Tunefire – Music Distribution

Q: What is Tunefire?

• We are a Digital Music Distribution service that places your tracks in the major download stores. We are not a record label. You keep the rights to your Music and the money you make from your track sales.

Q: So, who can use Tunefire?

• Our service is open to anyone aged 18+ with original material they want to sell in the download stores.

Q: Why should I use Tunefire?

• We are completely open about everything we do. We don’t make “hidden” additional charges that most distributors make. You pay us once only. From then on all the money we receive from your sales are passed back to you.

Q: How much do I get from the sale of each track?

• You can expect the majority of stores to deduct a percentage from each track sale. In addition the stores work with an Aggregation partner who takes 10%.

Q: What is an “Aggregation Partner”?

• The best way to describe the Aggregator is as a gatekeeper for the stores. The stores use Aggregators as centralised entities to input new content. In turn the Aggregator works with us (the Distributor) and we, with you (the Client).

Q: How long does it take to get my tracks in stores?

• The time it takes can vary depending on the queue that each of the stores have for new material. Current lead time is advised to be 2-6 weeks. This can be shorter, again it depends on the queue. Beware of services which offer a guaranteed lead time! We don’t know of anybody other than major labels able to dictate to the likes of iTunes when a particular track goes on sale (effectively jumping the queue!). It’s important to plan your release so please bear the lead time in mind when your’re at the planning stage.

Q: Can I choose a release date?

• You can! Bear in mind the answer to the question above! A release date should be chosen to factor in the period of time (2-6) weeks for the track to start appearing on the stores. We’ve generally found iTunes to be pretty efficient in getting new material on board where as Spotify tend to take a little longer. To cover all bases, we recommend a date of 6 weeks from the date you upload your release to us. Alternatively, you can just put the date you do your uploads and the tracks will appear as soon as they have been processed by the stores.

Q: My track(s) have appeared on some stores but not others. How come?

• Each store has it’s own queue of new material to process. You can imagine somebody like iTunes have a permanent mountain of new material to process. Your track(s) may well move through a queue quicker in one store than others, patience is the key. Also bear in mind that the contents of some of our stores are only available for sale & viewing in certain countries.

Q: Can you tell me where in the queue my track is for a particular store?

• Unfortunately this is not possible. So many stores and content providers have so much new material to process, making enquiries about where a particular track is will not get a definitive answer, if at all.

Q: Can I release a track containing samples?

• This depends on where the samples came from. If they are from a sample CD you own, purposely released for use without a license (or where ownership of the CD constitutes the license) there is no problem. If it is a sample from somebody else’s copyrighted work then you need to obtain permission from the person or company that holds the publishing rights to that work. Failure to do so can lead to serious legal problems. For more information contact PRS via http://www.prsformusic.com (UK only).
• Please bear in mind, if you use Tunefire’s services, that it is expressly stated in our Terms & Conditions that you will not use material copyrighted and owned by somebody else without the written authorisation of themselves or their representatives. This is to protect your interests as much as anybody else’s.

Q: Can I release a cover version?

• This is a grey area. The official line seems to be that unless you have changed the arrangement, you don’t need permission. That begs the question “what constitutes a change of the arrangement?”. As usual we would recommend getting in contact with PRS via http://www.prsformusic.com (UK only) who can help with licensing matters.
• Please bear in mind, if you use Tunefire’s services, that it is expressly stated in our Terms & Conditions that you will not use material copyrighted and owned by somebody else without the written authorisation of themselves or their representatives. This is to protect your interests as much as anybody else’s.

Q: How do I get my tracks taken off sale and how much does it cost?

• The technical term for this is “Take Down”. It’s really easy, you just need to email us and let us know which tracks you would like us to take down. We will only accept instructions for this from the person who originally put the tracks on sale. We do not charge anything for this service.

Q: Why do you charge an upfront fee?

• A lot of services provided a “free” upload service. The payment you make is usually 10% on each sale. That’s great until you become the next Beyonce and sell a million tracks over a weekend. We don’t see why we should benefit from your success. We are providing a service and we feel that deserves a simple one off payment leaving you to collect all the money you make from your hard promotional work.