Selling music directly to consumers is not for the weak. It’s hard work. Many revert back to streaming methods because of the effort involved, usually due to a lack of knowledge which makes the process overwhelming. This experience is reminiscent of selling CDs back in the day—it’s more challenging, but the reward is much sweeter. If you want better cash flow for your labor, read on.
Good Product Contents & Great Packaging
Creating good product contents and packaging represents half of your battle, taking up 50% of the marketing weight. Essential components include:
Great songs and production
High-quality audio
Eye-catching artwork
Attractive packaging
Diverse consumption options
Great Marketing Materials
After creating product contents and packaging, most creators skip this crucial step. As a creative, you should use your creativity to develop what your product will look like in the marketplace so people will buy it. This includes advertisement art for the album, photos of you the artist, micro music videos, regular music videos, and behind-the-scenes footage of the creation process. Remember, marketing materials help sell the product in every marketplace.
Discovery Market
Social Media
Streetz (Word of mouth, clubs)
Radio (mix show) / TV (sync)
Discovery audio platforms (YouTube, AudioMack, SoundCloud)
Even if you are signed to a major label, everything starts in the discovery market—from rumors of recordings and albums to snippets leaking and everything in between. Music should be placed here and tested before pouring more ad dollars into your product promotion campaign.
Sales Funnel
If you are going to allow people to discover you, how do you get them to stay? Reeling people in from the streets, social media, radio/TV, and discovery audio platforms will require some type of sales funnel to collect data, give them the product they wanted, and collect revenue if any.
Great Distributor
Next, you’re going to need a great distributor, and when selling music directly to the people, you don’t have many options. In many cases, the distributor will be the marketplace you sell in.
High Traffic Marketplace
Direct to Consumer Site (Website, Even, Bandcamp)
Membership website (Grouped, Patreon, Mighty Networks)
What Would the Funnel Be for in This Case?
This type of sales funnel would bring the listener to the sale quicker than an email opt-in. This is a direct sale as they have had enough time to discover you and be entertained by your free stuff.
What Should the High Traffic Marketplace Have?
It should have users and a way to listen to your collection via an app. The reason is to keep the consumer happy with their listening experience.
We’re Not Using Spotify for This Campaign, So Where Would the Marketing Materials Go?
Your social media profile banners and in your posts. They will also be used for the ads that connect directly to your high-traffic marketplace.
The Most Important Steps Besides the Music
Create the marketing materials and design a funnel to the marketplace. Keep it simple until you can get advanced. Don’t overwhelm yourself.
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Selling Direct to Consumer
Selling directly to consumers allows you to get revenue 90 days faster to re-invest into the promotions of the project. Plus, it can keep your creative staff paid and fulfill your unpaid invoices for the project quicker.
Not Selling Direct to Consumer
Not selling directly to consumers puts your cash flow in a slower position. D2C is the future for music.
Conclusion
If you were struggling with how direct-to-consumer music sales work, you now have more information to make it happen. By creating great product contents and packaging, developing effective marketing materials, utilizing discovery markets, setting up a sales funnel, finding a great distributor, and using a high-traffic marketplace, you can sell your music directly to your fans. This approach allows you to get revenue 90 days faster, re-invest in promotions, keep your creative staff paid, and fulfill your unpaid invoices quicker. Direct-to-consumer music sales are the future, providing faster cash flow and greater control over your music career.
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