Digital distributor TuneCore launched in the U.K. on Tuesday, the company’s third country-specific service. Available only to U.K.-based artists, TuneCore UK services music to streaming and download sites and also provides sync licensing services.
Launching in the U.K. will have a number of advantages, explains CEO Scott Ackerman. For starters, the U.K. service has its own URL at TuneCore.co.uk with localized content and artist services tools specific to the market. Another benefit to a U.K. service is the ability for artists to pay and receive royalty payments in British Pounds rather than convert to and from a foreign currency.
TuneCore’s partnership with U.K.-based Believe Digital provides another advantage to launching in the market. Ackerman says believe gives TuneCore UK clients label services. “We were never a company that had that personalized service, one-on-one service, sat down with an artist to work on radio and marketing. Believe has always had those services,” he tells Billboard.
That said, TuneCore UK will initially be operated from the Brooklyn office. Ackerman says the company will eventually hire local staffers for web content, social media and client acquisition.
A pioneering digital distribution service for independent artists, TuneCore has paid artists $576 million since founding in 2006. It charges annual fees for distribution and pays artists 100 percent of the royalties. The company also offers localized services in Canada and Japan in addition to its original U.S. service.
