Tag: merch sales

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Every Artist Can Now Sell Merch On Spotify. Here’s How:

Spotify Royalty Rate 2020

Thanks to a partnership with Shopify, Spotify’s effort to become the one-stop shop for artists online is inching closer to completion.

Spotify just announced its integration with Shopify e-commerce stores. Anyone with a Shopify store can now display and sell merchandise on their Spotify profile page. Yes, everyone. Even you.

Selling merch isn’t just about commerce; it’s about connection, too. Shane Cody, drummer for the Indiana-bred alternative/indie band Houndmouth, recognizes it as an important part of the fan experience:

“Merch is a connection to the fans on a tangible level. Our music is the emotional connection, [so] sharing both on Spotify is essential.”

And when Houndmouth’s new album, Good For You, drops on Nov. 5, they’ll make the most of the release moment by featuring new merch on their artist profile.

Shopify makes it simple for artists and their teams to manage inventory and control which featured items on their profiles. (For example, out-of-stock items get automatically removed from your profile.) As soon as you’re ready to drop new merch, you’ll immediately be able to share it with fans and capitalize on your release moments so that they can browse your merch while they stream your new music.

“For many fans, Spotify is the primary way they interact with an artists’ music, and we are excited to give artists a new way to capitalize on that moment. We want to provide artists with as many resources as possible to help turn listeners into fans, fans into superfans and, ultimately, help artists earn more…”

Camille Hearst, Head of Spotify for Artists.

How to Connect Shopify with Spotify for Artists:

You need to connect your Shopify store to an artist before you can list merch on your artist profile. (Note: You’ll need your Shopify store login info for this.)

  • Log in to artists.spotify.com.
  • Go to Profile.
  • Click Merch.
  • Click LOG IN TO SHOPIFY.
  • Enter your Shopify store URL and click LINK SHOP. (Tip: This is the URL in the address bar when you’re on your Shopify store, e.g. “your-store-name.myshopify.com”.)
  • Log in to Shopify, then follow the steps to set up your accounts. (Note: You’ll get prompted to Add sales channel, accept the terms, and choose the artist you want to link your shop to.)

How to Publish Merch to Spotify for Artists:

Once your Shopify store’s connected, you can publish up to 250 merch items from Shopify to Spotify for Artists. You can then choose up to 3 of these items to show on your artist profile.

  • Log in to Shopify.
  • Go to Settings.
  • Click Products, then All products.
  • Choose a product. (Note: Check the product uses plain text and static images for the description and media.)
  • Click Manage next to SALES CHANNELS AND APPS.
  • Make sure Spotify is checked, then click Done.
  • Click Save at the top of the product page.

How to Add Merch:

If you add more merch to your Shopify store in the future, publish it to Spotify for Artists to list it on your artist profile. — Once your merch is published from Shopify, you can pick up to 3 items to list on your artist profile.

  • Log in to artists.spotify.com.
  • Go to Profile.
  • Click Merch.
  • Click ADD TO SHOP on the merch you want to show on your profile.
  • Your merch appears on your profile in the order you add it. To re-order merch, remove it all, then add it again in the order you want.
  • You can remove merch any time to add different merch to your artist profile. Out of stock items get automatically removed from your profile.

That’s it! You are a short amount of time away from making your merchandise available on the world’s biggest streaming platform. What are you waiting for?

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Artist Advice Editorials Industry News News

Why You Need More Merch (And How You Can Afford It)

The value of music diminishes further with each passing year, but merchandising lasts forever. Let’s look at why merch matters more than ever.

The value of recorded music is at an all-time low. Anyone making livable wages from music alone in 2021 is doing so through a combination of luck, talent, and utilizing every distribution method available to them. Artists are no longer looking for one paycheck for their music every month, but several. Musicians may make a little from physical sales, then a little more from streaming. There are also digital sales and revenue generated from music videos and other album components that exist on various platforms around the globe. The number of revenue streams varies from artist to artist, but the low payout rarely does.

It’s no great secret that most musicians making a living in music today do so largely through merchandise sales. You can include ticket sales if you want, but generally speaking, merchandise is where artists make the bulk of their income. A single shirt sold for $20 at a concert can generate more revenue for an artist than 10,000 streams of any single song on any of the leading streaming platforms. The sale of a sweatshirt can do even more.

