With the growing ubiquity of the Internet, there are many things an independent musician needs to consider when marketing their work and I must admit, when it comes to digital music distribution, I’d always assumed iTunes was the be all and end all of online options. While the Apple-owned juggernaut can claim a significant percentage of online music sales, there are still plenty of other options out there.
iMusician Digital bills itself as “Europe’s leading DIY digital music distributor” and has recently started making waves here in Australia as a reliable and affordable source for independent musicians and management to distribute music to nearly two hundred different online stores.
Any band, label or management can create an account on the site, create albums, and upload music as WAVs which are then distributed to online shops such as iTunes, Spotify and Amazon. They’re not the only company that offers a similar service, but with competitors charging up to $59 to distribute a single album to only a handful of online stores, they do seem to be the cheapest option.
Musicians pay $29 to have their album distributed, with iMusician digital taking a 15% commission, but with no ongoing annual fees (other services charge at least $20 per annum for the luxury of hosting digital music distribution with them). Their credo is “indie friendly transparency” and so they pride ourselves on “no hidden costs” or “yearly fees charged automatically to credit cards”.
Their Australian prices are almost 50% cheaper than corresponding European prices, and the company is constantly working to expand their reach in smaller local stores (such as JB HiFi and BigPond Music).
Now, we’re obviously quite interested in the iMusician business model here at Music Feeds, and in exchange for our support the company has decided to offer our readers a special introductory deal. If you sign up for an account now at their website, iMusician Digital will provide you with a “free digital distribution package” worth $39 ($29 distribution + $10 barcodes). There are no hidden costs, no repeating fees, and albums can be taken down at will.
To take them up on their offer, head over to the website. and enter the voucher code MusicfeedsRocks
