Dubstepforum.com

im having such a hard time figuring out exactly which distro co's i should go thru for my new label set to launch this summer/fall. i have a list of companies. but some seem really sketchy. im based in the usa if that makes a difference. all help would be greatly appreciated. any other heads on here that own/run labels please help a homie out! also, is it necessary to get them in cd as well? as of right now now im not doing vinyl. but i will once all of this starts to work itself out with tons of hard work. i just really need to hear some good stories and great opinions to give you guys great beats at a good price without ripping myself off by certain companies.

thanks

j haylock
tense:audio /intense:audio /sub:art studios

I've started using CD Baby, it's not really tailored to dance music, more indie, but the most important thing is they get your music out in a timely manner and their cut is only 9%, you have to pay $55 dolars for each release to be distrobuted which includes admin and a UPC barcode. I mean I havn't been using them for long but their digital store list is comprehensive and I have seen the tracks go out to the stores they mention pretty quickly. They have an easy online system and their customer service is prompt. Plus they run a good "DIY Musician blog" with helpfull promotional tips. I can tell you how they in more detail when i've been using them longer...

Obviously they dont do sites like Chemical, Juno, Addictech, Digital Tunes, Beatport, Bleep etc, but alot of those you can do yourself anyway, so you get all the profits minus the stores cut. Its the ones like iTunes, Amazon, Napster, eMusic, LastFM, Spotify etc that you will need to go through a distro for.

It depends on what kind of music you're doing, if its just strictly dance music heads stuff that only hardcore dance fans and DJs will like then just sign up to the dance music site stores yourself, if you're planning to promote to a wider audience because of your musical content, you can start going through distros and start promoting your stuff OUT of the dubstep scene aswell. Lots of people havn't heard of dubstep still, and wont have Digital Tunes, Chemical or Juno accounts, they will most likely have iTunes or Amazon accounts tho, use links to those sites when your releases are up to promote to people out side of dubstep/dnb/house/etc.

thank you sooo much! that helped out quite a bit. thanks for taking the time to help get me on the right track. i really appreciate. let me know how that goes for you. im going to take a look at them right now. im pretty much just doing dubstep would like a broader audience as well.

thanks.

anybody else have any suggestions?

just curious. did you use option 1 or 2? did you just use cdbaby.com or go with the first choice with itunes and amazon, etc. i sent a form into juno and beatport keeps saying that they arent excepting any tunes, im just trying to make this work for being in the usa.

any other thoughts? all help much appreciated guys!

coleco wrote:I've started using CD Baby, it's not really tailored to dance music, more indie, but the most important thing is they get your music out in a timely manner and their cut is only 9%, you have to pay $55 dolars for each release to be distrobuted which includes admin and a UPC barcode. I mean I havn't been using them for long but their digital store list is comprehensive and I have seen the tracks go out to the stores they mention pretty quickly. They have an easy online system and their customer service is prompt. Plus they run a good "DIY Musician blog" with helpfull promotional tips. I can tell you how they in more detail when i've been using them longer...

Obviously they dont do sites like Chemical, Juno, Addictech, Digital Tunes, Beatport, Bleep etc, but alot of those you can do yourself anyway, so you get all the profits minus the stores cut. Its the ones like iTunes, Amazon, Napster, eMusic, LastFM, Spotify etc that you will need to go through a distro for.

It depends on what kind of music you're doing, if its just strictly dance music heads stuff that only hardcore dance fans and DJs will like then just sign up to the dance music site stores yourself, if you're planning to promote to a wider audience because of your musical content, you can start going through distros and start promoting your stuff OUT of the dubstep scene aswell. Lots of people havn't heard of dubstep still, and wont have Digital Tunes, Chemical or Juno accounts, they will most likely have iTunes or Amazon accounts tho, use links to those sites when your releases are up to promote to people out side of dubstep/dnb/house/etc.

That sounds like a rip off to me to be honest. I use Symphonic. I get on Beatport, Junodownload, iTunes, Amazon and about 30 or 40 other stores. I don't pay anything it is strictly a percentage of the net after the stores get their cut. It is really not a lot for the headache it saves me uploading to each of these stores individually. They will want to do a 2 year contract. That gives them exclusive digital distribution but you can still work with stores on your own if you choose. I have been with them for I think 8 months now, I can't complain. Any mistakes that happen they are quick to fix.

TENSE AUDIO wrote:just curious. did you use option 1 or 2? did you just use cdbaby.com or go with the first choice with itunes and amazon, etc. i sent a form into juno and beatport keeps saying that they arent excepting any tunes, im just trying to make this work for being in the usa.

I didn't know Juno quit excepting labels that is news to me but it has grown in leaps in bounds in the last couple years it doesn't surprise me. What they don't want to do is deal with labels directly. The distributors have software that allows the sites to digest the content a lot easier. It is not to say getting distribution with definitely get you on beatport but you won't get on there without it. Juno I doubt would be an issue.

