What's the best way to sell individual songs online?
May 2, 2011 10:09 PM
What's the best way to sell individual songs online?
I am reaching a point where I am going to have one or two songs in the next couple of months which I think will have a strong audience, and I would like to sell downloads of these songs. Up until now I have been giving away all of my music for free, and I will continue to do this to some extent, but I'm trying to look into ways to make a little money at the same time.
Now, I am familiar with Bandcamp, but the issue there is that they use Paypal, and paypal charges $0.30 plus 3% per transaction, which means that if I sell a $0.99 song, I'm already losing a third of the money right there, not to mention the 15% that Bandcamp charges. They do mention that you can change Paypal to work better with micro transactions, but I use Paypal for my business, so I can't change the way it works.
Is there any other option that makes more sense if you are not selling full albums? Any other sites that I should be checking out that use other payment options?
I am reaching a point where I am going to have one or two songs in the next couple of months which I think will have a strong audience, and I would like to sell downloads of these songs. Up until now I have been giving away all of my music for free, and I will continue to do this to some extent, but I'm trying to look into ways to make a little money at the same time.
Now, I am familiar with Bandcamp, but the issue there is that they use Paypal, and paypal charges $0.30 plus 3% per transaction, which means that if I sell a $0.99 song, I'm already losing a third of the money right there, not to mention the 15% that Bandcamp charges. They do mention that you can change Paypal to work better with micro transactions, but I use Paypal for my business, so I can't change the way it works.
Is there any other option that makes more sense if you are not selling full albums? Any other sites that I should be checking out that use other payment options?
Check with CDBaby. I see a lot of singles and three-song EPs there.
posted by megatherium at 4:52 AM on May 3, 2011
posted by megatherium at 4:52 AM on May 3, 2011
I have had a super experience selling music through CD Baby. When we had a single a few years ago, the CD Baby process was a little more involved, but it looks like they fully support it now. Here are their terms.
posted by dfan at 5:37 AM on May 3, 2011
posted by dfan at 5:37 AM on May 3, 2011
Now, I am familiar with Bandcamp, but the issue there is that they use Paypal, and paypal charges $0.30 plus 3% per transaction, which means that if I sell a $0.99 song, I'm already losing a third of the money right there, not to mention the 15% that Bandcamp charges.
You're not going to get around this with pretty much any retailer.
The more options the better. You don't want to inconvenience your customers to squeeze out an extra 5%. Use CD Baby(which also gives you itunes, I believe) AND use Bandcamp AND use every other suggestion that people post here.
posted by empath at 6:13 AM on May 3, 2011
You're not going to get around this with pretty much any retailer.
The more options the better. You don't want to inconvenience your customers to squeeze out an extra 5%. Use CD Baby(which also gives you itunes, I believe) AND use Bandcamp AND use every other suggestion that people post here.
posted by empath at 6:13 AM on May 3, 2011
I used Tunecore for this, as they supply to iTunes, Amazon, Napstet and others. I forget what their take is, besides their flat up front fee.
posted by tremspeed at 9:16 AM on May 3, 2011
posted by tremspeed at 9:16 AM on May 3, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by bjrn at 1:20 AM on May 3, 2011