Getting on iTunes Without a Label

or: How to Play With the Big Boys on a Micro-Budget

Here's how it used to work if you wanted to get your tracks onto iTunes so other people could buy them. First, you needed a Mac, because the software which Apple required you to use to convert your music into the right format would only run on a Mac. Sneaky, eh?

Then you needed to be with a label because iTunes only plays with significant players (otherwise it'd end up something like MySpace....). You could either get signed (and if you've read my other articles you'll know why that's not such a great idea) or you could start your own label. Once you'd paid for a solicitor to wade through all the legal mubo-jumbo and register your label as a PLC with Companies House, and paid an accountant to sort out all the tax-stuff, and joined the MCPS-PRS, then they might pay attention to you, though there was no guarantee.

Now though? Hooray! There's websites that will, for a very small and quite reasonable fee, upload your music for you to various online music stores including iTunes. Give Tunecore.com a try; it's a free sign-up, just $0.99 per track to upload, and all the profits from your music go straight to you. Alternatively you could try Routenote a try. They charge nothing up front (so, good for those just starting out), but take a cut of your profits. It took Tunecore several weeks to get my single up to iTunes for some reason, and they felt a bit monolithic and uninterested in little old me when I asked why. Routenote, on the other hand, have been very accessible and quick to respond to emails and tweets in my experience.

A few things worth noting here before you start rubbing your hands together in glee.

Firstly, IF YOU ARE EARNING ANY MONEY DOING ANYTHING THEN THERE'S A GOOD CHANCE YOU OWE TAXES TO THE GOVERNMENT ON YOUR EARNINGS, REGARDLESS OF WHICH COUNTRY YOU LIVE IN!!!! DO NOT OVERLOOK THIS!!!! Sure, it's a pain in the ass, but things will be far worse if you don't pay and get caught. Fortunately, most Inland Revenue organisations try to make it as easy as possible for you to give them your money and are likely to be more than willing to help you get set up. In the UK HM Revenue and Customs have collected various helpful articles together. Until you've been through all the stuff you need to, don't start spending any earnings. Also, keep complete and detailed records of anything you earn, and anything you spend too (as this may be deductable from your taxable income).

Secondly, copyright your music. Essentially, you are exercising your right to say how your music can be used and distributed. In the UK as soon as music is recorded or written down then it is protected by copyright. The trouble is, how do you prove when you did this? You could use the cheapo method, which is to seal a copy in a marked envelope and post it to yourself by recorded delivery. So long as you DON'T OPEN THE ENVELOPE then this is better than nothing. You could also see if your solicitor or bank manager will hold onto a copy and give you a dated receipt, but this will cost you more. A third option is copyright services like The UK Copyright Service. These are not government organisations, but they will hold onto a copy of your work (for a small fee) and support you with evidence if you have a copyright dispute with someone.

Thirdly, it's probably not a bad idea to join the MCPS-PRS if your music starts getting picked up by DJs, as they make sure you get royalties from any use of your music. To qualify for membership of PRS one of your tracks must have been played or broadcast publicly and you need a letter from the venue owner or broadcaster to prove this. To join the MCPS your music needs to be for sale (not by you) or part of a broadcast or production. So, essentially, after the first time you get played on the radio is the time when you need to front the cash for these services.

Right, that should about cover it for now. All you need to do now is come up with a cool name for your record label.

Now Google it

Yeah, someone else has already got it. Go think up another. I'll tell you more about what to do with your record label name in the next article. You might find you have to change it, so don't get too attached.

Seej 500

Yorkshire, UK, 1/4/2008

UPDATE, 20/11/2009

Brilliant, amazing news! The MCPS and PRS have now merged into one single organisation, PRS For Music, and they've changed their membership fee - they now charge just £10 (bargain!) and this is deducted from your first royatly payment, so you don't need to pay a penny up front (double bargain!). You just need to provide them with proof that your music is being played on TV/radio/online/live or played in public in some other way. There is, basically, more or less no good reason to not join (unless you want to be sniffy about music ownership or something, in which case I applaud you, while thinking you're mad).

Seej 500