AGGREGATES/GATORS - ARE THEY THE NEW DISTRIBUTION MATRIX?

So you’ve just completed the final mixing and mastering of your brilliant opus; your seminal musical masterpiece(s) and you don’t have a record deal in tow. You still have a call in to that dude you met at the last Tastemakers’ conference and you’re waiting on word back from your brother’s girlfriend’s sister’s homeboy’s best friend who’s got a hookup at Universal or was it Sony-BMG or Warner Music Group? Well, I think you get the picture.

Aggregate or Aggregators are not new words in the dictionary. However, they are relatively new in their relationship and application to the music industry. In the digital music world, an aggregate is a service that distributes your music to a variety of music distributors or outlets (these days - mostly digital) and they collect a fee for that service. Some aggregates also handle physical distribution as well. Additionally, I have not yet run into an aggregate that didn’t include at least one ringtone company and a film and TV music placement service.

Within the past couple of years however, the industry is seeing new aggregates that provide the same service as I've mentioned above that do not collect distribution fees for their services whatsoever. They simply charge a nominal one-time setup and maintenance fee for uploading your tracks and keeping them on their servers. They even issue barcodes - in some cases for free, if you don’t already have your own. After that, you’re free and clear from any other financial obligation to them. Of course the various distribution services that they help you upload to such as iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, etc. do collect a fee from the sale of your music.

Now, you’re probably saying to yourself: "Why should I go through an aggregate when I can just sign on to iTunes or any other service on my own? And the truth is you’re right. You can sign up with many of these services on your own if you like. However, not all of these services are incredibly excited about dealing with individual music artists. The aggregates already know the ropes and can get you through the eye of the storm relatively painlessly and in short order too. This makes life a little easier with the aggregates when they are dealing with a one stop that knows the process and can guide you through it. It makes things relatively painless for you too.

Also, when you place your music yourself, you are responsible for handling all of your own accounting - which is pretty cool if you have the time and the affinity for handling your own money, and have the energy and time to handle that task. And if you’re up to it, then an aggregate may not be for you.

However, if you could use some assistance in the accounting area, all of the aggregates will provide you with actual accounting from all of the download companies in one streamlined report. In the meantime, your money from sales is deposited directly into YOUR account (minus any royalty fees charged by the digital services, of course). How's that for painless, seamless accounting?

Here is a list of some of the main aggregates and their websites:

Avatar
http://www.avatarrecords.com/digi/
Note: This aggregate deals with both indie artists and labels

TuneCore
www.tunecore.com
For the individual artist with no label support – this is my top recommendation

CD Baby
www.cdbaby.net
NOTE: Although you may know them as an online CD distribution company, they have over 40+ digital download partners, and they deal with individual artists and indie labels

Redeye Distribution
http://www.redeyeusa.com/
NOTE: This company works with individual artists and labels

IODA
www.iodalliance.com
NOTE: IODA has become so popular that unless you have a roster of artists, they may not be as accommodating as they once were. So if you’re one of those artist/label owner types, this is a good aggregate to consider.

The Orchard
http://www.theorchard.com/
NOTE: Works with individual artists and indie labels

Iris Distribution
http://www.irisdistribution.com/
NOTE: Mainly works with independent record labels. So if you have your own "shop" this is a good bet

Virtual Label
http://www.virtuallabel.biz/
NOTE: For the established artists reading this, if there are any, this digital distributor is strictly for you.

Look out for the next post which will feature a list of physical distributors. Physical distributors place your CD in stores and make them available for order online. They also charge a fee for their services and the rest of the revenues from sales are deposited into your bank account at the end of each reporting period.

Much success,
Mimi Jones