Indie Artists Distribute Music and Ringtones on Music.com

Press release
Source: PEG PR

Music.com launched their artist-controlled Music Download and Ringtone service at SXSW, moving from being a music index to becoming an integrated, feature-rich artist and fan community and music store. Artists using Music.com connect directly with fans and other artists. The artist-controlled music store enables bands to sell their music anywhere online and retain a greater percentage of their download and ringtone sales.

MUSIC.COM’s free comprehensive artist management tools, community, and music store, provide a platform where artists and bands have more control over their career, music, and profits by setting their own pricing for their own music and selling their music as downloads, mobile downloads and customizable ringtones directly to their fans, from anywhere, whether on Music.com, the band's website, or any social network where users can paste widgets. Music.com offers the best payout, over 80% on $0.99 music downloads and the most favorable rates on mobile downloads and customizable ringtones, without charging set up or monthly fees.

Music.com exists to encourage a community where artists and fans find one another through music and music through each other. Bands and music enthusiasts build profiles with Music.com’s in depth feature set, including photo albums, blogs and messaging. Music.com enables interaction between artists and music fans that share common interests, the discovery of new music, and e-commerce, where downloads and ringtones can be purchased directly from the artist from any of the artists’ online sites. Music.com lets the artists select whether to offer free downloads, or set their own prices to sell their music downloads and/ or mobile downloads and ringtones.

How Downloads Work

Music.com DOES NOT charge set up fees or monthly fees for being part of the Music.com community or for the music store service. Artists and bands make their music available for download simply by uploading their music to the site. Artists set the pricing for their music and retain up to 81% of the purchase price of a music download. Downloads sold for $.99 USD or less are charged a flat rate of $.18 per transaction. Downloads selling for $1.00 USD and above are charged a 20% rate per transaction. For example, if an artist prices a download at $.99 USD, the artist makes $.81 USD or if the artist prices the download at $1.50 USD, the artist makes $1.20 USD.

Music.com’s pay structure sees artists retaining 35% more of the purchase price of a download than is otherwise currently available. While some sites offer better payout rates to artists than others, they all tend to charge set up or monthly fees, which can impact the artists’ net income significantly. Music.com’s fee structure garners a higher yield for the artist per download and Music.com does not charge set up or monthly fees. Therefore, THE ARTISTS MAKE THE MOST MONEY FOR THEIR MUSIC.

How Mobile Downloads and Customizable Ringtones Work

The artists control variable pricing for mobile delivery of downloads and ringtones. Artists retain 80% of the net mobile transaction. Mobile downloads and customizable ringtones are delivered directly to the purchaser’s SMS enabled mobile phones from any of the four major carriers: Cingular, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile. Customizable ringtones allow the consumer to select the length of the ringtone and their favorite part of the song, presenting a unique identity to each purchase.

Artist Payouts on Downloads and Ringtones

Monthly sales per artist account totaling net $25 USD or more are paid out in monthly installments. Sales garnering less than net $25 USD are paid out quarterly.

About Music.com

Music.com is here because music is central and essential to our lives. Music.com helps music enthusiasts and artists make the most of our online community by adding functionality that empowers people with more ways to connect, discover and manage their music career. The Music.com community is passionate and opinionated about music, all music. Ultimately, Music.com is a reflection of the individual users and the collective passion and knowledge of our community. Music.com uses your ratings and lists to determine who and what you might like. Your activity within music.com directly serves to shape your experience with the community. Music.com partners with the top music services to create the most integrated and dynamic yet comprehensive music resource available online.