TuneCore is evil.
So, through a lengthy process of deliberation and uploading, I've finally got my album ready to go for digital distribution. So I click onwards to complete the deal, paying them 50 USD to distribute my album digitally, when I see this message in the checkout shopping cart:
Your album will be live for one year. Renews annually for $49.99.
I haven't seen any mention anywhere about an annual renewal fee. I heard it briefly mentioned by a couple of guys, but never really got it confirmed, and their FAQ didn't say anything about it. So I figured it was just the one time fee after all, that maybe they'd changed their policy or that these guys had gotten things mixed up. 50 USD is a lot of money, and I'm not sure if I feel comfortable having to pay that amount annually as I doubt I'd make it back again through sales. And if I were to distribute another album through them I'd have to pay 100 USD annually.
And it makes me curious, what happens when someone doesn't pay the renewal fee? Will those who've bought the album no longer be able to download / access it through whatever retailer they bought it from?
Maybe I should go with CD Baby for digital distribution instead, but might be they have an "annual renewal fee" as well, and they don't distribute to iTunes, which is the leading all-digital music store. Maybe it's because of iTunes that TuneCore have to make their fee an annual thing?
Anyway, just a minor rant, and didn't know where else to put it.
Why's everyone in this thread a f***ing Mountain Goats fan?!
Kirkeby Kritikk • Kvitter