Release Music on iTunes
Independent musical artists can often find it difficult to produce and release their music, primarily due to financial and networking constraints. Fortunately, the rise of the Internet and digital music distribution has made the process simpler, cheaper, and more accessible. It has even become relatively easy to release music through channels that consumers are most familiar with, such as the iTunes store. Even as a small-time independent artist, you can release music on iTunes by taking the time to follow a few necessary steps.
Steps
- Master your recordings. Mastering represents the final step of the recording and production process. During this phase, the dynamics, volume, and equalization of the recordings are adjusted to near-commercial quality. You can handle the mastering yourself or hire a professional, but don't leave this step out if you want your music to sound its best in digital form.
- Produce artwork for your album or single. Cover art has long been a major part of releasing music through physical media (like compact discs), but you need to develop artwork even if you are exclusively releasing music digitally. None of the major services, including iTunes, will release your music without corresponding artwork. You can handle the graphic design yourself or contract a professional to design work to your specifications.
- Purchase a UPC number for your album. None of the major music distribution services, including iTunes, will sell your album or single without a UPC number - this applies to digital media as well as physical media. If you are having CDs produced, then you can usually buy a bar code from the company duplicating your CDs for less than 50 USD. Some services, such as CD Baby, will allow you to purchase a unique bar code for your album even without using their service to sell your music.
- Partner with a distributor. As an independent artist, you cannot deal with Apple directly; the volume of demand dictates that they only do business with major distributors. These companies will upload your music into their database (often performing mastering work if desired), from which they release the music to Apple to sell in the iTunes store.
- When choosing a distributor, make sure that you retain all the rights to your own music. Many of the popular independent distributors, such as CD Baby and TuneCore, will not make any claims to your music.
- Compare the fees charged by different distributors. Many services charge around 40 USD to upload an entire full-length album, and then charge around a 10 percent fee per song sold. Choose a distributor with competitive rates.
- Choose to have your music appear in the iTunes store. When uploading your music to your distributor's website, you will be given the option to have your music appear in several of the major music sales services. Choose the iTunes store, and your distributor will make your music available for download through Apple's service.
Tips
- Singles are often cheaper to record, produce and distribute than full-length albums, so try releasing a single to iTunes to build recognition before releasing a full album.
Things You'll Need
- Audio recordings
- Artwork
