IndieHQ / Article Detail

May 11th, 2007

TuneCore: Interview With Jeff Price

TuneCore is a digital aggregator with a twist. Instead of delivering music to a company that perpetually takes a percentage of your sales, for one flat price they’ll host and deliver your media to iTunes and a host of other ala-carte digital services. I recently talked to owner Jeff Price via IM.

Let’s talk about overall direction of new media and the music business. You were a “pioneer” in the biz going from SpinArt as a successful label… to eMusic. Explain the differences in the old model vs. the new model.
The old model is about generating revenue from the “exploitation” of the music. We need to “sell” music to make money, and artists gets a small % of the money (band royalty.) The food chain is artist creates music label, mass produces it onto and delivers some kind of finished product to a distribution company That company has a huge warehouse, a huge staff, insures the inventory,etc. The distribution company also has field staff that walks into stores to get shelf space, fronts money for co-ops. In return - the distributor takes a % of the money, so if you sell for $10 they take 25% and the rest goes to the label. The artist gets $1.35 - $1.75 from each sale

Now come digital stores. They have unlimited shelf space. So, no more fighting to get your “product” available. They also have unlimited inventory and [a release is always] in stock. Those two things make most of what is the traditional structure obsolete. The third big change is ability to make music without spending a fortune. Protools, Firepods, T-Rack - anyone can make music (even with no talent!)

So now a great deal of the costs are shifting to marketing.
Well not really. What is marketing? Marketing music is simply giving someone else your music in hopes they talk about it or play it for someone. What if you had a way to allow anyone to hear your music and if they liked it they could tell others? [Enter] Pitchfork, MySpace, YouTube, etc.

So they’re are new gatekeepers.
I would call them facilitators. We are all TV Networks

But for one artist to manage the multiplicity of social networks, and be their own publicist still costs money or time.
The beauty is you don’t want to manage. You want to put it out there and let it go. In the “old school” people used to disciover music en masse in one of three ways, commercial radio, cable video music channels, or print publications. Those 3 outlets used to choose what bands to talk about or play from a pool of artists pushed to them via “record labels” An artist not on a label, had a very very very small chance of getting into ANY of those three

Finite players on a closed field.
It was a TOP DOWN approach. Now its working bottom up- that is, “we” know about it before “they” do.

Do you really think it’s just a social meme? Money doesn’t drive it?
Hell yes. You should see what people using Tunecore to make and sell, its fucking nuts. Liam sold over 120,000 songs in less than 6 weeks (not 86- that’s a typo.) Secondhand Serenade- with no label, no radio, no pr- nothing ,just him and MySpace 200,000 songs sold in 4 months.

So how did they rise above the other thousands of unsigned artists? Help me fill in the blank on demand.
Watch thisfor 45 seconds if you can stand it, then I will tell you why this matters

Sweet fucking jesus!
(Laughs.) Ok, so someone sends me that link many months ago. I had the same reaction “omg this blows.” I crack up and send it to friends. One of them at Apple says “Oh this, i saw this months ago!” Then it struck me- more fucking people know this band then any band spinART has ever released. More people know this band than the Pixies, Nellie McKay, or Apples In Stereo.

So after all our sweat and money.. these idiots can be more famous than way better bands.
Yes.. Also look at this:

This is the guy that sold over 100,000 songs in 6 weeks. he now has TV show offers

So explain the brick that is the Tila Tequila record.
See now, Tila Tequila she was a an attempt to be popular and thats why it bombed. It was not real. She was hot, but she sucked. If this was about naked women she would have done fine. You know Star Wars Kid?

Yes.
Can you imagine if he was in a band? And the band was good? Think how he would have sold with unlimited virtual inventory on limitless shelf space. No overhead or manufacturing and just a vehicle to propogate yourself out to the world, that can spread virally with a click of a button. The money/sales artists are making via TuneCore is amazing.

