Wilkinsky

by OneRPM:

TuneCore Change-Up Reminds Us What Really Matters with Distribution

In shocking fashion, DIY distributor TuneCore let go their CEO and founder, Jeff Price on July 22, as reported by Billboard. Price was kicked out along with co-founder Peter Wells by the board as well. The article details that the fallout had to do with Price’s controversy with Amazon in Europe among other internal issues involving not achieving financial goals. 

While it’s unknown what this drastic change at the top means for the company’s plans going forward, the news is setting a fire in the blogosphere. One commenter on Digital Music News made a sticking point:

Really? If you are truly in this as a pro, you know that getting on iTunes is not the tough part.  Look at the stats: 28MM songs made it on in 2011.  94% of those sold 100 units or less, roughly 8MM songs were downloaded just once!  This is the legacy of Tunecore and others like them.  You can’t release music and hpoe that it goes viral on its own.  Get a team, get a clue, get real!! - commenter named “Realist”

Going forward, artists need to learn it takes a lot more than getting your music on a store to succeed. It’s what happens after getting your music on iTunes that truly matters most. TuneCore has been a stalwart in the distribution game for a long time, but at the pace of the changing music industry, more needs to be offered to DIY musicians. Artists need a full-service option to reach their full potential. In today’s day and age, post-release promotional support and high-impact features help a lot more than just an upload service. Take what we did for Basement Batman as an example, and we got nothing but great feedback. ONErpm believes in empowering artists, but that they also need that extra support.