Music Ecommerce News: Gumroad x SoundScan, Interactive Catalogs, smartTab iTunes Store

Music ecommerce tools continue to become both simpler and more complex. Gumroad keeps music ecommerce simple while adding SoundScan reporting. Musician's Friend gets complex with their Private Reserve Interactive Catalog featuring collectible guitars. While smartTab is an iTunes store for Facebook that is easy to use but currently snags affiliate revenue.

Gumroad x SoundScan x SoundCloud

Reporting to SoundScan is becoming a more important feature for DIY music ecommerce solutions. For example, Ginger Wildheart charted off fanfunded presales via PledgeMusic's SoundScan reporting. Last month Gumroad, a simple ecommerce solution, announced that they too are now reporting to SoundScan.

Though Gumroad is not a music-specific service, they are developing other music-specific features such as a SoundCloud integration that eases Gumroad sales of SoundCloud tracks.

Musician’s Friend Creates Interactive Catalog

Instrument retailer Musician’s Friend recently announced that they were working with Zmags to bring their premier music instrument catalogs to the web.

Their first effort is the Musician's Friend Private Reserve Interactive Catalog featuring rare and collectible guitars that are stored in controlled environments. The new catalog offers:

• Ultra high-resolution photos including 360-degree views of each product
• Informative master-build videos on select guitars
• The ability to listen to select instruments through embedded sound files
• Downloadable wallpaper for desktop backgrounds

iTunes smartTab Facebook Store

Michael Brandvold recently reviewed the iTunes store for Facebook developed by smartURL. smartTab is free and according to Brandvold is exceptionally easy to use.

However, as he points out, smartTab currently replaces your affiliate links with their own. A premium version will offer the option to include your own affiliate links but that makes smartTab a better look for musicians seeking an easy way to have a nice looking iTunes store on Facebook than those who are trying to optimize affiliate revenue streams.

Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (Twitter/App.net) blogs about music crowdfunding at Crowdfunding For Musicians (@CrowdfundingM). To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.