TuneCore’s Jeff Price Clarifies Universal Deal
From an email to Tunecore users sent late yesterday about the announcement of a new alliance with Universal:
Today, TuneCore announced a new partnership with Universal distribution and its record labels Interscope, Universal Republic, Island/DefJam, Motown, Geffen and moreSo let me answer the big question right out the gate – no, we are not now owned by Universal. This was a deal I did solely to provide artists more choices and options, the details of which you can read below.
In a nutshell, in addition to regular old TuneCore.com, we will also be hosting and serving websites for Universal labels that provide artists distribution while taking none of the artists rights or revenues. At these label portal sites, you not only get distribution but also extra things from each label. We do not yet know what the "extra things" are as each label will be creating their own. These extra things could be musician services, marketing, promotion, information, opportunities etc.
The costs at these site will be the exact same as the costs at TuneCore.com and TuneCore will provide all the Artist Support as it does now.
However, this we do know now, if you choose to get your distribution via one of the label portal sites (as opposed to TuneCore.com), not only do you get the extra things, but you will have a direct line into that label. This means the label will probably be aware of you, have heard your music, be up to speed on the success you are having, etc. The label can reach out to you to offer more marketing, promotion, physical distribution and anything else. If they do, you can choose to talk with them, tell them no, tell them yes, tell them you will get back to them or simply decide to continue to do what you had been doing to that point in time,
There are no extra strings.
The reason we did this deal is provide you more choices and options to pursue your passion and goals.
Some of you may want the direct in and a pre-existing relationship with a label, others will not. Some of you may not yet know what is best but would prefer not to say no to an option you don't have. This relationship with Universal was created to allow you to choose what you want.
Reality check:
TuneCore has selected a flat rate for its distribution service because of the huge number of DIY people who have no chance to sell any copy. This is a wise business model…
Now Universal has smelled the opportunity and expanded upon it: why not sell to these DIY wannabes some services such as Universal mastering, Universal advertising, Universal song arranging, Universal video service, Universal whatever…
How to best reach these DIY people ? as you know the problem is they tend to despise major labels and the music industry…
Enter the TuneCore / Universal deal
et voilà
Universal can barely market their current roster, nevermind offer up any services to up-and-coming acts.
I bet Universal can make media buys way better than a DIY artist calling up a dozen magazines and radio stations. Don’t you think?
I think its too early to tell on this one. There just isn’t enough information yet.
One potential change we might see is more filtering involved in the Tunecore process. The traditional tunecore model will still be intact (anybody who wants on iTunes can get there, which is good), but artists who want to use the UMG services may be subject to further quality criteria in order to be affiliated with the Universal name. This may not be a bad thing (depending on who is the judge of quality). Time will tell.
man, the more I think about this, the more this deal fascinates me. I can think of several potential angles that may have been behind this deal.
Sure… as seen on TuneCore homepage :
Exclusive for tunecore artists – Universal Mastering Studios – Grammy nominated engineers – etc…
Someone ask Jeff if all the old spin Art bands he never accounted to, paid mechanical royalties trust him.
….again…good morning to those that sleep….but more on that later….this Tunecore/Universal “deal” is just another example of the way things tend to migrate and evolve..small company comes up with a great idea…they take all the risk and ultimately succeed…and then a smart big company comes along and “aligns” itself with the smart upstarts. IODA/SONY, etc. Buyers beware….choice is good…but don’t give up the Y in DIY…you can depend on you…labels, historically speaking, can’t offer you the same assurances. Take my word for it. Choice is good, thank you Tunecore. Funny, no mention of the Guitar Center in all of this. Again, that’s another story.
BTW…still looking for the next great Southern Rock band…you know…three guitars trading licks with a barefoot wildman for a singer….etc. etc. etc. Send ’em my way….you never know. Mitchell Fox mitchell.fox@comcast.net
So, the TC whitelabel solution (announced last year) finally found a home – the majors. 🙁
This model sounds interesting for Artists who want to put their careers into someone else’s hands:
1. Choose the label you always wanted to be on.
2. Use them for digital distro instead of an indie provider.
3. Receive all sorts of sales pitches to buy their ‘services’ (like perhaps to have them professionally review your music for a fee).
4. Give them complete access to your sales data and sales history (oh yes, this is part of the deal)
Not working out for you? Label not interested in signing you? Simply switch to a different label. Oh wait, you probably can’t do that, since your release was put out by that label initially. And seriously how would it look to other labels if the one that can see your sales data isn’t interested in signing you? Can you say, ‘all eggs in one basket’ with me? I knew you could.
But wait, you can still get signed to a ‘development deal’ with Universal. It only costs you $5,000 to cover the outreach to radio, etc. In other words, ‘we won’t invest in you, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t invest in us, uh, I mean you.”
Why would any Artist want to pre-commit to an individual label via this distribution product and give them so much control over their future, site unseen?
Sure, we’ll see a couple of trumped up ‘success stories’, but honestly, are their artists this desperate or ignorant to think that pre-committing to just one label, to the exclusion of others, is a good business move? Bulletin: Its the competition to sign you that drives up your price. Take that competition away, and you won’t ever get a fair offer. Pre-commiting to a label like this pretty much guarantees this.
Please, artists, talk to a good lawyer, read their terms of use, and watch out for this. I don’t even know exactly what they are planning for the additional services, but a short history lesson says it doesn’t matter.
Major labels are trying to put their hands on every possible branch of the new media and digital music industry as they are starting to realize (NOW!) where the real business is. Not surprised.
But then again, sucking the small ventures in like the TuneCore deal is what will make them strong for a longer time.
TuneCore will definitely increase its subscriptions. Attractive. Universal will benefit of a few extra grands coming in every month from naive unsigned artists.
Now. Where is the real benefit for the artist: Higher quality profile? More chances of getting signed with Universal? The endless illusion of needing a major label deal to become the king of pop.
http://www.TheMusicVoid.com
This is a very bad idea and it is for sucker punk idiots who don’t have a clue.