The Value in D2C

Direct to Consumer (D2C) model for distributing music has been on fire the past five years. As musicians flock to the Internet with dreams of gold as their fans open wallets to purchase every new version of their latest hit. Larger profit margins can be obtained versus using a third party for distribution. It builds the fan base and costs the artist very little.  In the article Direct-To-Fan Holds Much Promise, Many Problems, Kyle Bylin explores the reality of this sales model for a musician. While the profit margins are undoubtedly greater then utilizing a third party on the surface, many costs do not come into consideration by most musicians when making this choice. In the article he interviews several individuals in the industry that have experience both positive and negative with D2C. I will boil it all down to some simple concepts, but first I will state that do not be deterred in the use of D2C as it does have valuable results, just do not depend on it as your sole source of distribution revenue.

For me it boils down to aspects of cost, SEO and placement for the finding the new fan and selling an album. A band website or Facebook post alone are not positioned to be the ideal locations to sell an album (unless you already have a strong fan base and following exceeding 10,000 individuals). Why? Well let us examine successful models like iTunes which have many employees whose sole job is to drive traffic to the website. I do not know the budget they have for SEO but I am pretty sure that the average musician trying to build their brand does not have the budget to accomplish what they already have. This brings me to cost of which there are many when considering D2C for example, secure website service for customer transaction (SSL), shipping, returns, advertising or pay per click ads, and let us not forget the labor from the band members managing all of this.

Just to remind you the reader I am not saying do not do it, just examine the costs and find those transactions that are worthwhile to the fan and help establish revenue to continue doing what you should be doing best, your music that your fans love.