License your music
Licensing (also called “sync” licensing) gets you paid for your music and gives you exposure to audiences that may not otherwise find your music. You can license your music to film, TV, commercials, and a host of other outlets—dance videos and shows, conferences, and other unexpected places.
It used to be that you got lucky and someone called asking to license your music (this is how all my licensing happened), but nowadays, there are services that offer listings of libraries or producers looking for music. Here are three worth checking out:
Audiosocket: Audiosocket vets the music that it offers its buyers but doesn’t charge its artists to list their music. So, if you’re interested in offering your music through Audiosocket, complete an application and a few songs. If they accept your music and sell any, they take a 50 percent cut in the placement fee and 50 percent of the publishing royalties.
Broadjam: Broadjam helps you submit your music to publishers. It’s also a music hosting and download site. Membership starts at about $10 per month.
Taxi: Taxi has been around a long time and has a very active member community, as well as a yearly “road rally” conference to help you get the most out of the service. Membership will cost you $300 plus a small fee for each submission, but for all they offer, this can be a bargain if you work to get the most out of the service. They don’t take a cut of the money you make on placements for royalties.
Podcasting
Podcasting is another way to offer audio online. Typically, podcasts are media feeds that your visitors can subscribe to and get updates automatically as they’re published. If you regularly update your music or if you want to have an audio blog (or video blog) your fans can listen to (or watch), this can be a great way to keep them involved in your music.
The process of creating a podcast starts with recording the content and then putting it in an MP3 format (if you’re doing audio). So, you can create audio content easily. Next, you need to host it or have a podcasting site host it for you. This process can get pretty complicated, so check out Podcasting For Dummies by Tee Morris and Chuck Tomasi (Wiley). You can also check out these sites to learn more about podcasting:
Apple podcast page: This page on the Apple website contains tons of information on creating a podcast and publishing it. This is a good place to start.
Podcasting Tools: This site has information, links, and tools for creating a podcast. This is a good place to find quality information.
If you’re ready to get started podcasting, here are a few sites worth looking into:
Hipcast: Hipcast is an easy-to-use site that lets you create and publish your audio or video blogs. This site offers a seven-day free trial period, with plans starting at $5 per month. You don’t find a lot of information on this site about podcasting, but if you’re ready to give it a try, this is a good inexpensive option.
Libsyn: Libsyn offers plans starting at $5 per month and, for an added cost, offers Apple iOS and Android apps for mobile listeners.
PodHoster: PodHoster, as the name states, hosts podcasts. With this service, you record your audio and PodHoster hosts it. This is a good option for musicians who record their own music and know the ins and outs of the audio-creation process. PodHoster offers a 30-day free trial, with monthly plans starting at $5.
Sell your CDs
Regardless of whether you have your own site, you can always sell your CDs on the internet through other outlets. An advantage to selling your music through other online stores is that you can capitalize on the traffic that the store generates. A number of online retailers are out there, but the following list gives you the lowdown on some of the major players:
Amazon.com: If you want to sell your physical CD on Amazon.com, all you need is a “retail-ready” package (professional manufacturer with a UPC code on it).
Bandcamp: Bandcamp is a way for you to sell not only your CDs online, but also merchandise such as T-shirts, coffee mugs, and so on. Bandcamp doesn’t charge a monthly fee but does take a cut — 15 percent or less, depending on how much you sell and the prices you set.
CD Baby: CD Baby puts your CD on its site for a small setup fee ($35). For this, you get a web page (which the people at CD Baby design) with pictures, bios, MP3s, and streaming audio. The site sells your CD for any price you set, takes $4 from the sale, and gives you the rest. You even receive an email whenever someone buys one of your CDs.
Because the internet is constantly changing and growing, you may find other sites that allow you to sell your music online. Use your favorite search engine to search for the phrase sell your CD. This gives you a ton of other places to consider when selling your CD online.
Promote your music
The whole point of making CDs and putting MP3s of your music on the internet is to promote and sell your music. To do this, you need exposure. As with any promotion technique, there are no hard-and-fast rules except to use your imagination. Experience will be your guide, but here are some ideas to get you started: