"It's amazing to think that only a few years ago, it was pretty much impossible for an unsigned artist to have their music available to people worldwide. TuneCore is really user-friendly, their accounting is easy to figure out, and most importantly, the staff there is approachable. Another nice note—I don't have to chase them down to get paid!"
—Meiko
"After recently parting ways with Capitol Records, we found TuneCore a simple and amazing way to independently get our new album straight back to all our waiting fans worldwide via iTunes. Not only did TuneCore deliver it on time, but they also agreed to give us 100% of the money we earn and, if that wasn't enough, all I had to do was upload the album to TuneCore from my bedroom in Auckland, New Zealand. Friends welcome to the future!"
—Brad Carter, of Steriogram
"We were pretty bummed about ripoff splits that most of the digital music companies offer, then Tunecore sort of fell in our lap and we were head over heels with a super low yearly rate. Then, a rep emailed us and asked us if we wanted to play a show for the Warped Tour... It's not only the best deal for digital music, but they're a bunch of sweeties too!!!"
—Steve Terebecki, of White Denim
"TuneCore is one of the best enablers for everyone. As a great outsourcing partner, they delivered everything you need to the stores. I recommend TuneCore as both for start-up distributors and for artists and labels. Great company!"
—Kevin Rivers, Founder/CEO of XeingeONE
"TuneCore is an incredible service that is indispensable for any independent musician. Their terms and services are unmatched. It is truly a watershed event to be able to have self-released music distributed throughout the world by major online music stores. And it is all made possible by TuneCore...with an easy-to-use web site and with terms that are fair."
—Scott Hunter, of Inside The Black
"At last a fair and honest way for musicians to distribute music. TuneCore's web site makes the service a pleasure to use, it's easy to understand and allows the user to do everything themselves. Any difficulties are dealt with immediately by a dedicated support team. I've been promoting TuneCore to every musician and band I meet, the hardest part of the sell is that people think it's too good to be true, well it's not, it's true and it's good!"
—Roger O'Donnell, of The Cure
"The great thing about TuneCore is that anyone can now have their music distributed; just like Frank Black, or, for that matter, any other artist. There's no need for record companies anymore. Where the hell were you 20 years ago?"
—Ken Goes, Manager, The Pixies, Frank Black
"For an unsigned band like Tapes 'n Tapes, TuneCore proved the perfect fit. It really seemed like a no-brainer for us. It's a great way for a tiny label or unsigned band to get their music into iTunes. We found it very appealing that we retained all the rights, just paid a one-time fee and then in turn received all the money that iTunes, Rhapsody or whomever pays (no percentage taken out, like most distributors do), and could easily remove everything if we wanted...[We] had no problems with the service thus far, and would highly recommend TuneCore for any band that's trying to do it on their own. [Using TuneCore] was still a little scary, because they were so new and unproven. But Frank Black being their first customer sealed the deal for us. Frank's no dummy!"
—Keri Weiss, manager of Tapes 'N Tapes (full article at Pitchfork Media here)
"TuneCore is without a doubt the best way to distribute music online."
—David Klein, Birdmonster
"Beautiful. TuneCore is an amazing opportunity for up and coming acts."
—Jamal Johnson, President, 11 16 Entertainment
"TuneCore is a handy, intuitively designed, and affordable service for independent artists. When I collaborated with Styx's Chuck Panozzo on a digital-only single release, TuneCore was able to get the song posted on iTunes faster and cheaper than any other digital distributor."
— Dylan Rice, singer-songwriter and recording artist
"Thanks so much! TuneCore is pretty amazing, by the way. Glad I chose you guys to do all this through instead of [some other service]!"
—Ryan Sanders of Side Dish
"TuneCore is at the heart of the Internet-based music revolution, as it enables the free expression of the music art form. By providing unsigned artists access to the public via Internet stores, it removes some of the restrictive filtering of music that may have been based primarily on commercial requirements. The end result will be the greatest expansion in the art of making music ever seen before. For me, a new musical life!"
