TuneCore & Universal Music Partnership

TuneCore and Universal Music just signed a distribution partnership that will allow upcoming artists a chance to receive services from a major record label. TuneCore is a company that distributes an artist or band’s digital songs to a number of retail outlets (ex. iTunes). TuneCore charges a fee per song, but the artist receives 100% of the sale revenue.

Universal Music Group is a major record label with artist such as Lil Wayne, Rihanna, and Mariah Carey. They have struggled to reinvent themselves in the last decade as the music world’s business model has been flipped upside down. However, they are one of the more progressive labels in determining a new business model.

This partnership will bring TuneCore’s digital distribution capability to Universal’s different label websites (ex. Interscope, Def Jam, etc.) On the flip side, Universal’s services (licensing opportunities, professional audio mastering, radio play, and tour placement.

For Universal Music Group, this provides direct access to a number of new artists and will give Universal a window into new music. The model has drastically changed in this respect – in the past, it was common for labels to find bands just at the beginning of their careers and then give them the seed money to make it big. Now, labels don’t have the money they had in the past, so they are looking for artists that are more established and have funded the entrepreneurial portion of their development in house.

Overall, smart strategic move for Universal, and great additional services for TuneCore to offer to their ‘Do-it-Yourself’ artist base.

Stay tuned,
Erik
erikrostad.com
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