How To Sell Your Music on iTunes

From Howcast: If you're an unsigned musician, selling your music on iTunes might seem daunting. It's actually very easy!

To complete this How-To you will need:

A CD or digital files of original
Recorded music
Money

Step 1: Get your music ready

Make sure your music is ready for public consumption. Don't forget cover art and any liner notes you want to include.

Step 2: Get a UPC barcode

Get a UPC barcode from a CD duplication company or online music distributor. Type "UPC code iTunes Store" into a search engine to find some options, which range in price from $10 to $30.

Tip: Read online reviews and ratings before you choose a UPC code vendor.

Step 3: Find a distributor

Find a distributor. To ensure you pick a legitimate company, look through several reviews of the company on various web sites. The distributor receives a percentage of every sale you make.

Step 4: Protect your rights

Protect your rights. Maintain ownership of your music by carefully reading all contracts to ensure you are only giving the company the right to distribute your music. If a contract has language about giving the distributor rights to your work, find another company.

Tip: Expect to pay a one-time sign-up fee, which sometimes includes a UPC code, plus a maintenance fee of about $1 per song and per album to keep your listings current.

Step 5: Send your distributor your CD

Send in your CD or digital files to the distributor you have chosen.

Tip: If you mail a physical CD to your distributor, make sure it's packaged exactly how you want it to be sold, including jewel case, cover art, booklet, CD art, and liner notes.

Step 6: Check iTunes for your music

Your music should automatically be placed in the iTunes Store within a few weeks. If you do not find it there, notify your distributor.

Step 7: Renew your distribution deal

Most distribution deals are only good for one year. To avoid having your music removed from iTunes and other online retailers, make sure you keep your account up to date.

Step 8: Promote your music

Just because your music is now available on iTunes doesn't mean it will be a best-seller. It's still up to you to promote your sound!

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If you click two of the links in the first box to the right, you will see Electric Chair 3000 at Amazon and iTunes. I placed my songs there by joining the distributor called Tunecore. It costs me 9.99 a song to place my songs at Amazon, EMusic, Nokia, Napster, Spotify, MediaNet, Zune, Thumbplay, IMVU in addition to iTunes. Let me be clear, you pay 9.99 for one song and have a choice of multiple digital store in which to place your song for one price. You can place your song at one store or all store mentioned above for $9.99.


Currently, I upload my songs to Tunecore by digital MP3. To date, I have never sent in a CD as it says in the video above. Thus, I have no experience doing that but so far my experience with Tunecore has been good.

After you place your songs at digital stores, I have some suggestions.

1. Buy a couple of your own songs. Why? Well, to see if your distributor is paying the royalty on your songs. Your distributor should give you reports on how your songs are selling. If you buy a couple of songs, you can see if your distributor will pay you your due royalty. As of now, I'm getting 70 cents a digital download out of 99 cents.

2. Triple check the audio quality of your songs. Making sure your songs have great audio quality is not the job of the distributor. It's yours. Plus, once a song is in a digital store, it's hard to remove them.


Getting on iTunes or any digital store is not an impossible task.

Anthony Lloyd
Electric Chair 3000