—Vincenzo Pandolfi, of Vincenzo Pandolfi, Sensibility and many more
"It's incredible, after learning about Tunecore I started my first record label at an Internet cafe in West Virginia on our way back home to Philadelphia. You can release your music for online distribution from anywhere in the universe with an Internet connection."
—Justin Paul, of Playloop Records
"I was offered a record deal with R and S RECORDS last month. R and S is the famous Belgian label that brought the world classic techno tracks like Jaydee's "Plastic Dreams," Joey Beltram's "Energy Flash" and the first Aphex Twin single.
"As flattered as I was by their interest in my music, after reading the contract's legalese, I could not bring myself to sign with them. It's a painful decision to decline such a prestigious label, but I am learning that all record deals are the same. You sell your soul and your work to them and they never benefit the artist unless you sell at least a million records. Period. The kind of music I make is never going to sell those kind of numbers, so in the end you become an indentured slave to your contract. The worst part of all is having to relinquish the control of your masters. My songs are like my children and I could never sell away their rights to any one label. So, I guess I will remain in electronica obscurity, as I told them thanks, but no thanks and declined the deal.
"At least I have my music available on iTunes where I might be able to sell a few albums and I get the highest percentage of profit possible off of the sales. Thank you Apple and TuneCore!"
—Victor Stapf of Synthetrix
"Lance here from The dBc sending you a massive THANK YOU!...I don't give kudos lightly...and TuneCore has been spot on right from the starting block. There's nothing quite like working with a company that "walks their talk.""
—Lance Landiak, President, The Decibel Collective, Victoria, BC, Canada
"I didn't know that about TuneCore's [privacy policy]...I am an EXTREMELY private person and never expected to find the same in the music industry. Well, now I am looking forward to working with TuneCore even more than before...You can quote me on that, but would you mind using only my initials (AG)?"
—A.G.
"A little personal attention goes a long way in this day and age, especially in this business! Rock on! I'll be talking about how awesome you guys are."
—Jim Hodgson, of www.jimhodgson.com
"First of all - thanks again for what you guys do. It's so awesome to have my album up on iTunes. I'm spreading the word about you guys to all my musician friends. Please feel free to use anything I've said in a testimonial. And thank you so much for the part you played in making my work available to everyone on iTunes. The whole process was very painless - except the waiting part I must confess - but even that wasn't so bad. Everyone I dealt with at TuneCore has been great. It was almost as if you guys were as passionate about my music as I am!"
—Neil Smith, of Neil Smith, Killing Fishes
"I have just joined your service and have got to say, I am really, really excited at the potential it offers. I listened to your Podcast about the whole record company thing and it's so on the money. I used to be signed to Arista and have first-hand experience of the frustration of being lost in the machine of a major label. I've got to say that what you are doing for musicians is just incredible. It almost seems too good to be true.
"I have been a singer/songwriter for ten years and been signed, toasted, roasted and dropped just like millions of other musicians around the globe. But over about the last 2 years or so, I became more and more disillusioned about the record industry and had absolutely no idea how I was gonna get my music to the people that would wanna hear it without the help of a major label. Although I have 100% faith in my talents, I hate to admit that I started to think that maybe it was time to just grow up and stop chasing my dreams. But then I discovered [a major social networking site] and got a really great response, and so realized what an incredible networking tool it is to get your music heard all over the world without a record company (again, to good to be true), and now I have discovered TuneCore, which means the potential people will now be able to download my tracks straight from my website.
"I cannot thank your enough...I really hope you know how amazing it is what you are doing for the millions of talented unheard musicians out there. This really is the future! The major labels must be absolutely shitting themselves!!! I live in England and if you're not manufactured and cheesy enough, you don't get a deal...and if you don't have a deal, nobody's ever gonna get to buy your records.
"Thank you for saving my musical life!! Much love and godspeed."
