Get your music on ITUNES!!!!

nonnus · Post by **nonnus** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 4:48 am

those formats mentioned before are the ones tunecore supports for uploading tracks

http://www.tunecore.com/index/faq#Compression

Whichever software you use, you'll be able to rip your music in your choice of formats. To upload your music to TuneCore, we need your songs in any of these formats and at these minimum kbps:

320 kbps .MP3 files OR BETTER (that is, 320 kbps or higher)
256 kbps AAC files OR BETTER (.M4A) NOTE: 320 kbps AAC files is the TuneCore preferred format
Apple Lossless/ALAC (.M4A)

siddhu · Post by **siddhu** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 5:06 am

nonnus wrote:those formats mentioned before are the ones tunecore supports for uploading tracks

http://www.tunecore.com/index/faq#Compression
Whichever software you use, you'll be able to rip your music in your choice of formats. To upload your music to TuneCore, we need your songs in any of these formats and at these minimum kbps:

320 kbps .MP3 files OR BETTER (that is, 320 kbps or higher)
256 kbps AAC files OR BETTER (.M4A) NOTE: 320 kbps AAC files is the TuneCore preferred format
Apple Lossless/ALAC (.M4A)

1) That does not change the fact about the formats being sold on iTunes which are only 128 and 256 Kbs AAC files.

2) This is a recent development because up to of April 2007 (last time I checked), Tunecore was only accepting uploads as Apple lossless files.

PurpleHaze · Post by **PurpleHaze** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 5:13 am

um you guys know you could sign up to itunes your self right? anyway i looked at tunecore last month but when i saw how long it would take till the tunes would be up i said nah. But its really good i think.

leedsquietman · Post by **leedsquietman** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 5:36 am

I am just releasing an album on CDBaby and they sign you up for digital distribution with lots of different outlets including itunes but they say that typically it takes 2-4 months and sometimes as much as 6 months before itunes hosts your music.

They also state that almost every other outlet they deal with including Napster and Rhapsody is usually much faster to make your tunes available on digital download. Itunes is the slowest.

prospect · Post by **prospect** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 6:45 am

PurpleHaze wrote:um you guys know you could sign up to itunes your self right? .

Yes but you have to go through a rigorous application process.

Even the bigger independent labels are going through digital distribution companies like CD Baby to get their artists onto iTunes.

CD Baby got my stuff on iTunes in 2 days.

scientist · Post by **scientist** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 5:34 pm

PurpleHaze wrote:um you guys know you could sign up to itunes your self right? anyway i looked at tunecore last month but when i saw how long it would take till the tunes would be up i said nah. But its really good i think.

yeah, you can sign up alright. but that doesn't mean anything. its being accepted that's important and that takes upwards of two years if they accept you at all. if you're a small label, then maybe they'll accept you. independent artist? no way.

tunecore also gives you barcodes for your physical release which is a nice bonus.

siddhu wrote:2) This is a recent development because up to of April 2007 (last time I checked), Tunecore was only accepting uploads as Apple lossless files.

not true. tunecore takes all the filetypes mentioned, and have for a while. apple lossless is actually best because the file is going to get recompressed no matter what for the different services.

siddhu · Post by **siddhu** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 6:09 pm

scientist wrote:
PurpleHaze wrote:um you guys know you could sign up to itunes your self right? anyway i looked at tunecore last month but when i saw how long it would take till the tunes would be up i said nah. But its really good i think.
yeah, you can sign up alright. but that doesn't mean anything. its being accepted that's important and that takes upwards of two years if they accept you at all. if you're a small label, then maybe they'll accept you. independent artist? no way.

tunecore also gives you barcodes for your physical release which is a nice bonus.

siddhu wrote:2) This is a recent development because up to of April 2007 (last time I checked), Tunecore was only accepting uploads as Apple lossless files.
not true. tunecore takes all the filetypes mentioned, and have for a while. apple lossless is actually best because the file is going to get recompressed no matter what for the different services.

My point was that up to spring of 2007, they were only accepting Apple Lossless files or CD's sent to them.

They have updated their policy since I last was on their site in April of 2007 to include multiple file types for upload.

So were both saying teh same thing I guess.

synnack · Post by **synnack** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 6:26 pm

siddhu wrote:
nonnus wrote:doesn´t it have something to with the quality the tracks where uploaded ?

they support some differenty formats including mp3 and aac
but the best quality supported one is apple lossless

maybe the low quality tracks where not properly uploaded ?

anyway i am very curious about the service
iTunes does not sell MP3's or Apple Lossless files.

They only sell AAC (MPEG4 audio format) with DRM attached, and are now selling higher quality DRM free AAC files from EMI.

Tunecore has no say as to the bitrate of the files that are being sold as that is a controlled by Apple.

Tunecore is completely solid and reputable, and is probably the best way of getting you rmusic onto iTunes. Small flat fee, no onerous contract as most of the digital distributors will male you sign, and no ridiculous %.

But if people want to slag it withought doing there homework, feel free.

No one is calling tunecore anything bad. Tuncore is a great service. The problem, as you confirmed for us, is iTunes. Most of the music I can find is 128k AAC and the quality is much worse than buying a higher bitrite mp3 format or something else direct from the artist or other online store.

Maybe the newer stuff they are putting up is better quality as you say and that's great. But my friends release was just put up a month ago and the quality is really shit compared to the originals.

Summary: Tuncore = great; iTunes = bite me.

