a web site.

And I would love to know the best way to advertise.

And let’s not forget piracy, what is the best way to keep it to a minimum?

I think I can manage doing my own web design with a program like adobe dream weaver. But I’m not to sure about all the coding involved with making a site from scratch as you have done. Is making it yourself the best way to go and why?

Hmmmmm....now that I think about it I still need a lot of questions answered.

I considered it, but having reviewed my creations, decided that they are mostly crap and that no one in their right mind would buy them. Maybe one day......

Seriously though, i've not got the hunger for the music business at all. I do my job which pays all the bills etc. and dont have the motivation to really do something with the stuff i make. So from your list Art, i would say i'm in the 'Too much hassle' catagory.


Matthew

I haven't really considered to sell my music online, mainly because all the music I do is for my own ejoyment. I do not make a living out of music (my profession is not music really), plus nothing I do is pro music. So, whenever I feel that I want to share a piece of music with others, I share it for free, and I do it mainly to know of they like it or not.

nothing I do is pro music

You are selling yourself short cyclops.

The quality of music you produce if far above a lot of so called Pro’s, trust me.

You just need to put a littlie more effort into making it perfect. Pro’s have other people do the annoying editing for them. So don’t think there songs sound so perfect because there so great.

Sale your music!

The time you put into learning how to sale it will be worth it, and it will sale. You may not want to risk turning your hobby into a job but if you try you might find a new hobby. And the money you make well benefit you and your family. Not to mention the joy you can bring to people.

If nothing else, make a site and give away your music and then allow people to advertise on your site.

But don't just keep it for yourself, your music is to good for that. I don’t know everything about making web sites yet (I well) but I do know a good bit about music. I would not have taken the time to type this if I was not sure your music (and a few others here as well) was worth investing in.

I’m surprised this topic is not getting more attention.

Come on guys have a little more faith in yourself!

Ten years ago I stopped my regular work and spent 3 full months to finish a project with songs I had composed over the years. I needed to give myself a try but it was a big risk for me and my family since I had no income during that time. Then I spent another few months contacting record labels but got no results. Although I enjoyed all the time I spent recording and producing the project I must say I became very disapoited with the results since I truly believed I would have a chance with it. I was discourage by the results but I'm still proud of that project. Since then I just do projects for others and keep my music for my own pleasure. In the end, to answer the question:

- I don't know how I would do this right now since it all changed a lot.
- I think it's too much hassle.
- I don't HAVE much to invest into this.
- No, I would not mind to depend on a 3rd party to hold and pay out my money if someone serious, reliable and fair would come to accept to do it.

First of all, I don't have faith that many people would buy an independant mp3 file no matter how good it sounds.

I currently mostly work on live music that I may record live, but not in studio. It is not my music.

Last year I had a band that was working on a full length CD of original tunes. We started recording and could not get one good take of a tune...The horn section was not prepared (including myself) I took a break from the band and now we are broke up. We may have tried to sell online. We did some pretty good live gigs, but once you start recording...every detail shows!

A few years before that, I made my first solo full length CD. I learned how to mix, produce, record, arrange, etc all in the one year project. I spent about 5 hours per night after work every night. I put a few tracks online and very little interest was generated.

Currently, I could potentially make a good quality CD with my past learning experience, but I don't suspect I would sell much unless I was selling at the live shows themselves...

Writing and playing the music I enjoy is more important to me right now than trying to make something that might generate a lot of commercial interest.

But, then again, unless someone has a HUGE name in the business right now, does anyone really sell much music?

I understand not everyone wants to sale music CDs but their are many other ways to sale music.

We can make music for video games, cell phones, web sites, E-cards, toy’s, computer programs, movies, TV shows, commercials, other musicians, keyboards (demos and styles), plays, etc.

The Internet is a powerful tool for collaborating on music projects, delivering finished music to the customer and it helps us get our name out their.

If you are thinking about helping us out in this department Art I say go for it. Once the info is available I think a lot of us will warm up to the idea.

