39 ways to sell a lot more of your CDs, DVDs and music merchandise (VI)
- 20somethingmedia
- Mar 14, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 20, 2024
Continuing from last week’s article…
31) Discover Sounds
Discover Sounds is an evolving effort to highlight the work of artists in converging fields: music, video, art, publishing, etc. This site is an offshoot of Bryan Baker’s (no relation) long-standing Gajoob magazine. According to the site, “From our roots in independent recording arts and providing resources for indie music bands, our efforts here are an extension of what we’ve been doing for 20 years. We continue to foster new forms of collaborative artist activity by way of internet collaboration projects, loop tribute remixes, songwriter song circle videos, and whatever else is potentially inspiring.”
32) eFolkMusic
If you record and sell folk, bluegrass, Celtic music and the like, you should take a look at eFolkMusic. For an annual $30 artist membership fee, the site can help you sell CDs, earn cash for single downloads, and market your free downloadable music files. The coolest thing about eFolkMusic is that artists get the email address of every fan who downloads their freebie MP3 files. Worth a look.
33) Aware Store
According to the Aware Store’s website, “To assure the quality of music we sell, all new items on Awarestore.com go through a submission process. If we can recommend the CD to the customer, we will bring in your product.”
34) New Artist Direct
New Artist Direct supplies independent releases to major retailers including Best Buy, Musicland, and several key independent stores. Along with selling discs online from its site, NAD can help artists sell merchandise directly from their own websites.
35) Weedshare
Here’s a novel concept. “Weed puts the power of music distribution into your hands. If you are an independent artist, you can get your music into Weed format, then take those files and post them anywhere you’d like. When you sell your songs, you’ll receive 50% of the price of the file, credited automatically to your Weed account.”
36) Planet CD
This site’s home page reads, “Planet CD has been selling the best independent music since 1997. We provide talented artists an outlet to promote and distribute their music. Learn about each artist – listen to them. If you enjoy what you hear, show your support and purchase a CD.”
37) CafePress
At CafePress, you can create and sell products with your designs (including music CDs, T-shirts, mugs, books and more – all with no upfront costs. Get a free web-based store and promote your products online. CafePress handles all product creation, credit card processing, shipping, and customer service.
38) Accept payments from your own website
You already know your fans can order your CDs securely online when you get set up with CD baby, Amazon and some of the other sites listed here. But what if you want to take orders right from your own site? And what if you want to sell T-shirts, caps and other merchandise? Most of these sales outlets can’t help you there. Here are four alternate payment processing services to consider using:
Look over fees and policies carefully. Most charge a per-transaction fee plus a percentage of each sale. PayPal has the lowest fees and most flexible access to your money. But look them all over and see what works for you.
39) Research more music sales outlets online
Pay a visit to the Google Directory at http://directory.google.com and follow this path: Shopping > Entertainment > Recordings > Audio > Music > Specialty > Independent artists. There you’ll find a long list of additional music sales sources.
To sum up: Open your mind to the music sales possibilities all around you… and you may soon find yourself with a lot of extra closet space.
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