InGrooves

abZ wrote:

coleco wrote:I've started using CD Baby, it's not really tailored to dance music, more indie, but the most important thing is they get your music out in a timely manner and their cut is only 9%, you have to pay $55 dolars for each release to be distrobuted which includes admin and a UPC barcode. I mean I havn't been using them for long but their digital store list is comprehensive and I have seen the tracks go out to the stores they mention pretty quickly. They have an easy online system and their customer service is prompt. Plus they run a good "DIY Musician blog" with helpfull promotional tips. I can tell you how they in more detail when i've been using them longer...

Obviously they dont do sites like Chemical, Juno, Addictech, Digital Tunes, Beatport, Bleep etc, but alot of those you can do yourself anyway, so you get all the profits minus the stores cut. Its the ones like iTunes, Amazon, Napster, eMusic, LastFM, Spotify etc that you will need to go through a distro for.

It depends on what kind of music you're doing, if its just strictly dance music heads stuff that only hardcore dance fans and DJs will like then just sign up to the dance music site stores yourself, if you're planning to promote to a wider audience because of your musical content, you can start going through distros and start promoting your stuff OUT of the dubstep scene aswell. Lots of people havn't heard of dubstep still, and wont have Digital Tunes, Chemical or Juno accounts, they will most likely have iTunes or Amazon accounts tho, use links to those sites when your releases are up to promote to people out side of dubstep/dnb/house/etc.

That sounds like a rip off to me to be honest. I use Symphonic. I get on Beatport, Junodownload, iTunes, Amazon and about 30 or 40 other stores. I don't pay anything it is strictly a percentage of the net after the stores get their cut. It is really not a lot for the headache it saves me uploading to each of these stores individually. They will want to do a 2 year contract. That gives them exclusive digital distribution but you can still work with stores on your own if you choose. I have been with them for I think 8 months now, I can't complain. Any mistakes that happen they are quick to fix.

A 2 year contract? I wonder what the contract includes because CD Baby isn't exlusive, and no minimum term or anything.

coleco wrote:

abZ wrote:

coleco wrote:I've started using CD Baby, it's not really tailored to dance music, more indie, but the most important thing is they get your music out in a timely manner and their cut is only 9%, you have to pay $55 dolars for each release to be distrobuted which includes admin and a UPC barcode. I mean I havn't been using them for long but their digital store list is comprehensive and I have seen the tracks go out to the stores they mention pretty quickly. They have an easy online system and their customer service is prompt. Plus they run a good "DIY Musician blog" with helpfull promotional tips. I can tell you how they in more detail when i've been using them longer...

Obviously they dont do sites like Chemical, Juno, Addictech, Digital Tunes, Beatport, Bleep etc, but alot of those you can do yourself anyway, so you get all the profits minus the stores cut. Its the ones like iTunes, Amazon, Napster, eMusic, LastFM, Spotify etc that you will need to go through a distro for.

It depends on what kind of music you're doing, if its just strictly dance music heads stuff that only hardcore dance fans and DJs will like then just sign up to the dance music site stores yourself, if you're planning to promote to a wider audience because of your musical content, you can start going through distros and start promoting your stuff OUT of the dubstep scene aswell. Lots of people havn't heard of dubstep still, and wont have Digital Tunes, Chemical or Juno accounts, they will most likely have iTunes or Amazon accounts tho, use links to those sites when your releases are up to promote to people out side of dubstep/dnb/house/etc.

That sounds like a rip off to me to be honest. I use Symphonic. I get on Beatport, Junodownload, iTunes, Amazon and about 30 or 40 other stores. I don't pay anything it is strictly a percentage of the net after the stores get their cut. It is really not a lot for the headache it saves me uploading to each of these stores individually. They will want to do a 2 year contract. That gives them exclusive digital distribution but you can still work with stores on your own if you choose. I have been with them for I think 8 months now, I can't complain. Any mistakes that happen they are quick to fix.

A 2 year contract? I wonder what the contract includes because CD Baby isn't exlusive, and no minimum term or anything.

It is exclusive in the sense that I can't sign with another digital distributor in that time period. I can still distribute them myself though. It's just 55 dollars per release yikes. I don't even sell shit on iTunes and Amazon and all that. If it wasn't included on the deal I wouldn't even put my product in those stores let alone pay for it. Symphonic also offers a package similar to cdbaby if that works for you, I'd check it out if I were you could save you some money, not really sure what the rates are tho tbh

http://www.symdirect.com/

claw wrote:

Bro knows.

I like this one...

thank you soooo much for your help guys. symphonic is where im going!!!! i have found a home. now im ready to start signing some heads. i have my releases but im not doing this just for myself, im doing this to help other people hear good music from around the world. i appreciate all the comments. if any of you are interested in submitting demos that would be killer.

peace guys.

-HAYLOCK
TENSE:AUDIO / IN:TENSE AUDIO / SUB:ART STUDIOS
MYSPACE.COM/TENSEAUDIO
TENSEAUDIO@GMAIL.COM
BALTIMORE USA

abZ wrote:

coleco wrote:

abZ wrote:

coleco wrote:I've started using CD Baby, it's not really tailored to dance music, more indie, but the most important thing is they get your music out in a timely manner and their cut is only 9%, you have to pay $55 dolars for each release to be distrobuted which includes admin and a UPC barcode. I mean I havn't been using them for long but their digital store list is comprehensive and I have seen the tracks go out to the stores they mention pretty quickly. They have an easy online system and their customer service is prompt. Plus they run a good "DIY Musician blog" with helpfull promotional tips. I can tell you how they in more detail when i've been using them longer...

