S2.6/E33: Setting Up Your Release & Distribution Plan w/ CD Baby's Chief Revenue Officer - Christine Barnum

It's time to release your music! But how do you do so to maximize revenue? Your fans want to support you in the best way possible, but they don't know how if you don't tell them. We covered launching a pre-order in S2.2/E29 of this season, Pre-Recording Marketing Foundation, so you should already be monetizing your music before it's even out. When release day is here, Host Emily White reminds that you'll collect the most fan data for longterm monetization & receive the highest profit margins by sharing that your music is out on your website on release day. It can absolutely be on streaming platforms as well. But sharing your streaming links & news can wait a day or two, even though we know you're excited! On Day Two of your release week, Emily recommends sharing that it's on Bandcamp (again, it can be on Bandcamp on Day 1; we're talking about what you are communicating to your audience so they can support you in the best way for you). And then on that third day, push out on social media, etc that your music is out on streaming platforms. Doing so in this manner will put yourself in a position to make dollars, 10's of dollars, hundreds & thousands of dollars (or your equivalent local currency), vs fractions of a penny on streaming. Sharing your music in this order also ensures you get as much fan data as possible. With this data you can directly communicate with your audience for years to come when social media platforms come & go (hello MySpace!) & you aren't beholden to algorithm changes. Phew! That said, we want you to maximize your success on streaming as well and to do so, Emily chats with CD Baby's Chief Revenue Officer Christine Barnum. Here we go!

+Today’s podcast is brought to you by our friends at Bandzoogle! We want to take this time to congratulate Bandzoogle members for surpassing $100 million dollars in commission-free sales of music, merch, and tickets through their websites. Bandzoogle makes it easy to build a stunning website and online store for your music in minutes. All the features you need are already built-in, including:

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Plans start at just $8.29/month, which includes hosting and your own free custom domain name. How to Build a Sustainable Music Career and Collect All Revenue Streams podcast listeners can go to Bandzoogle.com to try it free for 30 days, and use the promo code “SUSTAINABLE” to get 15% off the first year of any subscription. That’s Bandzoogle.com, promo code “SUSTAINABLE”. Link: https://bandzoogle.com/?pc=SUSTAINABLE

Also! We're planning live podcast tapings both in the U.S. & around the world in coming months & years. If you'd like to be in the loop on said live events, & all updates on the book this podcast is based on, ⁠⁠⁠⁠sign up for our email list HERE.⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

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Season Two Video trailer: https://youtu.be/ubuyq9uYa8s

FULL VIDEO of this & ALL Season Two episodes available under the VIDEOS tab HERE: https://volume.com/p/sustainablemusiccareer/

Questions? ⁠⁠⁠⁠@EmWizzle on Twitter⁠⁠⁠

CREDITS:

Creator, Executive Producer, Producer, & Host:⁠⁠⁠⁠ Emily White⁠⁠⁠⁠

Project Manager: ⁠⁠⁠Michael Zimmerlich⁠⁠⁠

Engineer: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Nathan Cain⁠⁠⁠⁠

Music: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Matthew Wang⁠⁠⁠⁠

Recorded Live at ⁠⁠⁠Nō Studios