In the world of music, artists are now opting towards self-promoting their work. And why wouldn’t they, when record labels take a large percentage of the artists’ earning revenue.
So if you’re a DIY artist looking to promote your work? Then you can have a look at these two sites, Ditto music and TuneCore.
Both have their own respective benefits and drawbacks. A few similarities and some key differences.
Music Publishing
Music publishing is a critical component of the music industry. It involves managing and monetizing the copyrights of songs and compositions. A music publisher’s role is to ensure that artists and songwriters receive payment when their compositions are used commercially, such as in radio, television, movies, or streaming services. This includes collecting royalties owed for these uses, a crucial source of income for artists.
TuneCore’s Publishing Administration Services
TuneCore provides a comprehensive music publishing administration service, which is a significant advantage for its users. Their service includes:
- Royalty Collection: TuneCore collects royalties on behalf of the artist for the use of their compositions. This includes mechanical royalties from album sales, performance royalties from radio and TV broadcasts, and more.
- Global Reach: TuneCore ensures that compositions are registered worldwide, maximizing the opportunity to earn royalties from international use.
- Master and Sync Licensing: TuneCore offers master and sync licensing services. This is particularly important for artists looking to have their music used in TV, films, video games, and commercials. Sync licensing refers to the process of synchronizing music with visual content, and this can be a lucrative revenue source.
- Ownership and Control: Under TuneCore’s Administration Deal, artists retain 100% ownership and control over their compositions. This means they make the final decisions about how their music is used while still benefiting from TuneCore’s global network and expertise in rights management and royalty collection.
Ditto Music’s Approach to Music Distribution
Ditto, on the other hand, focuses more on the distribution aspect rather than publishing. While Ditto effectively helps artists distribute their music on platforms like YouTube and Vevo, it does not provide a dedicated music publishing service like TuneCore. This means that artists using Ditto may need to seek additional services for comprehensive music publishing and rights management.
Why Publishing Administration Matters
Having a robust publishing administration is crucial for artists, especially in an era where music consumption is global and digital. Proper management of publishing rights ensures that artists are fairly compensated for their work, no matter where or how it’s being used. For independent artists, services like those offered by TuneCore can be invaluable, removing the complexity of managing publishing rights and allowing them to focus on their creative work.
Music Distribution
Both TuneCore and Ditto gives its users access to a great deal of music streaming sites. This includes Spotify and ITunes. You can rest assured that people will hear your music, no matter which site you go for.
While both sites are able to distribute music to various stores including YouTube. But, only Ditto has the access to distributing music on VEVO. A notable difference between the two.
Pricing
In the department of price, TuneCore charges no money for joining its site, signing up is free. For music distribution it charges its users an annual $9.99 for the distribution of singles. As for albums, a fee of $29.99 for the first year. It is then increased to $49.99 for the following years.
In contrast, Ditto charges a fee on the number of artists rather than the kind of music you upload. For a single artist the subscription fee is $19. For two artists, the fee increases to $29 and so on. The fee increases as the number of artists multiplies.
Royalties
One of the major reasons why artists are going for self-promotion is royalties. Artists who work with record labels only receive a small part of their earnings. Thus, many artists are now joining music distribution sites. In case of royalties, both TuneCore and Ditto users get to keep 100% of their earned profit. Both, TuneCore and Ditto do not take any commission which is one of their strong points and a similarity.
Other Differences
Another small difference is the payout method available to the user. In this aspect, TuneCore is better. It provides you with more than one method of payout. This includes Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), Check and PayPal. While Ditto only utilizes Payoneer to payout.
Conclusion
The purpose of both the sites is to provide a platform for artist to publish their music. They act as a bridge between the artist and music stores. While, there are many similarities between both, there are some key differences. As an artist, thorough research is mandatory to come up with a decision that would suit you.