Obviously they dont do sites like Chemical, Juno, Addictech, Digital Tunes, Beatport, Bleep etc, but alot of those you can do yourself anyway, so you get all the profits minus the stores cut. Its the ones like iTunes, Amazon, Napster, eMusic, LastFM, Spotify etc that you will need to go through a distro for.

It depends on what kind of music you're doing, if its just strictly dance music heads stuff that only hardcore dance fans and DJs will like then just sign up to the dance music site stores yourself, if you're planning to promote to a wider audience because of your musical content, you can start going through distros and start promoting your stuff OUT of the dubstep scene aswell. Lots of people havn't heard of dubstep still, and wont have Digital Tunes, Chemical or Juno accounts, they will most likely have iTunes or Amazon accounts tho, use links to those sites when your releases are up to promote to people out side of dubstep/dnb/house/etc.

That sounds like a rip off to me to be honest. I use Symphonic. I get on Beatport, Junodownload, iTunes, Amazon and about 30 or 40 other stores. I don't pay anything it is strictly a percentage of the net after the stores get their cut. It is really not a lot for the headache it saves me uploading to each of these stores individually. They will want to do a 2 year contract. That gives them exclusive digital distribution but you can still work with stores on your own if you choose. I have been with them for I think 8 months now, I can't complain. Any mistakes that happen they are quick to fix.

A 2 year contract? I wonder what the contract includes because CD Baby isn't exlusive, and no minimum term or anything.

It is exclusive in the sense that I can't sign with another digital distributor in that time period. I can still distribute them myself though. It's just 55 dollars per release yikes. I don't even sell shit on iTunes and Amazon and all that. If it wasn't included on the deal I wouldn't even put my product in those stores let alone pay for it. Symphonic also offers a package similar to cdbaby if that works for you, I'd check it out if I were you could save you some money, not really sure what the rates are tho tbh

http://www.symdirect.com/

The thing that's particularly appealing about CD baby is the $20/release barcode though, I haven't come across any other distro sites that offer them as cheap as this and even if you go to the root yourself (in the UK it's - http://www.gs1uk.org/) they cost a lot more than $20. I've been told the ones that are given to you at independent CD duplication companies only redirect the barcode information back as far as the duplication company and the information that barcodes store may not come back to you... So CD baby seems like the best option I've found so far including an official UPC/UCC barcode...

I expected answers like S.T. Holdings / SRD and some of the genuine distributors who already have networks set up for distributing physical product.....instead I'm seeing lists of internet based automated services which as i see it are basically serving to further saturate the market, they may be easy solutions, but I can't help thinking that you'd be better off approaching credible music distributors who will get behind your label and push it in the right direction.

etidorhpa wrote:I expected answers like S.T. Holdings / SRD and some of the genuine distributors who already have networks set up for distributing physical product.....instead I'm seeing lists of internet based automated services which as i see it are basically serving to further saturate the market, they may be easy solutions, but I can't help thinking that you'd be better off approaching credible music distributors who will get behind your label and push it in the right direction.

good point man!

Nah guys you wanna check out record union. They've just started up, so it mega cheap, but they put ur tunes onto all the biggies, such as spotify, itunes, amazon, napster and even beatport. Although beatport needs to accept it
I did one album as a tester once. All you need to pay for is a UPC code, which is about $15, so basically around £6, which is IMMENSE!
And sure enough, after about 3 weeks, I searched my name, and I was ALL over the internet.
It was a shit album though, so i deleted it
But yeah, check em out, http://www.recordunion.com

Soundd

TENSE AUDIO wrote:

etidorhpa wrote:I expected answers like S.T. Holdings / SRD and some of the genuine distributors who already have networks set up for distributing physical product.....instead I'm seeing lists of internet based automated services which as i see it are basically serving to further saturate the market, they may be easy solutions, but I can't help thinking that you'd be better off approaching credible music distributors who will get behind your label and push it in the right direction.

good point man!

Not really imo. As long as the distributors actually distribute then it is legit. It is just a means to an end. I don't feel like less of a label owner because my label is digital only and have digital only distribution. It makes perfect sense actually! In fact most of the "legit" distributors are still fairly new to the digital game so why wouldn't I go with distribution that specializes in digital? And as far as I know the vinyl distributors don't want to work with digital only labels as the digital end of their distribution is an afterthought to their physical distribution. Seems like people look for any opportunity to put someone down, it is pretty lame.

i would say for dubstep - z audio are good -- from what ive heard! beatport is where u want dubstep man bu tu have to go through a label to get on there!

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3325351

this might help

My label is distributed by tunecore. http://www.tunecore.com Im really happy with my decision. Every thing is layed out well and easy to understand. Its very affordable. The only thing I don't like is they don't distribute to the dance music stores. Just Itunes, Amazon, Napster and a few more. I also got My first release free through my job, which is really awesome!