Selling Independent MP3s Direct to Customer? 94
jetsetsc asks: "I am not a programmer but I am a musician. My band's recordings belong to the band, and we'd like to skip the middlemen — labels, iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, etc — and setup a way to sell MP3's cheaply, and directly to fans. I have searched quite a bit and found nothing that fits the bill. Snocap is sort of similar, but they are more about a central store with a MySpace tie in. We don't need a fancy search, or a complicated 'if you liked this try...' feature. I figure potential fans can find our webpage on their own, referred by Pandora, a music blog, internet radio, or even (gasp!) a print article. When they get there it'd be great if they could listen to samples, check off the songs they want, pay 39 cents (or however much) through PayPal, and get a secure non-transferable download just like iTunes. DRM not required. I can't believe in this day and age that a service or software package like this doesn't exist. Any ideas?"
Soundclick? (Score:2)
You mean Spamclick? (Score:4, Informative)
I signed up for them once and got a lot of spam [justplainfolks.org]. They even make you sign up for the spam lists to download their FREE mp3's.
Secure, non-transferable... no DRM? (Score:4, Insightful)
How would you go about making it "secure" and "non-transferable" without the DRM part? (Ignoring, for a moment, that DRM is neither secure nor does it necessarily make music non-transferable)
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Re:Secure, non-transferable... no DRM? (Score:5, Informative)
To answer the submitter's question... there are software packages like this... and open source / free. Go to Sourceforge or it's work-a-likes out there and look for software download shopping carts.... actually I think that OS Commerce has a plugin for setting up 'intangible' products so that you can keep people from direct linking to the download.
Also you may want to contact Kagi, a very popular shareware commerce provider and ask about rates... they already have a good 'intangible' product commerce offering.
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Perhaps you would like to be a
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https://files.dreamhost.com/ [dreamhost.com]
I think it's exactly what you want.
Simple, cheap.
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I used phpBB for a user auth system, and at the moment allow unlimited downloading (though I monitor it and may change to a more restrictive system if I spot people sharing accounts, but that would be a trivial change). It uses paypal's instant payment notification that posts ba
Contradictory... (Score:2, Redundant)
Is it just me or is that completely contradictory?
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and when you frame it that way, this question can be answered by making it broader. what software allows you to charge someone to download a file? that's it. the music part is really irrelevant.
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i think i'd call my band urban legend if that hasn't been taken before. i wonder if you could use the phrase 'u.l. listed' without getting sued if it was for artistic use. i think that would be pretty fun.
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I took that to me he wants his downloads to be one-time only and limited to the person who bought it, but I could be wrong.
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He offers some of his songs as free mp3 downloads available to anyone, then lets you pay to download the rest (still as mp3s!). While I can't say how his purchase system works (as I haven't yet bought any... although lately throwing $60 his way has been rather tempting...), I can't imagine that he's going to have it set up so he's providing people with static
It's very contradictory. (Score:2)
You might not need features... (Score:2)
You might not need those things, but any company providing files for download at cost certainly will. It's called cross-selling, it's marketing, and it's the sort of thing that makes the difference between living and dying for an ecommerce company. When you're "microselling" something you need to sell a large number of units just to stay in business. How is the service going to do that if they don't maximise every conversion?
(
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These not only help the company, but the band, too. If they make the same $/song at X as they do at Y, and Y has these added features... Why not take advantage of them? At worst, they sell the same number of songs, since their traffic comes from external sources to the site. More likely, they'll sell more songs and gain more fans.
Also to the OP, this 'secure and nontransferable' bit... That IS DRM. Period. Nobody likes DRM. If you l
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So, secure in the sense that the person who pays for the link downloads the file. Non-transferrable in the sense that they aren't just static files on a server that someone can download by putting in the right URL. So the *sale* is secure and non-
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It could mean 'not capable of being transferred at all' or 'can't transfer legal ownership'. Since they obviously want the purchaser to get the song after they pay for it, the first isn't correct in regards to the original download URL. And since the second is true with or without DRM, if the agreement says so at purchase, it's not that. (They can transfer it illegally, but not change the legal ownership.) No, they mean
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You're selling software (Score:4, Interesting)
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Paypal offers micro payments for digital downloads [devitry.com]. Fees are reduced is you're offering products less than $12 and it's a digital download. If you sell a song for $1, you'd get $0.90. Much more than for regular paypal.
Selling Music Online - the Minimal Way (Score:1)
I blogged this recently:
Selling Music Online - the Minimal Way
A friend of mine called me yesterday while I was standing on the end of the Santa Monica Pier [santamonicapier.org] saying that one of his band's [thecoralsea.net] songs would be airing on Grey's Anatomy [go.com] next Monday. He asked how he could quickly setup his website to be able to sell an MP3 of the track in time for the airing. The band already has a paypal merchant account and this would be only need to be a temporary solution.
