An individual stealing a song is heinous, but at least it's out in the "open". Companies steal, too, and hide behind contracts.
Legitimate businesses make agreements with other legitimate business which the artist can not undo in a timely fashion or without a good deal of pleading and letter writing. I'm in a tangle now with Amazon.com trying to remove content that was placed there by a company with which whose ties I have since broken. That company is still making money off my work on Amazon. I have sent notices of copyright infringement, but I have yet to hear back from Amazon.
So, just don't fear the individual thief, but also be wary of the business who claims that they are helping you achieve your goals - it ALL comes at a price. Believe me, no business really cares about you as an artist; you are simply a profit center. You will get congratulated on how much cash you pull in and be told that it's because your work has merit. That may be true, but when they say merit, they mean financial merit. They can point to other artists that they are "helping" who have not made money, and claim that they are for the "indie artist", but don't think you will get additional help to achieve the goals of those that pull in cash.
There are many, many companies out there, all willing for you to upload your content so that you can digitally distribute your music. And the majority of them have nice legal agreements that say you keep copyright control of your music, and that part is true. And those contracts also say that they have the right to distribute your music to other businesses for the reason of promotion - to get your music out there to be heard because it deserves to be heard. Just don't confuse copyright ownership with control of distribution.
The reality is that these companies need content to exist - any content. And if they don't have to pay for it the better. These companies are looking to make money through advertisement or investments by other companies. If your content does that for them them they'll give you a piece. But they will also sell you down the "river" - or stream, if you prefer - for other businesses to use your content in exchange for other services. Remember, you authorized them to do this on your behalf.
Distribution through iTunes and other large houses is accomplished through "middle men" like TuneCore for a fee - iTunes do not take submissions directly from the artist. A drawback is that your content will be like a drop in the ocean, and it will continually cost you to keep your content there for distribution. You can also distribute your music through other venues for a percentage of sales. But the drawback here is that these companies stay afloat by making deals with your content.
So, is digital distribution worth the effort and risk? What alternatives does one have?
Personally, I have decided on two main courses of action. One, for distribution and sales I use ONLY Reverb Nation. Mind you I do not believe they are more trustworthy than any other company. The mechanics of the web site seem geared more toward the promotion of the artist, rather than the promotion of the music. This may appear to be counter-productive, but not when you consider the reasons why people like what they like. We listen to all kinds of music and it's usually because we appreciate what the artist represents. If an artist wants to consider longevity then that artist should cultivate fans who will listen and buy over a long period of time.
My second course of action is to create and promote my own entity on the web that performs the same actions as any other distribution business, cutting out the "middle man". This way any business wanting to use my music for promotion must deal with me first. The drawback here is one of limited visibility. I need to promote myself as if my promotional budget wasn't limited. I need to be as slick "looking" as everyone else, which isn't easy. But, the alternative allows for my content to be bought and sold without any regard for my interests.
I'm Charlie Pecot, and these are my thoughts.
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