While most musicians do a fair job of creating and making merchandise available to their fans, many are thinking too small when it comes to the possibilities of their brand. The digital age provides many opportunities for artists at every level of success to have robust merchandise options at little-to-no cost upfront. Some companies even offer print-on-demand merchandise. Those same businesses will also manage your online store, ship the merchandise, and allow you to set the price based on what you believe fans are willing to pay.

In the Music Biz update, host James Shotwell explains the growing importance of merch and identifies areas where many could do more to boost their bottom line. He also explores the growing online marketplace and provides examples of musicians who are already making big sales through various creative merch endeavors. Check it out:

Music Biz is brought to you by Haulix, the music industry’s leading promotional distribution platform. Start your one-month free trial today and gain instant access to the same promotional tools used by BMG, Concord, Rise Records, Pure Noise Records, and hundreds more. Visit http://haulix.com/signup for details.

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How To Make High Quality, Low-Risk Merch For FREE

Investing hundreds of dollars into merch that may or may not sell is a thing of the past!

Every musician dreams of seeing someone wearing their merch in public. For many, spotting their merchandise in the wild is as close to ‘making it’ as they will ever get. But making merch is traditionally a risky investment. Musicians typically spend hundreds, even thousands, to print merch that they hope fans buy. Recouping those production costs can take time, and that potential wait has forced many to shelve their merch dreams until they feel more established in the music community.

But that is a remnant of the old way of music entrepreneurship from the days before everyone was doing business online. Investing money in merch is still part of most artists’ financial plans, but other options exist. Believe it or not, musicians who are still establishing themselves and those more concerned about raising awareness than making money can now make merch without spending a dime.

Allow us to introduce you to print on demand merchandising.

Print on demand is a process where you work with a supplier to customize white-label products (like baseball hats or tote bags) with your designs to sell them on a per-order basis under your brand. Nothing is printed until someone orders a product, so you (the artist) only pay to produce what people buy.

There are several reasons that print on demand services are popular with musicians:

  • You don’t have to spend any money to get started
  • You can upload as many designs as you want
  • You don’t have to handle production
  • You don’t have to handle shipping
  • You can offer merch on high-end fabric
  • You can offer more unique merch items than any artist would otherwise be able to produce

There are drawbacks as well:

  • Print-on-demand services cost more per unit, which means your total revenue may be lower than if you purchase merch in bulk.
  • You do not control shipping, so there is no way to include “thank you” notes or bonus merch items.
  • You do not control production, so the product is made and shipped when the company handling your orders can fulfill the request.

In his latest Music Biz update, host James Shotwell walks through the print-on-demand business model. He argues why using such services may be a better alternative for certain artists than the traditional merch approach. He also recommends one printing company that we at Haulix Daily use regularly. Check it out:

Music Biz is brought to you by Haulix, the music industry’s leading promotional distribution platform. Start your one-month free trial today and gain instant access to the same promotional tools used by BMG, Concord, Rise Records, Pure Noise Records, and hundreds more. Visit http://haulix.com/signup for details.

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Billboard Changes Chart Rules: No More Ticket & Merch Bundles

Reversing a rule implemented in January, Billboard has updated the rules regarding album sales and charts to reflect consumer intent better.

Achieving success on the Billboard charts is a lot like trying to win a presidential election. You can do your best to make as many people as possible buy your music outright, or you can find smart ways around traditional album sales. One example of the latter is bundling, which combines a digital or physical album with the purchase of merchandise or concert tickets. Such tactics have helped several performers appear to move massive units of their latest record and top the chart, but thanks to new guidelines, that approach no longer works.

Billboard is changing the rules to its Billboard 200, Hot 100, and other album and song charts. The announcement comes to rectify how sales are counted with respect to album bundles with merchandise and concert tickets, as well as instant digital sales attached to purchases for physical albums delivered at a later date.  

On the issue of bundling, the latest rule changes supersede several others that were previously instituted in January. Those included a requirement that albums bundled with merchandise be available for purchase concurrently and individually on the same website, as well as a condition that merchandise sold on its own be priced lower than bundles that included the album. Additionally, merchandise/album bundles could only be sold on an artist’s official direct-to-consumer web store and not via third-party sites.

Billboard is now acknowledging what many critics have claimed to be true. Album sold in bundles with merch and tickets may not accurately reflect consumer intent. There are many cases of fans buying tickets or merchandise without realizing (i.e., caring) that the sale included an artist’s new album. So, if the fan doesn’t buy the bundle specifically for the release, why should the sale count toward the total units of that album sold?

