Bands: How to Sell Your Music on iTunes, Rhapsody, and Amazon Without a Record Label

If you're an independent band or solo artist trying to compete with the majors, it is important that you make your music available on iTunes, Rhapsody, Amazon, and other prominent online retailers; but how do you do that without being signed to record label? Well, that's exactly what I am going to cover in this article. I will give you step by step instructions on how to get your music into iTunes and other stores.

Cdbaby.com is a service exclusively for unsigned artists and independent record labels. They act as a full service digital distribution company for anyone in the music business. That's right, anyone can create a CD baby account, and CD baby will provide you with a store to sell your CD's online, as well as, ship your music to about 40 different online companies. The best part about CD baby, is that it's free. Yes, it's free. You only have to pay a one-time service fee of $30 to set up your account. That is to cover their warehouse expenses, but after that there are no other fees. CD baby only keeps 9% of your digital sales, and only $4 per CD sale. So, if you don't make money, they don't make money.

Now, let me explain the process. Go to Cdbaby.com and register to open an account. During this process you will provide them with all of your important information, such as the name of your band, what style of music you play, etc. After your account has been created, you will ship them a copy of your CD along with a $30 check or money order. A few weeks later your CD will be encoded and ready to be sold. You should send them a retail-ready copy of your CD. What I mean by that, is make sure you send them a proper jewel case with album artwork, track names, etc. The way your CD looks when you ship it to them, is the way it will look online.