# Distributing your Music



## teknoaxe (Apr 17, 2010)

So...

I'm gonna take a small tiny break for a little bit to just rest on the whole composition thing because, whether or not you liked my last work, it did take a lot out of me.

But I thought I'd take a minute to discuss distribution and ways to get people to hear your compositions and even buy them if they like. 

Classical and Orchestral compositions seem to always be a hard sell in the conventional CD realm, where you have to go look for something that's not necessarily going to be there. Certainly, radio stations have no inclination to play your music because you don't have the backing of any label.

But CDs are like, so 20th century, am I right? 

Digital Distribution may be the new life that gets breathed into classical and orchestral compositions. And it's probably like that because people want to hear new twists on such music, but there's no standard way of getting to that music, so instead, the digital realm takes over and provides that platform to explore.

I'm signed up for TuneCore.com, which distributes music to sites like iTunes and Amazon. Two of my songs are actually doing fairly well, probably at least good enough to cover the cost of distribution. I haven't gotten any figures back, but at least I know people are liking some of my stuff enough to buy the tracks. 

It's kind of encouraging to the classical and orchestral genres and probably a breath of fresh air to those fans of such genres to have such an outlet to search for new music that they like. And the best part for them is that they can choose what they like and not have to deal with anything they don't. 

Anyone else dealing with people like TuneCore and Reverb nation? Discussion is on the table.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

I don't make music to distribute, but as a consumer have found some pretty neat music at Bandcamp.

http://bandcamp.com/

Not the most intuitive of websites. You actually get to the music by clicking the tiny "many artists" link to the right.


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## Earthling (May 21, 2010)

I've got some rock music and a side electronic ambient music project, neither of which I devote too much time to. My day job is draining, and I no longer have the energy for recording like I used to (and I'm a perfectionist, which makes it worse for me!). So I've released an album of pop-rock, but I simply haven't devoted time to the marketing-- and it was all for fun anyway, getting some old ideas out of my system.

The ambient project (_Murmur_, very much in the vein of Eno or Stars of the Lid) is something I need to work toward more, but again, I have no intention of doing any hardcore marketing. I just don't have that kind of time anymore, and even if I did, I'm too lazy and lack the discipline to do music full time.

Anyway, here are my two MySpace sites:

*Joker *(a pop-rock collaboration)

and

*Murmur* (my electronic ambient project)

I've been getting my CD and digital distribution through CD Baby.


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## teknoaxe (Apr 17, 2010)

Earthling said:


> I've got some rock music and a side electronic ambient music project, neither of which I devote too much time to. My day job is draining, and I no longer have the energy for recording like I used to (and I'm a perfectionist, which makes it worse for me!). So I've released an album of pop-rock, but I simply haven't devoted time to the marketing-- and it was all for fun anyway, getting some old ideas out of my system.
> 
> The ambient project (_Murmur_, very much in the vein of Eno or Stars of the Lid) is something I need to work toward more, but again, I have no intention of doing any hardcore marketing. I just don't have that kind of time anymore, and even if I did, I'm too lazy and lack the discipline to do music full time.
> 
> ...


Pretty good stuff, man. I've actually not logged onto my myspace account in a little over six months. Do you find it helps people locate your music?


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## Earthling (May 21, 2010)

teknoaxe said:


> Pretty good stuff, man. I've actually not logged onto my myspace account in a little over six months. Do you find it helps people locate your music?


Thank you. Hmmm -- I don't know, to be honest, but with some effort, I do think it helps. A couple years ago I was really plugging away at it (and a ReverbNation too) and for awhile I was able to get some interest. The problem is if you don't keep it up, its easy for your voice to get drowned out by all the other MySpace musicians. As it is now, I'm lucky to check in once every three or four months, so, for all intents and purposes, I may as well not have a MySpace page at all. LOL


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## teknoaxe (Apr 17, 2010)

Earthling said:


> Thank you. Hmmm -- I don't know, to be honest, but with some effort, I do think it helps. A couple years ago I was really plugging away at it (and a ReverbNation too) and for awhile I was able to get some interest. The problem is if you don't keep it up, its easy for your voice to get drowned out by all the other MySpace musicians. As it is now, I'm lucky to check in once every three or four months, so, for all intents and purposes, I may as well not have a MySpace page at all. LOL


One of the benefits of TuneCore.com and ReverbNation nowadays, though might be a little bit of radio play here and there, though, on the stations. I haven't bought into this yet, but there is kind of a promotional package you can look into to maybe get more exposure. I'm not looking to do that, though, until I see what the reports are on my songs.


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