Billboard will also no longer allow sales of physical albums or singles that are bundled with digital downloads to be reported as digital sales. That decision eliminates the practice of “spontaneous” non-manufactured items being used to influence first-week chart rankings. Only when the real thing — that is, what the consumer is buying — is shipped, will it be counted in Billboard’s official tallies.

The practice of selling vinyl, CDs, and other physical releases that won’t be manufactured and shipped to consumers for weeks or months — while offering a digital download that can be redeemed instantly — has become widespread as of late. Especially in the age of COVID-19, when manufacturing delays are rampant, many artists are using the promise of a physical item later to boost “sales” in the present.

Billboard recognizes that the use of bundling has been commonplace in music for decades. However, the practice of using merch and ticket bundles to boost album sales has been rampant as traditional record sales have fallen. The goal of the Billboard charts is to capture consumer intent, and the company believes it is impossible to gauge whether or not the sale of bundles reflects a clear desire to own the release rather than a piece of merchandise or attendance at a live event.

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Artist Advice Editorials Industry News News

Treat your fans with exclusive merch this Halloween

Special edition and limited-run merchandise can engage fans and bring in extra cash as the end of year holiday shenanigans begin.

October is here, which means spooky season has officially begun. In just over four weeks people everywhere will celebrate Halloween. You can tell me Christmas is the best holiday, but just know that doing so would prove how little you know about Halloween. October 31st is the only day of the year where self-expression and all the creative possibilities it entails are openly celebrated. For one short period, everyone is welcomed (and encouraged) to be themselves. There’s also candy. 

In short, everyone wins during Halloween.

Musicians can leverage America’s love of Halloween for personal through smart marketing and limited edition merch. Those needing proof of this need only look to the biggest brands on the planet. Target, Wal-Mart, and Amazon have all dedicated space to Halloween themed merchandise, as have countless other chains. They may have “terrifyingly low prices” or “ghoulish offers,” but varying puns aside, the idea is always the same. 

The everyday products being sold are changed for the holiday as well, with everyone from Yankee Candles to the makers of Twix trying to cater to seasonal shoppers. I recently purchased hand soap that has a seasonal theme!

Halloween is the perfect time to release limited-edition merchandise. Not only does this give your core audience the chance to purchase something special, but it provides you the opportunity to express yourself in new ways. You can try your hand at large prints or scary prints, with beanies or socks. Halloween merch is as merch a treat for your fans as it is a treat for you, the creative people tasked with keeping an audience engaged all year long.

Chicago’s Real Friends understand how to make great Halloween merch.

As with any item sold, the key to getting a strong response from seasonal merchandise is executing a great idea people will be unable to overlook. As you see in the example above, the possibilities are seemingly endless as far as approaches to Halloween merch are concerned, so take that as a sign that creativity is encouraged. Find something you love about this season or something about this season you feel reflects your music, and use it to create something unique your fans can cherish forever.

A few key things to remember:

  1. Do not steal anyone’s design/copyrighted materials. Doing so could result in legal troubles whose costs far outweigh any benefit associated with seasonal merchandise.
  2. Order your product in time for it to ship before Halloween. Receiving a Halloween-themed shirt in the middle of November or December doesn’t really do anyone any good. Fans won’t wear it, and worse – they probably won’t order seasonal merch from you again. Think and plan ahead.
  3. Targeted marketing helps. No one likes paying Facebook to reach their fans, but doing so can help sell new/limited merch items. Even as little as $5 can double, if not triple, the reach of your average post. As the saying goes, “You have to spend money to make money.”
  4. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Want to make seasonal merch, but don’t know what to offer? Ask your fans. They’re the ones who will ideally be buying whatever you create, so you might as well ask them what they want and do your best to meet their demands.
  5. Turkey merch is not a thing. While you might be able to leverage Halloween, Christmas, and even Valentine’s Day for merch sales, Thanksgiving doesn’t create the same market. You can try, but you will more than likely fail.
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The Importance of Merch Sales in Music Today [VIDEO]

With streaming music replacing physical media sales more and more, artists are increasingly dependant on merch sales to stay afloat.

It is no secret that streaming royalties pay artists far less than traditional album sales. The top-paying music services give artists about $0.006 per song stream. Spotify, which is the most popular subscription service, pays roughly half that amount.

Last week, UK metalcore group While She Sleeps made headlines around the world by releasing merchandise that explicitly aired their frustrations with streaming royalties. The shirt in question reads, “One t-shirt is the equivalent to 5000 streams on Spotify. 76% of all music in 2019 is streamed and not bought physically or digitally. Band merchandise is the most direct way of supporting an artist.”

