Symphonic Distribution: A Comprehensive Review of a Music POD/Aggregator Website

      For musicians, artists, songwriters, and/or music producers, having an optimal avenue for music publishing is very critical. It is even more important when one is independent, and not backed by a major label, publishing company, or investor. Today, it has become easier than ever to self-publish through signing up with one of the multiple Print-On-Demand (POD)/aggregator sites. However, with so many choices available now for aggregators, like CD Baby, TuneCore, and INGrooves, how does one know which one to choose? The trick is, to choose the best fit for you and your professional needs. Reading articles such as this Squidoo article, talking to other music professionals who have self-published, and comparing sites is a great place to start. After doing this, and reviewing what several POD sites had to offer, in my opinion, Symphonic Distribution seemed to offer the most variety of services for reasonable and varied pricing structures.

      Whether you are an independent artist or record label, Symphonic has different distribution pricing plans that you can choose from, based upon your status (artist or label), desired royalty percentages, and fan base. They take all of the hard work and difficulty out of the publishing/distribution process because they will deliver your musical content to any of their 300 worldwide partners with stores, such as iTunes, Beatport, Amazon, and Spotify. They also offer daily and monthly sales reporting from their retail partners, for your review and monitoring of statistics, for calculating artist royalties, or for mailing out promotional materials. They also offer an array of other personalized services that offer great benefit, making this an aggregator that minimizes the need for going to multiple companies in order to get things done. For example, they offer: marketing support; mastering services; YouTube management and monetization; sync licensing; CD pressing services; graphic design; website hosting; and even music video production. Their contract term for each option is two years, and unfortunately that contract cannot be cancelled during that time. However, it is a non-exclusive agreement, and even though there is a one-time set up fee in most cases, it is not requested again when the service is renewed.

      For an artist, the pricing structure is as follows, with 100% of royalties/rights retained; and free ISRC/UPC, customer service, 24-hour distribution, distribution to 300 partners, and promo mailer for each option:

•        Mini Album – (1-5 Tracks) for a fee of $10.99
•        Small Album - (1-10 Tracks) for a fee of $19.99
•        Medium Album - (1-15 Tracks) for a fee of $29.99
•        Full Album - (1-20 Tracks) for a fee of $39.99

      For a record label, the pricing is a bit different, but for each option the label would also receive the free ISRC/UPC, customer service, 24-hour distribution, distribution to 300 partners, and promo mailer for each option, without an annual or maintenance fee:

•       70% Royalties – ($100 Sales Threshold) $0 upfront and pay $0 per release
•       80% Royalties – ($300 Sales Threshold) $0 upfront and pay $0 per release
•       90% Royalties – ($500 Sales Threshold) $200 upfront and pay $0 per release
•       100% Royalties - ($0 Sales Threshold) $500 upfront and pay $100 per release

      They offer a wide variety of choices for both artists and labels, and they make it quite easy for you to compare their services to the services offered by other POD/aggregator sites, through the label pricing charts displayed on their website. I invite you to investigate this site, as well as any of the others mentioned here, or any that you can find on your own. Regardless of which one you choose, whether Symphonic Distribution or another, be sure to take the time to thoroughly research your decision because, as with this company, you may not have the option to cancel the contract once you sign up. Happy POD/aggregator hunting!

An Unconventional View of Digital Publishing/Distribution From an Independent Music Professional: Ricardo Miranda

      As an audio professional creating musical content, it will eventually become important to actually publish and distribute those products if any type of success is desired. Therefore, it is necessary to both conduct independent research, and to consult with other professionals in your field who already have experience in this area. With this in mind, I recently contacted Ricardo Miranda, an independent dance music producer, songwriter, and arranger, who has been in the music industry for over 13 years. He created his digital label in 2007, Noble Square Recordings, as a result of his frustration with the fact that major vinyl distributers were closing down all over the world due to the rising popularity of digital music distribution. Since he has had quite a bit of professional experience with digital publishing and distribution, I asked him various questions on the subject for the purpose of concluding my research.

      First, I asked Ricardo about how he publishes and distributes his music as an independent label executive.  Currently, under his publishing company, Ricardo Miranda Music, as well as through outside independent labels, his music is distributed directly through the following distributors: Traxsource in the U.S.; Juno Records in the U.K.; Wasabeat in Japan; What People Play in Germany; and Groove Distribution, for vinyl, in the U.S. He was previously with ASCAP, but left recently due to a failure to receive all of his royalties, so his publishing company is temporarily unrepresented by any performing rights organization. However, his entire writer publishing is currently handled by PRS for Music in London.

      Logically, my next question for Ricardo was whether or not he had ever used any POD companies, such as CD Baby, TuneCore, or INGrooves, but he responded that he had not used one to date. Since he was able to make direct distribution connections really early on, with companies that were in their infancy stages at the time, he never had to use any aggregators before.

      My third question was about what Ricardo thought about the current digital music distribution platform, and today’s music content overall. He stated that he believed that a lot of music is really horrible today. His reasons are multiple, but his main thought was that people who are not really musicians or professional artists are making sub-quality music because of the ease and availability of programs and home audio equipment, without the benefit of true experience or skill. Furthermore, he stated that because these people are making such high volumes of sub-standard music so quickly, it almost downgrades the worth of other good records because it makes the shelf life of all records extremely short. Ricardo further elaborated that there are so many people putting out independent records daily, which are being bootlegged by the minute, so it is hard for independent music publishers to make any money off of their distribution of creative content. His last comment was that it is even harder when an aggregator has to be paid as the go-between, and the only way to really make any money now, would be to get involved with making music for movies, TV shows, commercials, video games, and other forms of media.

      When I asked Ricardo about his thoughts on major distribution outlets such as iTunes and Amazon, he stated that they are really profiting the most in his opinion, from aggregator fees and the fact that they are providing web space for a high cost in the music marketplace. He further stated that they are actually acting somewhat as record labels, except for the fact that they do not have to handle any of the creation/production side of musical content. His last comment was that they are almost like a mall, leasing space to business owners who can’t afford to set up their own freestanding storefronts, which makes it harder for independent business owners to successfully make money.

      Miranda’s final advice to other independent songwriters, producers, artists, and label owners in regard to producing, publishing, and distribution of creative content, was that digital sales are really not the best avenue for making money. He went on to explain that it does however provide an avenue for marketing and promotion of musical content, so you need to make strategic business decisions about which companies you will use for publishing/distribution, based upon your financial and/or media exposure needs. Despite the fact that he does not currently use POD/aggregator sites at this time, he still feels it is necessary these days for most people to distribute music. Out of the companies he researched recently, he found Symphonic Distribution to be the best choice in regard to services offered for the pricing structures available.

      Ricardo Miranda’s personal opinions about the current state of digital publishing and distribution are probably not the norm for most independent music professionals. However, it is always a good idea to obtain the pros and cons of all choices, before making a final decision about which direction to go in. At the very least, after your research has been conducted and opinions gathered, you should be able to make an educated and informed choice that should be a good fit for you in the end.