I’ve covered a bit recently on AC/DC dropping iTunes because of Apple’s requirement to sell album tracks individually and the band’s belief that this is wrong. Well, assuming that you aren’t a rock supergroup that can strike up a great physical distribution deal, iTunes could be on your list of download sites, and using it to sell your records, possibly through a digital distributor, could be a great way to boost your digital sales. A site that has sold over 5 billion songs cannot be ignored.

For a start, no-one makes as much noise in the technology scene as Apple. Their keynotes and conferences attract huge interest and will be live-blogged a hundred times over. Even when they announce some relatively small changes to the iPods and iTunes, people are engrossed. A large number of people WORSHIP iTunes, and the brand is recognisable to millions of computer users worldwide. Additional plus sides of this instant recognition, are ease of use and trust. Unless you make it as easy as possible for people to download your music within seconds, their attention wavers, it’s the way of the Digi-world. An online store that I’ve not heard of, where I have to set up a new account, find a confirmation email and add payment details is going to be a drag to some people, whilst asking me to purchase a track from Bob-a-Job’s download store makes me think twice about my credit details being safe. It may not be the right way to think, but we are talking about the masses here.

Marketing your sounds alongside similar sounds will help to increase sales from browsing music buyers. For instance, if you make smooth, soulful grooves, then a page on your website listing your favourite artists such as D’Angelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell and Raphael Saadiq will help fans of those stumble across your sounds. Applying this theory to iTunes, the new Genius Sidebar will list you alongside similar artists. If you are considered by to be of the same ilk when users submit their library and playlist information, then it will suggest your music to fans of these artists. It (mostly) works too. This can be a great promotion tool, and potentially reaches a huge number of fans of your style.

Where AC/DC differed, is that they have a hardcore fan base that they’ve established over 30 years of world tours. They are ‘old-school’ in that sense, so an old school physical deal and mass advertising worked for them. Most artists will not be able to follow the AC/DC route, and it would not be in your wisest interests to. To re-emphasise the point of my last post, the important thing is to be aware of these strategies and why they work. The iTunes path may or may not be the best one for your style / core group of fans / marketing abilities, again, I’m just throwing it out there for you to chew over. Selling your own CDs is another route that i will cover very soon. Being aware that all different ideas could succeed, means that you will recognise a good opportunity when you work your way into it.

Lee Jarvis

Tags: AC/DC, Apple, digital, distributor, Genius, Independent, Indie, iTunes, soul

This entry was posted on Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 11:38 pm and is filed under Lee Jarvis, Music Industry Career Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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