A very important aspect of selling your own music is getting it to the consumers via digital download sales sites, music streaming sites, and getting CDs into retail stores. Getting onto digital sites is as easy as uploading the music–it takes up no retail space, so it’s relatively easy to get accepted onto any music sales website through an aggregator.
For traditional stores, there’s no shortcut here; hard work is the only way to do this unless you have an incredible buzz, a recent sales track record, or a fool proof guarantee of record sales to the retailer. The important aspect in this equation is leverage. For example, an established indie artist who has a track record of sales may have an easier time getting his or her record into stores than a new or unknown artist because the name is more recognizable to retailers and fans. A new artist with no budget to market and promote has little to no chance of securing legitimate CD distribution.
With rap music, sales are still around 40% CD and 60% digital download (although single sales are all digital today). It’s leaning more and more digital, and soon we will stop pressing CDs altogether, but for now, CDs still matter. The younger and more mainstream (pop) your audience is, the more downloads you will sell versus CDs. The more street an artist is, the more CDs are necessary for sales. By excluding either CDs or downloads in your sales mix though, you are leaving money on the table and allowing bootleggers to collect your money.
Speak On It!