Tunecore and Amazon Offer Cheap On-Demand CD Distribution

Posted on 28. May, 2009 by in NEWS

tunecore vert logo 300x283 | Tunecore and Amazon Offer Cheap On Demand CD Distribution

In a move that at first glance seems a bit behind the times, TuneCore has announced a partnership with Amazon.com to offer on-demand CD printing and distribution services to it’s artists. For $31 per year TuneCore will take care of everything from pressing and delivery for a 10-track CD. This is significantly lower than industry leader CDBaby’s price tag of $278 for 100 discs.

TuneCore is a great service, and adding low-volume physical distribution to their offering is a smart move. CDs are not dead (at least not yet) and making the option available to fans – even while focusing on digital distribution – is important for bands. In fact, at face value everything about this looks like it knocks CDBaby out of the water…

…Then you take a closer look.

First of all, there are really only a few good reasons left to press physical CDs, yet the Amazon deal seems to negate just about all of them. I’ll start with tracking. As ridiculous as it is, Soundscan is still the industry standard for tracking and reporting music sales. While TuneCore is touting the fact that the CDs will include UPC and bar codes, it glosses over the fact that their sales are not reported to Soundscan. Nearly all retail outlets – including online stores such as iTunes, Rhapsody and even Amazon itself – report music sales to Soundscan. Why TuneCore has chosen to neglect this I’m not sure, but it seems an unfortunate oversight.

Next up is profit: artists who use this service can look forward to the raw end of a 60/40 split with Amazon off the retail price of each disc. This is not a good deal. Granted, Amazon is incurring all of the manufacturing and distribution costs, but does that entitle them to a majority cut? The only real value that Amazon is adding with their service (over a band just paying to press the discs themselves) is on-demand manufacturing. Bands will have to carefully weigh if this is worth giving up so much per unit revenue.

The biggest downside to the TuneCore/Amazon deal is that CDs ordered through this service will ONLY be available on Amazon.com. Think about it – why do most bands need physical CDs in the first place? To sell at their gigs! Showtime CD sales can be a great source of extra income for touring bands. Fans like leaving a show with a souvenirs. Yet, if your CD is only available online, how is it any different than digital downloads?

One way that it COULD be different is by offering quality Artwork and liner notes. Again, the service falls short. Packaging is not fully customizable. Instead, the artist is given several different template options and must fit their design into those parameters. From the screenshots on the TuneCore site it looks pretty limited. Packaging is one of the last reasons to give a fan to but a physical CD instead of simply downloading it. If the packaging is streamlined like this that incentive is all but removed.

In short, TuneCore’s new offering is a great idea, but with flawed execution. There are some great positives to this service, and some glaring negatives as well.

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8 Responses to “Tunecore and Amazon Offer Cheap On-Demand CD Distribution”

  1. Peter Wells

    28. May, 2009

    Refe, thanks for the mention. Let me clarify a few things.

    TuneCore doesn’t report to SoundScan because the stores do. iTunes does, Amazon does, there’s no need for the distributor to do this, the stores do. We have our own BillBoard chart, clearly we understand the importance of this. I don’t know how you got that idea.

    CreateSpace’s program does include a 60/40 split. It’s up to the artist to decide if that’s a good deal for them or not. We simply provide it as a choice. This new service is best if used in TANDEM with regular CD manufacture, so people can have multiple ways of getting the discs into the hands of those who want them.

    The front page of the booklet is totally customizable-in fact, the artist supplies it. However, it’s true the inside has to be built with templates. That’s by no means a negative to everyone, some folks find it a very useful, time- and resource-saving feature. Again, choice. Will those templates become more customizable in the future? I don’t know, but everything starts somewhere!

    Thanks again!

    –Peter

  2. refe

    28. May, 2009

    Thanks for the comment, and for clarifying – especially about the reporting. I agree – this could be a useful service if used in tandem with something like CDBaby or even dealing straight with a manufacturer. The low yearly price-tag has been garnering a lot of press and comparisons with CDBaby, and my intention was to take a more complete look at the service so that artists could determine if this is something that works for their situation.

  3. Tony van Veen

    28. May, 2009

    “This new service is best if used in TANDEM with regular CD manufacture.”

    Funny.

    If, like many artists you have CDs already, why order more through CreateSpace? At CD Baby we stock any artist’s CDs, sell them on http://cdbaby.com (the biggest indie music store online) as well as on Amazon (through our partnership with Super D), and the artist gets paid the full wholesale price they set – which averages out to almost $9 per disc.

    Not only that, we’ll also deliver your digital files to iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, and dozens of other download retailers large and small.

    In short, with CD Baby, the artist can get it all – physical and digital, more stores, plus other tools like our credit card swiper to help artists sell more music.

    Tony van Veen

  4. Peter Wells

    28. May, 2009

    Thanks, Refe, I understand perfectly. I always urge people to “do their homework” and to make the choice that’s best for them. Ignorance is the only true danger!

    –Peter
    peter@tunecore.com

  5. alex abedi

    01. Aug, 2009

    in the faq of tunecore is written that you can also send a full artwork (up to 12 sites) via email. so if im not wrong, tunecore already solved the artwork problem.

    alex

    • refe

      02. Aug, 2009

      Hey Alex, thanks for the tip.

  6. Twitter Trackbacks for TUNECORE'S NEW ON-DEMAND CD DISTRIBUTION IS FAR FROM PERFECT | creative deconstruction [creativedeconstruction.com] on Topsy.com

    31. Aug, 2009

    [...] TUNECORE'S NEW ON-DEMAND CD DISTRIBUTION IS FAR FROM PERFECT | creative deconstruction http://www.creativedeconstruction.com/2009/05/tunecore-and-amazon-offer-cheap-on-demand-cd-distribution – view page – cached First of all, there are really only a few good reasons left to press physical CDs, yet the Amazon deal seems to negate just about all of them. — From the page [...]

  7. Mike

    19. Feb, 2010

    As an alternative you can check BB&PP’s CD On Demand solution.
    It’s a reliable flash-based platform that enables artists or record labels to distribute customized CD and digital all over the world thanks to MPO international partnership.

    Although following link is in french you will find some showcases at the end of the article: http://www.deja-vue.net/blog/2010/02/19/cd-on-demand-on-demand-business-ria-made-in-palmer/

    For more information, you can contact me at: mike.morningmist AT gmail DOT com

    Sincerely, Mike.