 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: grenadilla428
Date: 2014-07-22 18:53
I've been writing for my woodwind students for years, and I have a few pieces out with a publisher, but I'm thinking of self-publishing some of my pieces and offering them through my website.
Anyone on the board have experience with self-publishing? Tips or suggestions on how to effectively go about this? Not expecting it to generate loads of income, but I would like to make some sales. :-)
Thanks!
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2014-07-22 20:21
I have been doing that for over 15 years now, and what I would recommend is using Sheet Music Plus - Digital Print Publishing. I ran my sales on my own website until last year when I decided to go with Sheet Music Plus and MusicaNeo. The reason being that I could see a gradual increase in expenses that would eventually cost me more than I was generating in sales. Sheet Music Plus in particular does an excellent job getting buyers to their web site, something that I found difficult and expensive to do. They give you 45% of your sales price, but with increased sales through them, it is worth it for me not to have to deal with my own commercial website. I still have a website, but it is mostly used to point people to where they can find my music.
MusicNeo is also a good place to go, especially for European sales, but that site has been quite a bit less fruitful for my sheet music.
Sheet Music Plus published an interview with me where I discuss my experience with their services and music publishing in general: http://blog.sheetmusicplus.com/
I do not receive any money for these recommendations.
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2014-07-22 20:28
I think the easiest and cheapest would be to offer (password protected and watermarked) pdfs for self-printing, or use one of the various online music score services (which sometimes depend on you using software like Sibelius etc).
In what source format are you pieces typeset?
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Ben
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2014-07-22 20:58
Just a point about format per Ben's post: Sheet Music Plus and MusicaNeo require PDF files that they set up for limited printing. The latest versions of Finale allow "printing" to PDF or you can purchase the more advanced Adobe Acrobat version that allows changing file formats to PDF - that is what I use. The advantage of PDF's is that they are useable over multiple operating systems and easy to upload and download.
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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Author: grenadilla428
Date: 2014-07-22 23:52
Getting customers to the site has been my concern, too. That's the big question. Traffic to my site is pretty light as it is, and mostly focused on the studio.
And yes, I was planning on either shipping print or offering pdf downloads with some form of protection on them. I shouldn't think offering the actual notation file for download is a good idea.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2014-07-23 00:27
(before you shell out big bucks for Adobe Acrobat, install one of the various PDF "printers" like Bullzip PDF - they're free and do more than an adequate Job)
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Ben
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Author: grenadilla428
Date: 2014-07-24 02:49
So John, Sheet Music Plus is a pretty big site - do you find that customers have a hard time finding your pieces unless they're specifically searching for you? Does the majority of your business come from directors working off solo & ensemble lists, festival catalogues, etc? How is it that they come across your work (if the website provides you with that sort of information)?
Sounds interesting, but I'm still at the research stage so have lots of questions. ;-)
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Author: johng ★2017
Date: 2014-07-24 04:13
grenadilla428: I do not know specifically where the buyers come from, but it is unlikely most are looking specifically for my music. SMP provides a way to put in categories like which instruments are used in the piece, the general style, the time period, seasonal music, playing level, etc. I am also careful to give important key words in the title like, "The Jigs are Up - Celtic Music for Flute Quartet", since I think most people either find the music by browsing categories or by a word search. Like selling on ebay, keywords in the title and getting the categories right are very important.
Good luck!
John Gibson, Founder of JB Linear Music, www.music4woodwinds.com
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