I thought about the question and asked a few technica [kevinkircher.com]
If you build it (Score:1)
I don't understand (Score:2)
But really, "non transferable" music is simply non existant, even more so when you ask for no DRM. Oh and get ready to see your music on p2p networks in 3... 2... 1...
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That's free publicity, so don't complain. ;) Make sure your MP3s are tagged well - ie correct and consistent track and band details, spelling, capitalisation etc.. Make your MP3s better than the shit on P2P, so research LAME and it's cunning settings. Embed the album or single artwork at a not-huge res within the MP3s (the res that will look best on an iPod), and put the URL for the band and more downloads in the ID3 comment field. That
Mindawn (Score:4, Informative)
but he wants DRM (Score:1)
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If you look at his request for "non-transferrable downloads", the DRM-free flac and ogg files don't fit the bill.
He asked for "non-transferrable downloads" but he also specified that DRM was not required. Given that do you think ti is reasonable to assume:
My bet is on the second one. The first on
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Mindawn has a nice, cross-platform client that allows you to download tracks and listen to them (in the client) a specified number of times before buying them. Once you buy the tracks, they're yours. So in a sense, they're non-transferable until you buy them, after which, they can be copied, burned, etc. It's a nice compromise, I think, that benefits the consumer.
Now if only more portables
really? MP3 with DRM in it? (Score:2)
Really? There is something by which a file can be a valid
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gpg --encrypt out.mp3
It isn't a real mp3 any more, but it is after you decrypt it (possibly with your TPM's key).
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gpg --encrypt < in.mp3 > out.mp3
but you know what I mean
What you ask for is contradictory. (Score:1, Redundant)
DRM is required to have a "non-transferrable download". Once you do that, it's not an MP3 anymore. MP3 files are not encumbered by DRM and are transferable. You are going to have to ask: do you want MP3, or do you want DRM? You can't do both.
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I think by 'non-transferable download' he means he doesn't want somebody to get the URL to the MP3, then paste it to all his friends on ICQ so they can get it too. In other words, he wants a unique download link per customer. I bumped into that problem myself when I
Dreamhost (Score:3, Informative)
Dreamhost [dreamhost.com] (note: my hosting provider, and a referral link) recently announced Files Forever [dreamhost.com] (non-referral link) that I think would let you do what you are after. It's beta now (I don't know if they will let non-Dreamhost customers in) but I think it's an easy solution to what you're looking for. When they announced it [dreamhost.com] on their Blog [dreamhost.com] they specifically mentioned being able to use it as an iTunes alternative.
Hope that helps.
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At a minimum of 50 cents per (CC) transaction, probably not, since the FP mentioned wanting 39 cents as an example price.
Obviously that overhead drops as the number of tracks goes up (for complete album downloads in the $5 range, they might work as a great option). But that flat fee totally kills the idea of "visit our site and pick up a track or two for four dimes"
DreamHost's Files Forever sounds perfect.. (Score:1, Redundant)
Currently it's in beta and only available to dreamhost customers, but they're a pretty decent host.. and try using "9999" as your promo code when signing up to get $99.99 off the first year!
dreamhost is offering a service (Score:2, Informative)
You are going about it all wrong (Score:2)
Heck, I used to work for a "Brand Management Firm" (that's what they called themselves) that did some moonlighting hosting web sites for clients. To setup the shopping car
Something to think about. (Score:3, Interesting)
If you don't go the DRM route, you might as well just set up a website with a standard store and sell the files and a donation button so people can "tip" you. This is not difficult and could be done in a few days. Of course you are going to have to hope that
Your band can literally be the test case for musicians using micropayments as a means of making a living as so many people claim is possible.
One other thing, you can try this with one or two songs to start. That way you don't give away your entire catalog.
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Not quite. It can be a test case for one possible method:
But that method essentially relies on altr
Another idea - tip jar (Score:4, Interesting)
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There is no easy way to compare the two options you're talking about while staying within the street performer analogy. The closest I can come up with while staying within the model is a "toll corner" where people would have to pay to continue to walk by you on the street after a period of say, 30 seconds. I think you reach more people by allowing them to listen and to provide what they feel is an a
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Hell, the tips probably wouldn't cover the hosting bill.
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Well you have to build an audience. No one buys music from an unknown band. I would buy CDs at a live concert if I like the music, but never when surfing to some random web page. On the other hand, I'm always happy to listen to new music.
So, if you are willing to limit the size of your audience, go ahead and sell your MP3s.
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The only musicians with a tip jar are sitting on street corners with a coffee can in front of them. Not a _good_ living, but a living I guess.
Totally irrelevant (Score:1, Insightful)
A tip jar is not a begging bowl. Tips are a donation reflecting satisfaction with services rendered. A beggar offers no services.
Perhaps you should ask a waiter why he is begging for tips. He might straighten out your misunderstanding.
