DCI CD's sold on iTunes....

[crowncontra]

Has anyone ever approached DCI about putting each year's DCI CD's/Recordings onto iTunes and charging not only per album but to where people could purchase just a single corps show?

For those in the know, does Apple/iTunes charge a certain percentage of the income that DCI would make to advertise/market their CDs? I was just doing some shopping on iTunes and was just wondering to see if this had ever been thought of or brought to DCI's attention.

Edited December 10, 2010 by crowncontra

[MetalTones2012]

Has anyone ever approached DCI about putting each year's DCI CD's/Recordings onto iTunes and charging not only per album but to where people could purchase just a single corps show?

For those in the know, does Apple/iTunes charge a certain percentage of the income that DCI would make to advertise/market their CDs? I was just doing some shopping on iTunes and was just wondering to see if this had ever been thought of or brought to DCI's attention.

If DCI makes money off of it I don't see why it's not possible, but it's not necessary either. The only people who buy DCI audio recordings are drum corps fans, and many of them already know how to do it from the Fan Network (which has the added benefit of being an MP3 and not an iTune).

[Jeff Ream]

i would imagine licensing would kill any shot at profits

[Peel Paint]

DCI would get to keep much less money that way compared to selling them in-house on Fan Network. I bet Apple would expect to keep most of the revenue, or if not most, too much of it to make it worth doing from DCI's perspective.

There's another practical issue, besides potentially reopening the whole licensing can of worms for iTunes. Apple also doesn't like selling tracks in their $0.99 - $1.29 model that run 10 minutes or more, as drum corps shows do. Search the iTunes Music Store for "Beethoven symphony," and you'll see the point. With a movement 9:59 or shorter, the track can be bought as one track. With a movement 10:00 or longer, they sell it only as an album at a $5+ cost, generally.

[Ephone]

I know that the Blue Devils currently have their 2009 and 2010 albums for sale on iTunes. I think they're the only corps though. I haven't found any others.

[CoHmempho04]

Why outsource when you have the Fan Network?

[Jeff Ream]

Why outsource when you have the Fan Network?

probably because people think it can lead to more revenue. hence why BD has their app for phones where you can purchase content already available elsewhere.

[perc2100]

Has anyone ever approached DCI about putting each year's DCI CD's/Recordings onto iTunes and charging not only per album but to where people could purchase just a single corps show?

For those in the know, does Apple/iTunes charge a certain percentage of the income that DCI would make to advertise/market their CDs? I was just doing some shopping on iTunes and was just wondering to see if this had ever been thought of or brought to DCI's attention.

Apple makes roughly 30-35% (can't remember exact percentage). With DCI having their own mp3 download service on their site, it doesn't make a lot of sense for them to give up a third of their profit for a company to merely host their recordings. While I'm sure a counter argument to that would be distributing DCI mp3's on iTunes would help bring a new audience to DCI, I would guess that the average person downloading DCI mp3's would be the same people that would buy them on their site (i.e. already established fans) who are more apt to DL something from itunes just out of habit, thus costing DCI 30% of their profit. I think we're fooling ourselves if we think that DCI/drum corps is a mainstream enough venture for DCI to give up any revenue at the hope that they can bring in new fans. They are wise to focus on cultivating their current fan base, and their target market of (apparently) high school and college music students. Plus, iTunes doesn't take advertising money from labels/artists to advertise their music, so it's not like DCI can pay to have their product on the iTunes homepage to get more awareness.

[perc2100]

probably because people think it can lead to more revenue. hence why BD has their app for phones where you can purchase content already available elsewhere.

But Blue Devils' iPhone app is merely a conduit that leads you to buy their products directly from them; they don't actually sell anything on iTunes.

[jaylogan]

But Blue Devils' iPhone app is merely a conduit that leads you to buy their products directly from them; they don't actually sell anything on iTunes.

They do sell stuff on iTunes. Go to the iTunes store, search for Blue Devils. Their 2009 and 2010 offerings appear, and you can purchase them. Within iTunes.