While She Sleeps is not wrong. In today’s music business, merchandise sales matter more than ever. An artist who is capable of moving huge volumes of merch can turn industry heads faster than an artist with a viral single because executives know merchandise sales are where the most money is being made in 2019.

But how does an artist sell merchandise? There is more competition than ever for listeners’ attention, which means there is increased competition for their financial support. There are also no shortcuts to selling large amounts of merchandise. That said, there are ways artists can position themselves for success, which is what we’re going to discuss today.

In this episode of Music Biz 101, host James Shotwell details the increasing importance of merchandising in artists’ careers. He also offers advice for creating merch your fans will want to buy, complete with examples from artists with immensely dedicated followers.

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Why Merch Sales Matter More Than Song Streams

The streaming age has given virtually everyone immediate access to music, but at what cost to creators?

Streaming is the new normal. Just last month, Spotify revealed it now has 232 million monthly listeners, including 108 monthly subscribers. Apple Music, the company’s closest competitor, now boasts 60 million monthly subscribers. Those two platforms alone help more than a quarter of a billion humans access music every month. That results in a lot of streams generating a wealth of cash, but for who?

Most artists love the amount of access streaming allows consumers, but hate the pay structure. That is due to the fact the majority of musicians make $0.006 per stream or less depending on the platform. With a high enough volume of streams, anyone can make a comfortable living but reaching that many streams (millions of plays per month) is difficult unless an artist has a celebrated catalog or a consistent presence in top songs charts.

While She Sleeps, a British metalcore band that releases music through their own label (Sleep Brothers) in collaboration with UNFD and Spinefarm Records, is tired of relying on streams to make a living. The band tours heavily, and through their accounting have discovered that music is no longer the primary way they support themselves. Creating and performing music is what they do, but at the end of the day, selling merchandise is how the members of While She Sleeps support themselves.

The band is responding to this discovery by releasing a new t-shirt design that makes it clear how fans can support the artists they love. Check it out:

You can order the shirt on the band’s official website. The group is also making the design available for other musicians to use, for free, on their own merchandise. Click here to grab the file.

In a letter released with the design, While She Sleeps wrote “The majority (76% in fact) of music in 2019 is streamed. Probably by you, definitely by us, and there is nothing bad about that. But if bands and artists are to survive and win the battle of art vs money, we need to find new income to keep afloat.”

You can read the full message below:

While She Sleep’s latest release, So What?, is available now. 

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How to increase your Black Friday sales

Holiday shopping season is upon us, and the biggest day of the year for consumerism is right around the corner. Black Friday happens on November 23. To help improve your sales and ensure your promotions go off without a hitch, we’ve developed a series of tips to ensure your holiday sales occur without issue. Some will seem obvious, but no point should be overlooked. Every step outlined below will help streamline your business, improve shipping speed, and – if you’re lucky – bring in a few additional customers.

Check your inventory. Twice (just like Santa).

Your goal with holiday sales should be to liquidate as much of the merchandise you have in stock as possible while still making a healthy profit on each product sold. Before you can do this to the best of your abilities, you need to know what you have available, and how much of it is in stock. Running out of something during your holiday sale will cause headaches for everyone, and that goes double if you run out of something because you forgot to check your inventory before launching your sale. The back and forth required to straighten out orders that cannot be fulfilled may cause you to lose future sales, as well as those you are forced to cancel. Prevent this mess from ever happening and do inventory first. Do it twice, in fact, and ask someone else to check your work.

Promote your entire sale, as well as individual items.

You want people to use your discounts to buy more than they usually would, but often those attempting to promote a store-wide sale forget the impact that promoting key items one at a time can have on consumers. You should still mention store-wide discounts, of course, but you should also make room to highlight individual items. If you’re offering 25% off everything online, you should promote the sale by showing how the discount changes the cost for specific products. Create images for Instagram and other networks that highlight these changes. That way, people can more easily understand what a great deal you are giving them. Likewise, you can use Twitter to promote various items and their price after discounts throughout the holiday weekend.

Speaking of promotion, think about paying for it.

