One Man Garage Band has only been sold via sites like iTunes, Amazon and CDBaby that pay me at least 60 cents per track for each song downloaded. I am changing the payment option today so that going forward the album is also available to other business models like streaming, ringtones, etc. I doubt whether this will result in much greater revenue, but I’m sort of flying blind, willing to give it a shot, and happy to report the results in another few months.
There are two other options which I’ve not yet pursued. One is called “Everything that pays” which is exactly what the name implies. It’s reportedly great for exposure but I’m concerned that it tends to undervalue the product. That may not be the case. It definitely is that case in the final option, “Do it all. Even unpaid.” I may ultimately put OMGB into this “bin” (so to speak) but I’d have to have a very specific reason for doing it. Giving music away is great for publicity, but not so much for revenue. I’m not seeking publicity, in case that wasn’t clear, so at least right now I have a hard time envisioning it. I hate to be mercenary, but “Everything that pays” is a much more likely final destination.
For those interested, album sales have been modest but consistent. Any revenue is better than no revenue, and though I’m not quitting my day job, I remain grateful to those who’ve supported my musical endeavors.
The digital download breakdown is roughly 66% iTunes and 33% CDBaby. This is about in keeping with what I expected, because I’ve been pushing CDBaby a bit (since artists are paid more). Ultimately, I think iTunes is simply a much bigger marketplace with much greater visibility so I anticipate the ratio may even be more pronounced the next time I check.
If physical album sales are included in the mix, the overall sales breakdown is 54% iTunes, 27% CDBaby, and 18% Lulu.com (physical CDs). The revenue breakdown is 53% iTunes, 31% CDBaby and 16% Lulu. Interesting, there have been no sales whatsoever via Amazon.com. Make of that what you will, but since iTunes dropped its Digital Rights Management (DRM) I’m not sure what distinct advantage Amazon brings to the table.
My apologies for the recent TyDavison.com downtime. There was an .HTaccess configuration issue that kept WordPress from displaying all its yummy goodness. I believe I now have the problem solved and said yummy goodness is now again available to all.
It seems to have occurred when I did the WordPress 2.8.4 update, an essential upgrade since previous versions were vulnerable to a serious hacking exploit. Had my site been hacked, you could have arrived here expecting to ready about my creative endeavors and found stuff about the Jonas Brothers instead, a possibility of truly horrifying magnitude.
Cataclysm averted.
Just a quick reminder that One Man Garage Band t-shirts are available, and they look good! Click on the t-shirt image below to check out our online merchandise. Help support the indie artist! 
Well, not so much. But I did just the other day, almost two months after the album release, get my first payment from CDBaby. These are the first dollars I’ve ever earned as a musician, so despite the low amount—it represents my cut of the initial two albums sold—I’m actually quite thrilled to have successfully monetized something I love to do. I’m also very grateful to those who’ve made the purchase.
Worth noting for aspiring artists: The gap between sale and payment is a relatively large one. iTunes and Amazon still haven’t reported sales or made payments for July, so if my experience is any guide you shouldn’t put out an album and expect to feed your family off the proceeds the next week.
To send a gift of my album via iTunes, you go to http://itunes.com/tydavison [link opens iTunes], click on the album, then choose the “Gift this music” link then choose the “Gift this album” link. (See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2687 for explicit instructions.)
If you prefer to give a physical CD as a gift, you can do that here:
http://www.lulu.com/content/compact-disc/one-man-garage-band/7358118
It didn’t dawn on me until the emails arrived, but apparently it’s not obvious how to listen to samples from One Man Garage Band. I’m very sorry about that, and I’ve taken steps to make it more clear. The website’s right sidebar now offers links where you can listen to samples and/or purchase songs.
If you like CDBaby’s 256-bit MP3s–and I do since that’s how I get the most revenue–click the CDBaby link. You’ll be able to listen to 30 second samples from each song, buy individual songs or (my favorite) buy the whole album. Because it’s in MP3 format it will load and play on any MP3 player be it iPod, Zune or what have you.
If you prefer using Apple’s iTunes Store for your music purchases–and I’ve got to admit the experience is fairly compelling–there’s a link for my iTunes page on the sidebar as well. Note that this link will open iTunes on your computer and take you directly to my iTunes page. You to listen to samples, purchase individual songs or the whole album at iTunes as well. Apple 256-bit AAC files are technically superior to MP3s but the difference is unlikely to be sufficient that anyone would notice. (I don’t.) The AAC files will run in iTunes, on an iPod or on any device that supports AAC. These are not copy protected files.
CDBaby is overhauling their website. Going forward that’s going to be mean lots of cool things like the ability to buy individual songs. Right now it means that all kinds of crazy things are broken. For example, my “official website” link points to some Hispanic guy’s hip-hop album. Pretty funny on Day One. Less funny on Day Four. I also can’t log into my account to see if anybody’s been buying my album.
I know the CDBaby crew is working feverishly to get things fixed, and God bless their support of the indie musician. For those of you who may have been trying to use CDBaby and having problems, I’m sure they’ll have it fixed soon and I, for one, appreciate your understanding.
For you old school types who love your physical media, One Man Garage Band is now available for purchase on Compact Disc. I’m using Lulu.com, a publish on demand service, to produce the CDs which means that no CD is manufactured until it is purchased. This saves me from carrying inventory, and it seems to be the most environmentally responsible approach to content distribution for folks who’ve not made a transition to digital music files.
One Man Garage Band is now available both at iTunes and at Amazon. This means that should you for some impossible-to-comprehend reason not want to purchase the entire album, you can pick and choose your favorite songs and purchase them individually.
Physical CDs should begin shipping by the end of the week. Details on that to follow.