Thanks for all the replies!

I of course know that there are people who make music just for fun and do not consider it of commercial value. However, I think, especially in the unstable and unpredictable economic times, there are more people that would like to have at least a few dollars of revenue from their music. It's that it's not that easy, for the most part.

Currently, here is what is offered to a independent musician:

- Start your own website, hire a firm that would develop a music shopping cart for you, and web software for you. Good solution, very easy maintenance - but this is very expensive, in the $1000-2000 range. Plus the annual domain and hosting fees. Out of question for most of us.

- Give your music into an agency that would put it into stores like iTunes. Not expensive, but they charge you fees per each album and per each track you publish, so if you have like 3-4 albums already you need to spend around $200 to get them online. The upside is that you get a very big audience, but the paradox is you get lost in there! And you still need a website to promote yourself and your band... So again, a lot of work and investments.

- There are also web agencies that will allow you to sell music through a dedicated musicians community site. They charge around $150-200 annually. However, you usually get a standard website that is still not easy to maintain and customize for an average musician.

So, as you see, there is no solution without a downside: you either invest a lot, or a real lot, or get lost in a myriad of other's music releases, or you put in more effort than what would make you happy.

What do I think? There should be a better way, much better way.

I think this is what people need is:

1. Everything is sorted for you, so you can concentrate on music. Upload your music and it's instantly available for sale, with software taking away all the work you'd routinely have to do otherwise.

2. You get all services in one package, for a low yearly flat fee. No other fees or % no anything, just a low yearly fee. So you get your personal website (on your own domain) and a shopping cart right in it. Everything, absolutely everything you need is in this package.

3. Legally and physically, all sales are made by yourself, so there is no financial 3rd party between you and your buyers. You get 100% of your revenue immediately after each sale.

Would you like this kind of a service? I am asking because, well, I am developing it.

Oooh! I like it!!

Art, that sounds awesome!

I would love a service like that, especially because I really trust the quality of your work and you have always been fair and honest.

Thanks Art! Roland Clan forever!

Thanks, I am glad you like this idea. It will require a PayPal account to receive payments though, but other options should be possible as well. The most affordable account will cost $49 a year, with 500 MB space.

As I mentioned, this will give you a way to upload your music and start selling it in a few seconds, literally: all the typical routine work will be done for you. And yes, 100% of your sales are yours, regardless of the volume, and you get the payments immediately as there will be no 3rd party controlling them.

Does this sound good to you?

That sounds amazing! I can’t wait to see the finished product.

$49 a year is not a big deal, though I'll probably go with a few GBs (I want to upload Wav) so I’m guessing it will be $100,$200 or $300 and change a year (still fine) plus your fee. I have a lot of ideas and having my own web site well be an excellent tool to aid me with them.

I was originally going to go with Yahoo or another service but this is much better! You understand musician well (you are one) and I would gladly buy a service from Roland Clan before I buy from someone I don’t know.

Zephyer, e-commerce with Yahoo actually *starts* at around $20/month, at least $200 a year, and that is only for 15-20 products and not suitable for immediate downloads... Actually pretty much everywhere e-commerce is usually expensive, and digital download e-commerce is not suitable for track-by-track music purchases - you pay too much % off typical $0.99 track price, leaving only like 30% of revenue to yourself. But yes, this is all going to change

So far my plans were like this, but +/- for the bigger accounts after I confirm the web space and traffic costs with my hosting company:

$49/year: 500 MB
$99/year: 1000 MB
$149/year: 2000 MB + domain name
$199/year: 4000 MB + domain name

All accounts will have exactly the same features, so even with $49/year a beginner musician will be able to have a good start. With two bigger accounts, you will also get your personal .com/.net/.org/.info domain at no extra cost.

Please let me know your thoughts!

Forgot to mention, our new server is in Vienna, Austria. It is very quick with virtually 100% uptime, as per my experience. I am running the Clan and Sinevibes sites off it since winter this year.