I’m about to say something most artists hate to hear: Paying for promoted posts on Facebook and Twitter can have a positive impact on your reach, as well as your overall sales. It would be wonderful if this were not the case, and that those who could not afford paid promotion on social networks saw their sales work just as well, but years of research has made it clear that is not the case. Thankfully, the cost of entry into paid promotions is low. For as little as five dollars you can have a guaranteed reach to hundreds, if not thousands of people who have previously enjoyed your music enough to give you a Like/Follow online. Whether or not they take advantage of the message being conveyed will depend on how you choose to present yourself, but at least you know your efforts are reaching those who are most likely to jump on them.

Create specific Twitter search streams for particular items you sell.

This one is a bit more time-consuming than other tips, but it can help you bring in a lot of new consumers who may have otherwise not checked your store. Numerous tools allow you to create and save Twitter search streams. Find one you like and use it to track people tweeting about shopping/looking for things like ‘new vinyl’ or ‘cool band t-shirts.’ It’s likely these people already have an artist or genre in mind when they send these messages, but you can still reply with links to your store and music. If they don’t respond, oh well. If they do, you’ve got a potential new consumer/fan.

Make the most of SEO.

We’ve talked about this before, but keywords are becoming increasingly important when it comes to how people find your content online. Use a tool such as the Google Keyword tool to understand better how your customers are searching, then modify your own store to reflect what you have learned. It is essential to know which keywords are mostly used during the holidays, such as ‘sales,’ ‘top gifts,’ ‘Cyber Monday,’ and ‘Black Friday.’

If you know nothing about SEO, some services can help you improve your efforts, as well as people on Fiverr willing to work for just $5. Get creative if you must, but the smart decision would be to master SEO yourself as soon as possible.

Make sure everything is working before promoting your sale.

This one may seem obvious, but every year there are a handful of musicians who see their site, or at least parts of their website, crash amidst the sudden upswing in view brought on by the holiday shopping season. Before you push your sale live, make sure every item on your store is listed correctly and that every discount is working correctly. If there is a code word needed, make sure you test it out before sharing it online.

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A few tips on lowering the cost of t-shirts

There are many ways to get attention for your band, but regardless of what tips and tricks you may have picked up throughout your experience in music there is nothing that can impact your career like a great hook or brilliant melody. This is not a theory or a thought, but rather proven fact that has worked for artists trying to make it in every corner of the music business. Everything else that follows, from touring to merchandise, must take a back seat to songwriting.

All that aside, artists still need to make money. Music sales have dipped across the board over the last decade, and with streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music on the rise it seems like the amount of money most artists see from their new releases will continue to dwindle for the foreseeable future. Great music still sells, yes, but only a fool would rely solely on the strength of their music sales to support themselves in the entertainment business. Merchandising beyond albums and singles is an absolute must in today’s music business, and the one item every artist can use to generate income while trying to craft that perfect song is a t-shirt. There are a billion ways to customize shirts, some far more expensive than others, but by considering the following tips you can keep costs low while furthering your marketing  

SUPER BASIC TIPS:

  • Two-sided designs costs more than those with a design appearing on either the back or front.
  • Shirts requiring the use of many inks (colors) will cost more than those created using a single ink.
  • Dark fabric often costs more than light fabric because more layers of ink must be applied in order for the design to stick

THINGS TO CONSIDER

Large designs can make a big impact

Why incur the cost of creating a two-sided shirt design when you can make a bigger, more cost effective impact with a large, single side design. The vast majority of printers charge the same rate for a design measuring 3”x5” as they do for those measuring 12”x12”. That said, not everyone is a fan of big designs, so it would be wise to check with your fan base prior to moving forward with any design.

Stop printing on both sides

The occasional two-sided shirt design can be cool, but trying to cover both sides of every shirt you create will only raise the overall cost of merchandising. Using the knowledge you gained from the tip above regarding design sizes, artists should think twice before incurring a potentially unnecessary extra expense.

Use fewer ink colors

Fans of alternative and punk music have been one of the leading forces behind a recent trend toward more color-heavy shirts. Bands like A Day To Remember and Asking Alexandria have found great success with shirts featuring cartoonish designs and many bright colors. Similar branding efforts may work for smaller artists as well, but those musicians should first consider the additional costs incurred from use of multiple inks. The number rises with each color, and unless artists plan on ordering a large quantity of shirts up front (500+) the up front cost may be more than some are willing to pay for a few extra color. Our advice is this: Keep it simple. Try and use one color whenever possible unless you know the idea you have is going to be a hit with listeners.