—jason x
"As a music industry veteran of almost 25 years and with a recording artist wife who has had a major label deal, I knew there had to be a better way to make my music available than what I had seen. We all know where the business is headed (digital paid downloads), but I wanted to focus on creating and promoting my music, not becoming a web tech head or trying to convince another set of gate keepers that my music was worthy. So I researched and talked to friends. After hearing horror story after horror story and looking at digital distributors that took up to one third of the money with no guarantees they would do anything to earn it (sounds like the old model doesn't it), I found TuneCore. These guys understand their job, they encourage me to do mine and they don't keep their hand in my pocket for the privilege. I've uploaded two albums, along with art seamlessly. I've begun to see that music up on the stores I selected (I selected all of them and will select every other store as they are made available). Any company that has answered my Sunday evening emails twice now on that same Sunday evening works as hard as I do. Thanks TuneCore for making it possible for me to concentrate on success rather than trying to figure out the tech requirements and quirks of every digital music store on the web. Gee, I may even have time to write some more music!"
—Geoff Koch, of TippyToeToons
"You guys are the greatest thing since sliced bread."
—Ben Sams, of Firewall5
Back to top"I didn't know what to expect from TuneCore in terms of getting the music to the online retailers, but I was pleasantly surprised at the speed of the process. I submitted my album on the TuneCore site around April 23rd and my music showed up on iTunes in around 3 weeks! It also has been posted on Rhapsody as well...Thanks for the quick response!"
—Ken Mitchell, of The Flavor Foundation
"Hi, I just wanted to say how impressed I was with TuneCore. I sent my music in 3/30 and it’s up on itunes 5/9, that's 40 days. I worked with [another service] on my last release. I sent it in 12/7/05 and it's still not up on iTunes. You guys rule. Thanks."
—Nelson Heise, of The Heise Bros.
Back to top"Great customer service...I'm recommending you all over the place."
—Simon Rettie, of Simon Rettie, Left Behind.
"Seriously, TuneCore's interface and website is the best out there. I looked at the others, and they are sort of ambiguous. TuneCore is clean and to the point...Very excited to finally get started on this whole thing!"
—Marcello Fracasa
"I'm going to be adding you guys as a link on our website. I have just been thoroughly impressed with you guys and your professionalism. Most companies blow off smaller bands/unsigned bands, so it's very nice to see that that's not an issue with you guys. You treat your customers as customers. That's just great. Thank you for responding back to me so quickly and I truly look forward to doing more business with you in the future."
—DJ Beckage, Lead Singer of Fell Upon Thieves
"Thank you...We've had a very good experience with TuneCore so far and plan to put our upcoming releases through TuneCore as well."
—Marcy Rauer Wagman, Program Director, MAD Dragon UNLTD
"Thank you so much! Your customer service is unbelievable! All my musician friends ask me how I got the Exit the King EP on iTunes, and I always tell them about TuneCore. Thanks again."
—Andy Miles of Exit the King
"Thanks Peter! Jeff emailed me as well and cleared some confusion up (and he emailed on Sunday...do you guys ever stop?!! I hope that your office at least has some windows so you can see the sunlight). I've got to hand it to TuneCore...I like the honesty and the customer service I'm getting even as a non-customer.
"You are incredible at what you do Peter. I appreciate all the attention you seasoned big timers have given to me. I'm already feeling like a welcomed member of the TuneCore posse."
—Ben Washer, of Reach Records
Back to top"The CDs look much better than I was expecting; everyone thinks they look very professional. Tell the rip/burn center thanks for helping me to get the CDs on time when I needed them, despite delays. Now comes the tricky part...selling the things."
—Jesse Newman, of Jesse Newman, Mobius Mind
"The CDs are here! And if they sound like they look, they're going to sound tremendous. Thanks so much for making me look so good!"
—Jon Swerens, of Jon Swerens, Wordlessly
"Duuuuuuuude! They came in...They look perfect and sound perfect. Thanks for making this happen!"
—Mark Penner, of Moses Mayes
"Just got them in the mail today! Everything looks awesome, thanks a lot for all your help, I'll definitely be using you guys in the future."
—Jeffrey Allen, of Medford Music
Did TuneCore treat you right? We'd love to tell others. Drop an email to peter@tunecore.com and tell us your story. We'd love to hear from you.
(all testimonials used with permission)
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