A decade after Apple’s iTunes software was introduced to the music industry, the iTunes Store has sold well over 10 billion songs, making the music distribution platform an undeniable stronghold in music sharing to date. “Their [iTunes] system and associated software is the undisputed leader not just on technical grounds–the robustness and intuitive interface of the system–but also in economic terms, such as market share and breadth of media companies, and copyright holders Apple secured distribution rights from,†says Lane DeNicola, lecturer in digital anthropology at University College London. According to Apple’s first-quarter reports, the tech company posted a reported $26.7 billion in revenue, $6 billion of which is a net quarterly profit. And although the mega-music distributor remains in the top spot, other music aggregators are offering a similar product but with a different flare–even offering capabilities not yet experienced through iTunes or several of the other big name music services such as Amazon and Rhapsody . As part of our continuing coverage of Black Music Month, BlackEnterprise.com spoke to digital expert DeNicola about three iTunes alternatives independent artists should consider.–Janel Martinez
Spotify
The digital music service provider offers artists–signed and unsigned– the opportunity to showcase their music among more than 13 million tracks. The service provider accepts music from all over, but unlimited, on-demand access is available to its users in Finland, France, Norway, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and the UK only. As of recent, there’s been some speculation as to whether the music distributor is going to launch in the U.S., with a possible summer 2011 debut. Recent reports state they signed licensing deals with EMI Music, Sony and Universal Music Group, and are discussing possible opportunities with Warner Music Group.
Independent artists are instructed to upload their music to one of the nine artist aggregators (those that help you license your music to online music services) the streaming-based service works with. Spotify and the right holders have agreed upon a royalty figure based upon how many plays one’s music gets. It’s also advantageous for music consumers.   With Spotify, “you never actually ‘download’ music in the usual sense, you simply stream it over the Web on an as-needed basis,†says DeNicola. “Rather than paying for the data that is a specific track, you pay a set fee per unit of listening time and during that time you can listen to any tracks in the music library.† An open account gets you free access to music, but the premium and unlimited settings allows gives you more perks for a set monthly fee.Magnatune
This music licensing provider has a for the people, by the people business approach when it comes to music distribution. It offers a great deal to independent artists, partly because it doesn’t align itself with any major labels. It offers artists a 50-50 deal: fifty percent of a consumer’s purchase price, 50% of any commercial sub-licensing, which includes ads, films, and websites, and half of membership fees go directly to the artists who are listened and downloaded. The service has an automated licensing price, which pans out to be approximately 30% lower than standard industry prices. It’s royalty-free, so artists won’t have to give up any of the profits made. Â Like Spotify, it uses streaming technology and releases every song under the Creative Commons license; ensuring copyright authorization applies to an artist’s work.
Jamendo
Unlike the other platforms, Jamendo is a community-focused network that allows artists to not only make a profit off of their craft, but develop a fan base inviting supporters to both share and discuss their music, either through their widgets or the open feedback platform. Artists can make revenue various ways: ad revenue sharing, commercial uses of their music and donations (a minimum of 7 dollars). There’s even tools that allow you to monitor the traffic you’re getting to your page and from listens and downloads. In addition to your own promotional efforts, Jamendo has designed several ways to generate promotion for the artists, including jamradio, allowing your music to get played on its radio network. At least 50% of licensing fees are guaranteed to be paid back directly to artists, as well as 50% share of ad revenue.
*Members of performance rights organizations will not qualify.