D.I.Y.

Audiolife: Sell Music & Merch With No Upfront Costs

Audiolife has launched a platform which uses on demand technologies to enable artists to deAudiolifesign, promote and sell music and merchandise online with no up-front costs or physical inventory.

The online service allows artists to:

  •  Create a store with unlimited downloads, ringtones, CDs and merchandise items.
  • Sell directly to fans on any website, blog or social network
  • Have one central place to design custom products and manage all e-commerce.
  • Buy CDs and merch with no minimums for sale at shows
  • Audiolife handles manufacturing, distribution, customer service and accounting

A video demo:


“Audiolife was built around the specific needs of artists,” remarked Brandon Hance, Founder and CEO of Audiolife. “We have spent over three years identifying the challenges artists have when trying to build their careers, and we have created a solution that integrates all of their needs into a single website that completely eliminates the need for start-up capital. Our goal is to create a middle class in the music industry by empowering artists and record labels with the necessary tools to make money in the new music business.”

Share on:

8 Comments

  1. Pretty cool, easy-to-use store.
    Their T-shirts are PRICEY though – $16.40 per shirt for a woman’s American Apparel T with a logo on it.

  2. Looks interesting. Here’s my sales objections: 182 CDs for $1000 isn’t that great of a deal. The store is based on a widget, and I think SNOCAP showed that people aren’t that interested in buying form a widget. The widget also runs on a non-standard port which may limit compatibility for people behind firewalls. The widget also isn’t persistent. If I navigate to another page and come back, my cart is lost. My suggestions: make it cheaper & run it from a web site.

  3. The average price of a shirt is around $8… depending on what you design- you gotta remember that there are manufacturing and distribution costs that the company is paying. If you are manufacturing only one shirt, the costs are gonna be high, don’t you think?
    I tried getting shirts for my senior class in college, and the prices where pretty much the same. Getting one shirt, with a cool printing and good quality was around $15 a shirt, but if I was ordering 1000 the prices woulda gone down.
    Besides, compared to other companies like CD baby and snocap, you can actually be in charge of what you sell, have a store and create your very own designs- the prices are very competitive if you research, and there are no joining fees at audiolife or exclusivity.
    I think it’s pretty cool.. and so far I don’t find any flaws or anything; prices are good, quality seems outstanding and the customer service dept always answer your questions! Great work audiolife!

  4. I agree with Lauren. I think artists will love that there are no upfront costs and that Audiolife provides a one-stop shop for fans. Plus, this way they’ll feel as though they’re directly supporting an artist vs. a major label.

  5. In my opinion, the SNOCAP case study can’t be used to assume that people aren’t interested in buying music from a widget. I think the thing that sets Audiolife apart from the SNOCAPs and the Nimbits is that, besides being completely free, it really leverages impulse buying by not drawing your fans away from your site when they do decide to purchase music from you. Everything is done within the widget, so the fan never has to be redirected to another site and sign-up for something in order to purchase music.
    This shortening of the distance between discovery and purchase is what really makes me excited about Audiolife. Sure improvements can be made, but based on where they’re at right now, the future seems really bright for Audiolife.

  6. The basic problem for Musicane, Audiolife and other companies like them is that smaller artists just doesn’t sell much via widgets on third party sites. People buy music from iTunes and eMusic, and merch from Hot Topic and at concerts. How is this different from Musicane or Nimbit? Neither of those companies have been able to make a ton of money.

  7. The widget isn’t a tool that once you place it on your site you’re guaranteed to sell. It’s a tool that makes you ABLE to sell your music over all your social networks and websites. Artists still have to learn how to market themselves, but once they do the fans will be directed to their sites and are now able to purchase products directly from the artist.
    I think that the way Audiolife differs from Nimbit and Musicane is the obvious – No Upfront Costs. Also, the quality of their merch is amazing. I’ve been using it for a month now and have received a few emails from fans telling me how they love their t shirts. All in all, I’ve been thoroughly impressed with Audiolife and will continue to use it.

  8. Audiolife’s no up-front costs is what got me. You really have nothing to lose and everything to gain. This allows me to create a larger variety of merch without having to front money for them. My fans will love it, and I can finally start selling.

Comments are closed.