Assuming you REALLY are set on going it alone... (Score:4, Informative)
Now, that being said, OSCommerce will do what you want. It will provide a pretty interface, allow you to create time and/or number of download limited links, and has plugins to handle billing with pretty much anyone you'd ever want (and some you wouldn't touch) to handle your billing.
Have it built for you (Score:2)
Think about it; the website will probably be a dozen screens. Nothing fancy and almost everything is static (i.e. it doesn't need to change when a user clicks somewhere). Let's see if we can get an initial draft:
Dear Slashdot... (Score:2)
Amie Street (Score:1)
Get it on all of them (Score:2, Interesting)
We track royalties and sales data from all of them.
in addition to iTunes store, the catalog is available on most pay sites:
http://www.playittonight.com/ [playittonight.com]
http://www.dancerecords.com/artists/Synthique [dancerecords.com]
http://www.last.fm/ [www.last.fm]
http://www.emusic.com/artist/11616/11616213.html [emusic.com]
http://www.napster.com/view/artist/index.html?id=1 1638090 [napster.com]
I just noticed that I have stuff on the WalMart music site. That's disturbing, since I
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Lulu.com (Score:1)
How does AllofMP3 do it? (Score:1)
Podsafe Music Network? (Score:2, Informative)
avoid paypal (Score:2)
Play with the big boys (Score:2)
If you really just want your music to be listened to, put up 64kb versions of your tunes on a static web page, and sell CDs (yes, the real ones) with a paypal cart. If you want to be nice, include high quality (256-320kb), pre-tagged MP3s on the CD on a data track. I suppose you could set up a downloadable MP3 for purchase individually, but since you'r
emusic.com (Score:1)
Woven Wheat Whispers? (Score:2)
http://www.wovenwheatwhispers.co.uk/folk_community
It's mainly "folk" (whatever that means this week - and it certainly means something different in the UK and the US) - but if you're doing a Robyn Hitchcock cover you can't be that far off (assuming that you're these "Jennifers" - http://www.thejennifers.com/music.html [thejennifers.com] of course).
Indiekazoo (Score:2)
IndieKazoo makes it easy to:
* Take control of your own music sales
* Sell your music as MP3 downloads
* Sell your out-of-print CDs and music again
IndieKazoo is perfect for:
* Bands with tracks or CDs to sell
* Individual musicians
Unless you can code it yourself... (Score:1)
Do this: Incorporate yourself as an indie label and talk to iTunes or eMusic. From what I understand Apple doesn't make much (if anything) on Music sales. They are in it to sell iPods. Users can always burn Apple's tunes to CD and then reimport, so their DRM isn't that bad (IMO). Anyway, I doubt you are go
Zen Cart (Score:1)
Dry Gulch Records (Score:1)
Download Lock (Score:1)
eMusic.com (Score:2)
But getting your label to distribute through them *will* increase sales, result in increased attention to your band, and support one of the major DRM-free independent-music supporting communities.
Magnatune (Score:2)
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Jonathan Coulton... (Score:2)
Cubecart (Score:2)
I'm setting up an mp3 store for my band at the moment. Free (as in beer) shopping cart software, knows how to handle digital products, checkout works via paypal (or a whole ton of other options). You don't exactly need to be a "programmer" to get it to work, but it is possibly helpful. If you've installed software like phpBB or a photo gallery on your site before, you'll be fine. Or you should be able to easily find a local friendly php/mysql hacker to sort it out for 50 bucks or a case of be
You had better suck... (Score:1)
At that point, your options are:
1. Suicide
2. Defeat
3. Shooting up a RIAA member company's stock holder meeting.
Andy Out!
MPeria (Score:2)
http://www.mperia.com/ [mperia.com]
Not affiliated, just a very happy customer of theirs. Works like a charm for me, and bands seem to have complete control over how to setup their business there.
Thanks for all the replies (Score:1)
By "Non-transferrable" I meant the download link, not the digital music itself.
Yes we are the www.thejennifers.com, and because we are including the Robyn Hitchcock cover on our new CD we are learning what's involved with getting the proper license to distribute (on CD and digitally) it from the publishing company. We do already get our stuff distributed to the big boys (iTunes etc.) through the wonderful CDBaby.
For selling directly, it looks like
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I can provide you with a solution (Score:1)
I can help you distribute your music in the manner you wish, without worrying about bandwidth overheads, needing individual links, or bothering with small payments.
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We have a digital delivery service which does exactly what you need - E-junkie ( http://www.e-junkie.com/ [e-junkie.com]). A lot of bands are using it to sell MP3 tracks and albums directly on their website and myspace page. We do not charge any "commission" and we handle promotion and discount codes etc too. The download links are secure and expire after the download.
It's easy to use
Why charge? (Score:2)
It looks like Big Head Todd and the Monsters are doing ok giving away plenty of MP3s. The Grateful Dead did just fine letting fans record their concerts and not worrying about record sales.
OSCommerce CRE (Score:1)
I wrote something from scratch.... (Score:1)
Bishop Allen (Score:2)
e-junkie (Score:2)