Self-publishing digital release, what are the gotchas?

[VREEEEVROOOOOW]

OK so I have an album and I want to publish it digitally. I'm too busy with other things (like actually *making* music) to bother with much more than just putting it up online, so that's my plan.

What are the dos and don'ts and gotchas and blah blahs of doing this?

I guess I should put it on Spotify, since everyone here uses that, and Bandcamp because afaict it doesn't suck. Anything else? Is there a free service-thingy where I can just click "publish", and then it publishes everywhere? In terms of copyright, my licensing terms will be: do what the fuck you want. What should I do about mastering for the different "platforms"? It's a noise album so it's basically just really loud... (I tested the dynamic range, and it said "-1" for the first three tracks, and "-2" for the last track as well as the album as a whole. I didn't even know you could have negative DR.)

Just tell me about those obvious things that aren't so obvious the first time around. I haven't published any music in like ten years, and back then we did physical media...

Thanks in advance to anyone gracious enough to educate my sorry arse.

[Jwar]

Bandcamp? What about Bandcamp!

[D.o.S.]

Don't expect any reasonable amount of money from Spotify.

Do use the shit out of bandcamp.

There are a couple of different ones you can pay to put it up on the platforms you want... TuneCore and Ditto are probably the most well known, but neither are free. TBH if I was you I'd just put it on bandcamp instead?

[Paul_C]

Yup, the general rule amongst people I know is the Bandcamp is far and away the best and most profitable way to go.

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah you're unlikely to get any money out of Spotify but if you want to get stuff out there it has more reach. As others have said I think signing up to a service that puts your stuff out there on the streaming platforms is a good idea. bandcamp is great but obviously maybe doesn't have the reach of streaming (looking for stuff on bandcamp is a bit of a barrier to entry to some people - but then those people probably wouldn't spend money on your music anyway

[VREEEEVROOOOOW]

Lol money. It's a noise album. I think a label might release it for me. They're experienced with navigating the digital jungle. But keep up the suggestions regardless, because that might fall through. (E.g. when they actually listen to the album. )

[goroth]

Lol money. It's a noise album. I think a label might release it for me. They're experienced with navigating the digital jungle. But keep up the suggestions regardless, because that might fall through. (E.g. when they actually listen to the album. )

Bandcamp. You can do it all yourself for free.

Don’t bother trying to get it on Spotify or whatever.
If you do I’d say it’s better to pay a one time fee and get it on there than a cheaper yearly subscription thing.

[coldbrightsunlight]

yeah I think bandcamp is the way if you're doing it solo. particularly if you just... want to get it out? It's super simple and free. and actually good

[VREEEEVROOOOOW]

Lol money. It's a noise album. I think a label might release it for me. They're experienced with navigating the digital jungle. But keep up the suggestions regardless, because that might fall through. (E.g. when they actually listen to the album. )

Bandcamp. You can do it all yourself for free.

Don’t bother trying to get it on Spotify or whatever.
If you do I’d say it’s better to pay a one time fee and get it on there than a cheaper yearly subscription thing.

Like I said earlier, the label might just do it for me, so no fees or anything for me.

[More_Divebombs]

I'm not aware of a free service to get your material published on all the streaming platforms, but some are very cheap.

I use Distrokid, where you pay an annual fee and you can upload an unlimited amount of music in that period, rather than paying per release. It's a good route if you release music frequently. There's not a lot of money in it, but I'm wack at promoting, so maybe there is if you put the legwork in. I made just shy of £70 in a year from Distrokid streams/downloads from Spotify, Amazon, Apple etc. Way more than I was expecting (since I was expecting zero), especially as all my music is on Bandcamp pay-what-you-want/free.

Bandcamp is the best platform though, for the overall control you have over your releases.