Order larger quantities of shirts

We touched on this a bit in the tip above, but one way musicians can lower the cost of their merchandise is to increase the number of shirts they order at one time. The price due up front will increase, but the cost per unit will drop, which in turn raises the revenue potential for your order. 100 shirts are better than 50, but 500 shirts at a time would be an ideal place to start. Of course, if you don’t have an engaged audience large enough to support such an order then you should keep things small.

Consider offering shirts for a limited time only

One way to cut out essentially all costs from merchandise orders is to create the exact number of items needed. Most print shops will tell you the per unit cost on whatever design you wish to print, as well as the number of units you must purchase in order to lower that cost. With this information in hand, artists can launch shirt designs that are available for a limited time as pre-sale only items. Once the purchasing period ends, artists can order the exact amount of shirts needed without having to make any investments out of pocket.

Think twice about upgrading your shirt choose to a fashion brand

One determining factor in how well your merchandise will sell is how comfortable that item is perceived to be. There was a time not that long ago when artists with shirts printed on any type of fabric would sell, but in an age where brands like American Apparel exist this is no longer the case. There is demand for high quality fabric, and if you meet that demand you will give listeners another reason to consider purchasing your

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Tracking Physical Sales At Concerts: Why And How

The following post is a guest piece from one of our favorite industry lifers, Christopher Bianchi. Heed his advice.

When I started off playing in my friends basement, the thought of “tracking our music sales” was something that had literally never crossed our minds back then…Although it should have and I’m glad now of having grasped the concept many years later of how important it is to not only TRACK how many units you’ve sold but also to REPORT THEM with the proper outlets so they count.

Why?- There is the obvious- so the band or artist knows how many units they have sold. Then things stem further based on the situation such as: the booking agent or concert tour package. This is a way the agents and promoters all over have knowledge of your band and how it’s truly selling. From there they know how to appropriately place and book your size rooms, tours, festivals and events. That stems onward further into Record Labels. As an unsigned band- the label will see the proven sales numbers as a strong reason to invest in a partnership with your band. They can see that you’ve put in the work, time and effort to make noise and can now step in to help take things next level. This is also how you chart on Billboard with your first week and total sales.

Stemming even further from this- Endorsement and Partnerships will want to see hard proven sales numbers as a way to base there investment into that particular band or artist.

How?- This is surprisingly enough an outlet that goes unnoticed so very often with all sizes of bands. How to properly track and also register the sales you make?

You are going to need a few things in order to do so:

1. A Barcode for that particular album, single or EP. (These can be purchased often for a few dollars from numerous websites online. You purchase and register the title to that barcode- all done right on the website such as: speedy barcodes.com. From there you are on your way. They will send you a download of the barcode that you will use for registering via soundscan as well as adding to the official album back of the artwork when printing. You will use this barcode number to input the album with Atvenu.

2. Register the barcode to Nielson Soundscan. This is a VERY IMPORTANT part of the process. Soundscan are the title tracking company responsible for keeping all the numbers on file for sales. You must go to “Register A New Title” and input all of the information of your release. Album, EP, or Single. Add the release date and the barcode  number with the rest of your information. Then hit submit. It takes a few days to register into the official system.

3. Atvenu– This is the platform that the artist uses to enter in all show and concert data such as: Date, Venue, Amount of Albums Sold, Cost. From here this is where on after each event you will submit the number of physical sales. The app runs a simple $10 per touring month for any artist which is WELL WORTH the investment to PROPERLY track your album sales. You simply add the album, barcode number and at the end of each show you have a line where the venue rep will sign (From any iPad,phone,etc)

Then you are able to submit easily that nights sales. The app then tracks all numbers and reports to Nielson Soundscan on your behalf every week.

Why not just report to Soundscan myself you ask?… Great question. That is because the Nielson system only accepts sales from certain special accredited sources. You must be a professional Record Label or something of the like in order to submit sales yourself. It also costs A LOT of money yearly. In order to do so independently, you must submit sales through a platform.

When it comes to digital release- these sales are automatically reported to soundscan via CD Baby, etc. However, to ensure especially in the physical department- It’s always the best bet to hand register each title.

Now PULLING official Soundscan reports are a whole different thing but luckily digital sales report to you monthly and physicals will be tracked through again the atvenu app!

Good luck and keep rocking!!

Christopher Bianchi is an Artist Manager at Mercenary Management who has been involved with the business side of music since he was just 14. Now in his late twenties, Chris lives with his wife, Kayla, in Ohio and spends his days helping artists of all sizes reach the next level(s) in their careers. 

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