We get asked a lot of questions - we have tried to address the most common questions here. If you have a question that's not answered yet, mail us to: easybe@gmx.net. We'll see what we can do.
Apparently. Already in 2000, Jupiter Research announced findings that suggest that fans ARE prepared to pay for downloaded music. Forrester Reasearch estimate a turnover of $76 million USD for digital music downloads in 2003. The future looks bright, too, with estimated turnover rising to $541 million USD in 2005 and continuing to reach $2 billion USD in 2007.
Apart from that, it's not like the music industry is doing particularly well with their "traditional" methods...
The main advantage for you is that it opens up the world - in 2003, about 580 million people worldwide have internet access. In Germany, there are 36.5 million, in the UK there are 29 million. Even a small piece of this big cake could bring in a lot of money. This is probably the cheapest and yet most wide-reaching sales channel you could wish for. Once the songs are encoded and uploaded, you can sell them. Simple as that. Without having to press CDs, print covers and distribute the product. Even if it's just "something extra", something you can run alongside your current practices, it's worth a shot. If the music is any good, you could recoup your investment within hours...
Unless you are Madonna or a member of U2, you probably don't reach all the people you could with your music. This is a chance to reach an audience far beyond what you can reach with live shows or traditional distribution. Not only that, but these new listeners can show their appreciation by buying your stuff.
Even if your music is totally offbeat and obscure, there'll be someone in the world who will see the spark of genius. The 1-2-3 music store helps you access these people. It provides the mechanisms necessary for them to buy your music which helps you buy more equipment (or whatever...) and make even better, or stranger music.
Well, then they probably won't. But there's a lot of second rate music out there doing well... It's worth a try - the software doesn't cost a whole lot, really.
$68 for musicians or bands and $168 for labels. "Band" and "Label" versions contain the same features, but will be used differently - that's why the price is different. We know who you are when you buy, so please be honest. We define a "band" as a single project and a "label" as an organization that manages multiple projects.
Nothing. File-sharing is a part of the modern music experience and it's not going to go away. However, many people use file sharing to find songs that they couldn't otherwise get hold of. And don't forget that people will pay for music if it is good and well-priced...
Think of it this way - with the 1-2-3 music store, you get access to a global audience and these people can listen to you and buy your music. If only a few people buy your songs, that's a few more than you would have had otherwise. What do you really have to lose? Don't let a few file-sharers stop you reaching your fans.
You don't have to, but we advise you to. Sales of portable mp3 players are booming right now and nearly everyone has an mp3 player on their computer. Also, mp3 can produce high quality results and it's easy to put it on a CD - as mp3 or as audio. If you want, though, you can sell any kind of digital information over the 1-2-3 music store.
We try to avoid any kind of production costs - the beauty of online digital distribution is that it's all data - no printing costs, no pressing costs etc. Obviously, for merchandising, this creates a problem... you could easily sell (or provide for free using the artwork feature) images for posters, flyers or even t-shirts which customers could print themselves, though. Otherwise, find a partner you can trust and manage your physical merchandise as usual.
Well, everything is possible... sooner than you think, in fact. We're beta testing this feature right now, trying to smoke out every last little bug... If you're already a 1-2-3 Music Store customer, send a mail to easybe@gmx.net and we can send you the beta version for testing. If you send us your feedback, you get a free update as a reward.
Then you won't have to modify anything and your customers can have their "real" CDs.
Yes, we're planning a subsequent version of the 1-2-3 Music Store which will contain a
"merchandising" feature. What exactly do you want to do with your T-shirts, keychains, posters, etc? Please send us your requests for features and functions - then we can make exactly the product you need.
Yes, you certainly can - in fact, we strongly recommend that you do so. We
provide you with the templates and graphics from the shop which you can
change to your heart's content.
These links aren’t inactive - they’re just not linked anywhere. In the demo
site, these pages don't exist. You could, of course, get hold of the html
templates and create new pages for these sections and link them up - then
they would work. It’s a lot of work tho - you might as well buy the script
and do it for your own site... ; )
We chose to integrate the PayPal system into the 1-2-3 music store. We place great importance on a safe payment system for your customers. We chose to work with PayPal simply because they are the best in their field. They have received close to 20 awards for technical excellence from the Internet industry and the business community at large - most recently the 2003 Webby Award for Best Finance Site and the 2003 Webby People's Voice Award for Best Finance Site.
Technically this is possible. We've stayed away from this so far because although a lot
of people have requested this, they tend to change their minds when they examine the
fees involved. Other payment gateways are considerably more expensive than PayPal.
If you really have a big problem with PayPal, take a look at the rates and conditions
for worldpay.com and 2checkout.com (below). If you'd still like to work with an alternative
payment system, just let us know! We could develop a version of the 1-2-3 Music Store with
this feature for about $300.
No. Even without a credit card, customers can start a PayPal account. They simply transfer money from their bank account onto their PayPal account and shop as normal.
There are NO SETUP COSTS for a paypal account, and it only takes a few minutes.
For a merchant account, which you will need if you want to sell your music, you
DO need a credit card. Your customers don¹t need a credit card to buy from you, though.
The costs for paypal are low, but it¹s difficult to understand how their charges work.
Effectively, they charge twice for each transaction. They take a standard fee of 30
cents per sale AND they take a 2.9% cut.
Transaction costs work out as follows:
- sell single song $0.99
- minus paypal transaction costs (2.9% of transaction + standard fee of
$0.30 = $0.33)
- you get: $0.66
- sell album $9.50
- minus paypal transaction costs (2.9% of transaction + standard fee of
$0.30 = $0.33) = $0.59
- you get: $8.91
Please note - easybe.com doesn¹t get any money per sale.
Sell 7 albums and you have already covered your costs.
(Labels, you need to sell 17 albums.)
Remember - once the 1-2-3 music store is up and running, you have no additional
costs and you don¹t have to do anything!
We now have a number customers online. Some cutomers have agreed to let us
use their site as a reference. Check out these sites, enjoy the music and
see what the 1-2-3 Music Store can do:
