Recently I was asked about artists setting up their websites to offer songs as a digital download to their fans. Specifically if it was worth the time and effort and cost of setting it up.
Here is my response:
It all depends on who is buying.. If it’s an older group of buyers then the cd option is the best. If they have a following of teens/40’s or if they have fans already asking for downloads then they may need to look at the download option.
Any artist with a paypal account and a website can create a sales page and sell their music online. The problem is by the time you pay the processing fees you are in the hole unless you are selling full albums. 99 cents doesn’t go far when you start deducting all the associated fees.
The biggest problem with downloads is you can’t sell them at a venue and since most music sales still occur at a live event you almost need to offer the cd option or you are losing any chance for additional income.
From a publishers point of view I would always push for the physical products because it is getting very difficult to issue a mechanical license for digital products. With a cd there are ways to verify production (invoices from duplicators) but verifying the number of cd downloads if the artist is using a service and being distributed through a dozen different services is next to impossible unless the label runs everything through one master account.
Looking down the road into the future the music income for artists will be shifting to
streaming revenues but the current problem with that model is that the fees paid are so small that many artists including ones like Taylor Swift are keeping their music off those services. Then again she has such a rabid fanbase that will immediately grab her stuff once it is released so she doesn’t need the few pennies paid by the big streaming services so I guess it works for her.
I recently talked with an artist and he told me that they have seen a big shift in their music revenues coming in from streaming services so it has already started and I think that’s why we are seeing all the activity on capital hill regarding the rates paid from the streaming services.
But rule 1 has never changed. Unless the artist is in demand with music being aired on the radio and strong music sales at their product table they probably need to continue to focus on building a strong fanbase and creating great music and great live event experiences for their fans. At the end of the day it is those people who love you and your music enough to drive a couple hours just to see and hear you and will buy your music when you have it available for sale that will keep you in business! And keeping you in business and being successful at it keeps us all happy and working.
Ask any promoter and they’ll tell you that they will book an artist in a heartbeat that can fill up an auditorium with excited fans willing to pay $$ to come and see them.
