There are many tools you can use to sell your music. But not all of them are created equal. So, choosing the right tool is important.
In this video, David discusses a powerful eCommerce platform for creators you can use to get up and running fast.
Video Highlights:
- 00:00 – Music distribution isn’t marketing or sales
- 00:40 – Enter the new age of scripts, eCommerce platform, apps, widgets
- 01:33 – Can you still sell music?
- 02:35 – New affiliate partner
- 03:37 – What you get with Sellfy
- 04:29 – What I like most about Sellfy
Transcription:
This post originally appeared on DavidAndrewWiebe.com.
Are you looking for an alternative to Bandcamp, Nimbit and/or Gumroad?
If you’re making music, you need a way to sell it.
For most musicians, it’s a foregone conclusion that one can distribute their music through services like CD Baby and Ditto Music, and get up and running on all the popular platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play, Amazon, Deezer and so forth.
And, if you didn’t know you could do that, well, that might be another blog post for another time.
Distribution, however, shouldn’t be equated with marketing, or for that matter, sales.
A sale is where a transaction takes place. It’s where a customer exchanges their money for a desired product or service, like music.
A stream is not a sale. It’s just a stream.
Enter Bandcamp, Nimbit, Gumroad & Other Services
We certainly aren’t in the dark ages anymore.
When Derek Sivers started CD Baby in 1998, selling online was a serious endeavor. You needed a merchant account, which wasn’t easy to get. In Derek’s case, hand coding a custom software solution was part of the process, too.
22 years isn’t that long ago, but since then, plenty of eCommerce platforms, scripts, apps, widgets and plugins have been introduced, giving us the ability to release and sell our music through a variety of means.
With these tools, we didn’t always have complete control over pricing, or what the buyer saw, but it was better than not being able to sell our music at all.
These days, we’ve got some great tools like Bandcamp, Nimbit, Gumroad and others.
These platforms offer a great deal of customization in terms of layout, design and even pricing. They give you the ability to get your music in front of your audience and drive sales in a way that leaves you feeling empowered.
Hold the Phone – is Selling Music Even a Thing Anymore?
Conventional wisdom has it that music sales are dead. This is untrue.
And, I’m not just talking about the occasional fluke music sale that comes from iTunes, or the support you get from superfans on Bandcamp, either.
Last year, I interviewed John Oszajca from Music Marketing Manifesto, and off air, after we had finished recording, he shared with me that there’s still money in selling music.
These days, even musicians are jumping on the digital sales funnel trend and are guiding their audiences through lead magnets, tripwires and upsells where music is a part of the product set.
So, selling music is still very much a possibility, even if it requires you getting creative with the process and methodology.
I’ve often encouraged my students to bundle up their music products to maximize their earnings.
After all, the economics do matter.
If you wanted to make $3,000 and only had a $1 single to sell, you’d need to sell 3,000 singles to reach your goal.
But if you bundled up your entire catalog and sold it for $100, you’d only need to sell 30 units to get to your financial goal. What a difference!
Introducing…
In the latest episode of my podcast, I introduced a new affiliate partner.
At Music Entrepreneur HQ, we don’t just promote things willy-nilly. We only recommend products and services we understand, use and like.
The possible exception might be products we’ve had the opportunity to audit and would recommend to a specific subset of our audience but wouldn’t have any use for ourselves.
Our latest affiliate partner is Sellfy.
When I think of Sellfy, I generally group it in with the platforms already mentioned – Bandcamp, Nimbit and Gumroad. They are all kind of similar, though there certainly are some differences.
But when it comes to economics, the tool you use to sell your music or related products also matters.
If you want to be effective:
- You must be able to sell both digital and physical goods.
- You must be able to bundle products together to sell them at a higher price point.
- You must be able to upsell your customers.
- You must be able to sell subscriptions (for the ongoing delivery of a product or membership).
Further, built-in marketing tools certainly can’t hurt when it comes to getting attention for your offer.
Sellfy offers all this and more.
Here’s What You Get with Sellfy
By comparing it to apps or sites you might already be using (like Bandcamp), I believe I’ve been able to paint a picture of what Sellfy is and how you can use it.
Sellfy has been made specifically with creators like you and me in mind.
We want to be able to spend most of our time creating rather than worrying about the litany of technical details that generally plague the creative life, don’t we?
I’m frankly amazed at all the hoops musicians jump through these days to try to sell their music.
Writing ad copy? Building landing pages? Developing sales funnels?
Yuck.
I’m not saying these things don’t have value. If you’ve got the technical skills, go ahead, do your worst.
But if it’s going to take away from you creating, publishing and promoting your work, it’s important to recognize it’s time you’re simply not going to get back.
So, a tool like Sellfy can help you get up and running fast. They even have a 14-day free trial, so you can test drive the platform before you commit.
What I Like About Sellfy
The best part of Sellfy is just how easy it is to use. You can create a beautiful storefront in minutes and start selling right away.
We take it for granted now, but this is kind of a big deal. It saves you a ton of time. Not everyone can hand code their own solution like Derek Sivers did.
There are so many other great features I could mention, whether it’s the ability to connect your own domain, accept payments from PayPal and Stripe, or embed individual products and even your entire store on your website.
The analytics are incredibly helpful too, since you can see how many visits you’re getting, what your conversion rate is, where your traffic is coming from, where your buyers are located and more.
So, is Sellfy right for you? You won’t know unless you try. Again, they’ve got a 14-day free trial, so you’ve got everything to gain and nothing to lose. You can find the link in the description.
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