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 6:28 pm

tempus3r wrote:
siddhu wrote:
nonnus wrote:doesn´t it have something to with the quality the tracks where uploaded ?

they support some differenty formats including mp3 and aac
but the best quality supported one is apple lossless

maybe the low quality tracks where not properly uploaded ?

anyway i am very curious about the service
iTunes does not sell MP3's or Apple Lossless files.

They only sell AAC (MPEG4 audio format) with DRM attached, and are now selling higher quality DRM free AAC files from EMI.

Tunecore has no say as to the bitrate of the files that are being sold as that is a controlled by Apple.

Tunecore is completely solid and reputable, and is probably the best way of getting you rmusic onto iTunes. Small flat fee, no onerous contract as most of the digital distributors will male you sign, and no ridiculous %.

But if people want to slag it withought doing there homework, feel free.
No one is calling tunecore anything bad. Tuncore is a great service. The problem, as you confirmed for us, is iTunes. Most of the music I can find is 128k AAC and the quality is much worse than buying a higher bitrite mp3 format or something else direct from the artist or other online store.

Maybe the newer stuff they are putting up is better quality as you say and that's great. But my friends release was just put up a month ago and the quality is really shit compared to the originals.

Summary: Tuncore = great; iTunes = bite me.

i wouldnt call a 3-4 month wait with delays 'great'.

for a project which is more time critical i sure as hell would think twice before using them.

synnack · Post by **synnack** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 6:31 pm

sweetjesus wrote:
i wouldnt call a 3-4 month wait with delays 'great'.

for a project which is more time critical i sure as hell would think twice before using them.

That's not tunecore's problem though. Any service you use it takes month to show up on iTunes.

Any perceived difference between tunecore and cdbaby is on the iTunes side and is almost random. I know a lot of people who use both services and there is no consistent pattern on who's faster. It's itunes.

sweetjesus · Post by **sweetjesus** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 6:37 pm

tempus3r wrote:
sweetjesus wrote:
i wouldnt call a 3-4 month wait with delays 'great'.

for a project which is more time critical i sure as hell would think twice before using them.
That's not tunecore's problem though. Any service you use it takes month to show up on iTunes.

Any perceived difference between tunecore and cdbaby is on the iTunes side and is almost random. I know a lot of people who use both services and there is no consistent pattern on who's faster. It's itunes.

actually i dont wanna bash them too hard but they did screw something up which caused a delay. my stuff was meant to come out on the 5th of july..

they said it was due to me being caught up in between their change in format accepting or something and ill see how it goes in 2 weeks.

siddhu · Post by **siddhu** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 7:03 pm

BTW: I know for a fact that one of the biggest problems on iTunes and on all the services which deal with the majors, has been quality issues.

Believe it or not, this has to do with the majors not wanting higher quality digital files being sold as it would "cannibalise" their CD sales!!

I run an agency that does deals between the tech industry and the entertainment industry, and one of my clients has very good inside knowledge of some of these inner weird backroom dealings between the the major digital retailers and the majors.

It never ceases to amaze me how neanderthal the major labels are when it comes to all things tech.

It would be a different world if we could get some silicon valley CEO's to go in there and shake stuff up.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YILA · Post by **YILA** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 8:02 pm

tempus3r wrote:Not only does it take forever and prone to error.. but the quality is horrible too.

Pretty much most of the stuff they sell is at 128k.

I bought a friend of mines release from there and I was full of critisism on the production. So then he gave me a 256k version and i was blown away by the difference.

Same thing with the latest Amon Tobin. I bought the release from there and wasn't that excited by it. Then i heard the actual CD and it came off 10 times better.

That pretty much burned me out on iTunes. I'm not paying $10USD for bad sounding tracks unless its old stuff where the production wasn't that hot anyway.

i use bleep , quality is excellent but some artists have lower quality...some have losless....depends.

genshi · Post by **genshi** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:59 pm

My 2 cents...

I have my own label with about 12 artists (5 of which are my own various projects) and tried going direct through iTunes. After 6 months of waiting, they finally told me I was too small a label and then recommended a third-party distributor, but that distributor required at least a couple of albums from ALL of my artists upfront before they would begin uploading to all the online retailers.

Then I found Tunecore and it has been a very easy and pleasurable process working with them. Though they quote longer, most of my albums have gone up on iTunes within about 2 to 3 weeks (much quicker for Emusic, Rhapsody and Sony Connect.)

On the 15th of every month I check my account to see if I made any money (usually I make a little bit at least) and then just transfer the funds to my PayPal account!

Couldn't be easier... I highly recommend them.

scientist · Post by **scientist** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:57 pm

siddhu wrote:weird backroom dealings between the the major digital retailers and the majors.

It never ceases to amaze me how neanderthal the major labels are when it comes to all things tech.

It would be a different world if we could get some silicon valley CEO's to go in there and shake stuff up.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i don't doubt it a bit. universal inexplicably gets a cut of every zune sold:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/09/univ ... zune-sold/
in their defense tho, i know a few people who work for zune and they try very hard to get exposure for independent music...they've done big deals with labels like sub pop and are in the midst of a promo campaign for maximo park.

and also re: itunes...the music store is in many ways just a marketing vehicle for ipods, and rumor has it that their rejection of small labels is due to understaffing more than it is some bigger conspiracy. its all about how shortsighted major labels and the riaa are...once apple/microsoft/etc have enough power they'll start flexing it and cut the majors off at their knees. (its already started to happen with the itunes drm free announcement).