Music Distribution with Amazon’s CreateSpace

So you’ve decided the world was finally ready to experience the magic you’ve spun. That at last you wanted to change the very core of mankind one brilliant note at a time. But you’ve also heard some pretty intense stories about labels and aren’t sure whether you want to go through those channels.

As the internet has changed how we communicate, it has also changed the venues of which music is being distributed and marketed. The world is shifting every day, and power and control slowly returns to the artist, giving us more options and venues to pursue on our own two feet. However one thing many musicians don’t consider is that with this given power comes many details that we need to become aware of to make educated decisions.

Today we’re going to talk about self-distribution, both physical and digital. We’re going to talk about CreateSpace.

What is CreateSpace?

CreateSpace is an Amazon.com owned site which lets you send your CD artwork and physical/digital album and sell through either self-marketing efforts or through the Amazon store. The idea is simple – when somebody orders the album from either Amazon or through the personal eStore widget they give you, CreateSpace creates a physical copy and sends it to them. There are bulk order rates in case somebody wants to stock their shelves or have them in inventory.

Let’s start our journey with what you should be asking and then what you should watch out for.

What Questions Should You Be Asking?

Where exactly is my music going to end up?

Be aware of how far the service reaches. A common area where musicians assume too much. For example CreateSpace does not go beyond Amazon and Amazon MP3. Though Amazon is indeed a massive market, wouldn’t you have also liked to be broadcast to eMusic, iTunes, Rhapsody, and many other music sites? Be wary of these things.

Many services will be quick to tell you that yes your music will reach a large market of listeners, but large could mean just about anything. This information can be quickly found usually in the services section of the agreements written forth by the company. As for example in CreateSpace’s Member Agreement section 3 will tell you that it’s reach is (at least as far as audio concerns) is Amazon and Amazon MP3.

What must you have ready before your album can be made?

CreateSpace, like most other self distribution services, require you to have your front and back tray label, cover booklet and the actual CD disk image. There are often specific dimensions they want your art to be in, as you can see here:

It may vary from service to service, but know that not providing the right materials will more then likely result in your CD being rejected. Some provide a service to have the artwork made for you, but for indie bands and artists this may be a fare too pricey.

What to Watch Out For

How much money will you actually make?

CreateSpace has arguably one of the steepest royalty deducting strategies, and this is often a field that is ignored despite it being one of the strongest reasons for using such a service. You want to get your material out there and be paid for it. Watch out for all those little numbers pile up automagically, especially if you intend to sell physical copies of your work. More info here. For this example we go with 1 CD album rates.

As of this writing you can see $4.95 is taken per physical CD, and depending on where you sell (eStore or Amazon) a percentage is taken out. Another quick note to take is be absolutely sure you pay attention to the numbers they are basing their examples on. The bold writing is quick to show that you walk away with a good chunk should you be selling your album at $25. Is that an accurate depiction of what you’ll be selling your album for? Chances are no, even the stars of today are not so quick to sell an album at this price. $12-$20 would be your ideal range. So let’s do some realistic calculations.

$15 per album
$4.95 taken for physical sale
+15% (from $15) from eStore sale – $2.25 OR
+45% (from $15) from Amazon sale – $6.75

So if you sell from eStore you lose $7.20, or if you sell from Amazon you lose a whopping $10.70 per sale. You are either walking away with $7.80 or a measly $4.30 per sale.

The moral of the lesson? Never take best case scenario as your deciding factor. As you’ve seen these figures are far from the realistic truth. Though yes you could sell it at $25, sales are going to drastically suffer and you will likely end up making less then if you went with $15.

So don’t buy that boat until you’ve actually got the money rather then assuming you’re going to earn enough for it. Note that digital album sales do not have the physical sale rate but you are still subjected to the cut percentage rates.

Who will be able to buy your music?

So what else do we need to look out for? Well, let’s talk again about reach. Let’s read Section 5 of Amazon MP3’s terms of use.

Many distributors like Amazon MP3 that deal with record labels will have rather strict licensing issues in relation to where they can sell digitally. For example, Amazon MP3 does not allow digital sales outside the US as it states in the member agreement. If your main bread and butter plans involve digital sales over physical this in of itself should make you stand back and reconsider. 330 million people live in the US -  truthfully that is big market. But music can be universal with no language barriers. To cut out the rest of the world is something to really ponder.

So what do they mean when they say unless “otherwise designated”? Well, that’s you. the eStore given to you by CreateSpace has no boundaries. You are the master of your own music, so you are allowed to sell it globally. Amazon MP3 can still send and sell physical copies of your CD, as well as CreateSpace.

So let’s wrap things up by saying be sure to look at all angles when choosing a means of self-distribution. It’s true that CreateSpace is a plausible way to go if your end goal is to let your fans hold something physical in their hands of your work. If you goal is purely digital distribution, there are services that have much more forgiving royalties and much further reach, since their entire focus is just that – digital distribution.

Know your stuff. Know your options. Because as the tall friendly G.I. Joe character always says: “Knowing is half the battle.”