Here is my pitch on TC. For the first time on the history of the music industry, artists receive 100% of the revenue from the sale of their music in a non-exclusive agreement that can be cancelled any time.Their music is available in the 4th largest seller of music in the US for the cost of a pizza. They get to take their money 24 hours / 7 days a week - no more artificial accounting periods. Ziggy Marley used TuneCore, his album won a Grammy. He got all the money from the sale of the album and songsand TuneCore earned around $18.

So what is the ongoing role of the label?
I see it is more of a management role and administrative role. Booking live gigs, Routing, merch, \ balncing the books, cash flow, master use placement, submitting to BMI/ASCAP, Soundexchange, contracts, publishing collection

That is what TuneCore is. a service model as opposed to a exploitation model

I agree with you. I see labels in the future as VC’s for talent. Providing money for marketing and business acumen/ admin in exchange for a piece of a bands a career.one more thing on the demand front however… the examples you cited above are either a. famous already or b. a youtube novelty
Well, they were not famous when they used TuneCore and sell through so much.They became popular after. No one knew who the heck any of those artists n the press release were, Tapes N Tapes used TuneCore, then they got big last March, 2006.

So in an ideal world .. give me a typical unsigned artist scenario with TuneCore. How did those artists who are unsigned make it?
Make “Art” in the form of media

So, YouTube (and other social media) is the new touring?
Yes - they kind of are, and now you have a way to get that media out it has to be good it takes work talent, creatvity

So youre saying collectively social media has more influence than Viacom.
Hell yes! Iin my opinion its not about albums, it’s about about a continuous roll out of media flash animated video games, mobile blogging, myspace iMixes seeded in iTunes, etc. etc.

This leads me to another question… Will there be or should there be any more “superstar” artists. Not some 15-minute hero with just a “flashmob” of fans.. but a sustainable fain base that can build a career. Artists that can buy a house, send the kids to college?
I think there can be but it takes time to build cred, so ask me again in a decade.

Nope. Pontificate NOW
I do think its possible but you have to be careful not to do something that is pure novelty. The Johnny Depp approach to being a movie star. Imagine if you were Pink Floyd and you made The Wall Now, so much interactive media you could tie into it and unique ways of rolling it out.

I look at the old “Sonic Youth” model as a good approach. that band was ALWAYS in the media. releasing a single, appearing as a guest… always active and in the mix. I guess it’s the same now, but it all has to be filmed.
But the problem is you always need to have someting else lined up pretty quickly

So the lesson for artists is.. your work is harder than ever.
Perhaps.

If you sleep there will be someone there to take your place.
Unless your work is your fun and you are an “artist” and you MUST get those songs out and that painting and that video because it is what you are.

OK. I get it. Describe the advantages to using TuneCore over IODA and CDBaby.
i am vehemently against the backend model in regards to digital. Why does [being a digital distributor] get them 2 sets of rights? Rights to control masters (IODA does, CD Baby changed after TuneCore launched to compete. [What gives them the right to] take an UNLIMITED amount of revenue from you 9% - 15% at a time? You work for them? You tour, someone sees you play, and goes to iTunes. Hooray! You just gave someone else a % of your money! Why? It’s just not right, they are gouging because they can. Pay the gatekeeper, b/c that’s they way its been done for the past 100 years

Now you gave some great examples of success stories with artists. I understand you’re not part of the demand-creation machine. you provide a service, for a flat fee.. no matter how much is sold. Butt respond to this: iIsn’t charging a fee to lesser known artists, rather than a percentage of sales kind of like a “pay to play” and selling the dream, rather than the reality a bit? i.e. money up front, instead of from proceeds?
If that was the case, then Fed Ex and the post office must be in the same business… Ii mean seriously - pay Fed Ex $20 to get a package sent to iTunes. Tunecore is postage money.

So are there any other benefits from TuneCore? There are other benefits as well forthcoming- you can use your TuneCore balance to buy gear at a lower rate than you can get on your own at GuitarCenter. Also you can have your physical CDs made avaiulable to buy at Guitar Center stores.

For more info see: http://www.tunecore.com.

Written by Bill Wilson