Mobile music distribution for indie musicians

From 0% just five years ago, digital music sales now represent 15% of the global music market, with more than $2.9 billion changing hands online last year.

But it's not just signed artists that are selling their tracks over the net. When digital download sales were first accepted into the UK singles charts in January 2007, punk band Koopa became the first unsigned band in history to reach the UK Top 40. Independent music makers are realising that the net isn't just a tool for marketing and promotion; it can be used for selling records and earning cash.

But while it's clear how big an effect the net is having on the record industry, you might not be aware of the impact mobile internet is having on music.

With mobile internet becoming cheaper, more accessible and faster (HSDPA internet speeds now are comparable to standard broadband), mobile music downloads are thriving. In 2007, half of all global music downloads were to mobile phones. In Japan, the figure is 90%, and not just ringtones: 40% of all digital tracks sold were full tracks. Put simply, mobile internet presents some amazing opportunities for music distribution and, like terrestrial internet, there's no reason that unsigned bands and artists can't make use of it.

In fact, it can be argued that mobile is actually the best way to distribute your music. Think of it like this: there were 140 million portable music player sales in 2007, but there were 2.5 billion mobile subscriptions. Most of these subscriptions would have come complete with a high quality, mp3-capable phone, and some of them with storage space to rival that of an iPod nano. Due to better handset functionality and increased interoperability between computers and mobiles, people are now using mobile phones as a serious alternative to dedicated mp3 players, so there's a huge market to be reached by selling direct to mobile.

Distribution services such as Tunecore and CDBaby have long been used by unsigned bands to get their songs into download stores, and they're starting to turn their attention to mobile internet. For a small cost you can already get your songs into mobile stores such as Groupietunes, 3Guppies and Muze, and deals with the bigger music stores such as MusicStation and Sony Ericsson's forthcoming megastore are bound to follow. The fact that your song can be used as a ringtone makes the idea even more attractive as this gives your track exposure, driving more sales.

Selling direct to handsets isn't the only way mobiles can help distribution though. Websites like Artists First allow you to use mobiles as a fast and easy payment method for buying songs. Your fans text a code to a five digit number and receive a download PIN and link for their computer via text message, after the charge is added to their phone bill. Indiestore offers a similar service. This makes it easy to sell songs to fans wherever they are. You can sell direct to fans during a gig, either by letting people pick and choose which songs from your set they want to download, or by plugging a single.

The more generous among you can even set up a laptop at a gig and give away a song or two via Bluetooth for free - it might be a giveaway now, but that exposure may pay off in the future.

Hopefully we've thrown up some useful ideas here, but remember: it's up to you as to how you make it work. Mobiles are flexible, portable means for distributing music, and everyone's got one. Remember that, be creative, and you'll do well.

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