Aloha,
It’s been some time since I updated my website, other than my gigs page, so I am typing this in Maui.
I sure do love Hawaii. Wow! It’s been many years since I’ve been here and our holidays are nearly over so a melencholy cloud is hanging over my head. I never like to leave paradise. Who does? However, such is life and my wife Julia and I will make the most of the couple of days left, so I better make this update quick. :-)
On the musical front – I recently played for the TuneCity launch party at Blue Frog Studios in White Rock, BC. It was a blast. If you haven’t heard about TuneCity you would be well advised to check it out. Essentially it’s a multi-level marketing platform for artists, their fans and entrepreneurs in general. The founders really care about artists and this is the first of it’s kind among the plethora of digital distributors and virtual storefronts.
In a nutshell – artists can sign up just as an artist or as both an artist and a distributor, or, if, for some reason, you didn’t want to sign up as an artist you could just sign up as a distributor. Non-artists, such as music fans, can sign up as a distributor. TuneCity calls distributors IMDs (Independent Music Distributors).
Because this is multi-level marketing it’s a good idea to get in early. What’s so cool about this platform is that it’s win/win/win. The modern day music industry paradigm is a major challenge so one has to look under just about every rock on the beach to see if there could be an opportunity worth participating in and TuneCity is like a no-brainer to me. It’s a non-exclusive agreement for artists and although there are a couple of clauses in the agreement to be aware of, there is nothing that will impact one’s career in a negative way.
The win/win/win aspect refers to the fact that revenue is split three ways – the TuneCity infrastructure, the distributors and the artists. Because of the three way split the artist will make less than they would via iTunes, Reverbnation, BandCamp, CDBaby etc… BUT because the distributors, who will often also be fans of your music, will actually make money if they help to sell your product, it’s added motivation for them to take some time out of their day to do some business.
I know from asking around that most artists are not selling much product by way of the aforementioned storefronts, even with large fanbases. The world is what the world is. Everyone is so busy with life that sometimes some extra motivation is required to get folks to spread the word and there is no better motivation, it seems, than the potential of earning some extra cash.
Another very important aspect of the business model is that in order for a distributor to receive full compensation they need to activate their downline which requires an investment of $25 a month purchasing TuneCity products. This equates to $300 a year, which for most, is a very reasonable investment. Now, here’s the really interesting part of this – If a distributor needs to purchase $25 a month worth of music from TuneCity whose music are they going to buy and who will they suggest to their downline? For the most part they’ll obviously be looking for the best music available and that’s where there’s serious potential for the artists especially if they get on board early. I’ve listened to a reasonable amount of artists on the TuneCity site and there is no doubt they would benefit from having more top notch, professional artists, so I encourage all pros out there to get involved asap.
So, yes, as an artist, I technically can make more per sale from the other storefronts but as the old adage goes – 100% of nothing is nothing. I believe the concept of profit sharing, the motivation to buy product in order to activate one’s downline and the entire TuneCity community as a whole could easily result in many more sales than the typical storefronts. Bottom line is – why not? Artists can still be part of the other distribution networks, so they lose nothing, but gain another outlet via TuneCity.
If you’d like more info please go to http://neiljames.tunecity.com. This will take you to all the information including some well done videos and it will also load my ID# in the event you choose to join up. If, for some reason, my ID# doesn’t load it is 1053501. Whether you signup under my downline or someone else’s it would be great to have you on board.
Mahalo and Aloha.
Be well.
Neil
Neil Harnett 