So, you finally did it!
For months you had an idea for a song in your head and just itching to get out into the world. Weeks of late nights spent agonizing over the smallest details, have resulted in not only a finished product but one that you’re proud of!
After all, this track is your creation, the culmination of your creative vision, and something that you can call your own! But all that hard work and creativity doesn’t do much good if the track is stuck on your hard drive with no way for the world to hear it, right?
And how exactly do you go about putting your music out into the world in the first place?
Getting into the world of music publishing can be a daunting task for even business-savvy musicians. What is more, even the most motivated and outgoing musicians may find it difficult to know where to start.
Well, if you’re a musician and find yourself in either of these positions, ONErpm may be able to help. Keep reading to find out what this service is all about, how it works, what it offers, and whether it’s right for you and your music.
->> Check Out the ULTIMATE Music Distribution Guide (Reviews & Chart)
What is ONErpm?
ONErpm, at its core, is a digital music distribution service founded in 2010.
It has expanded into one of the largest online music and video distributors, placing artists’ content across multiple platforms including YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, Rdio, Google Play, and Amazon Music.
It is quite simply designed to help connect artists with people who want to hear their music!
Key Features of ONErpm
It started as a small but ambitious venture into the world of digital music publishing and distribution and has grown into a major force in the music industry.
ONErpm has since expanded its operations beyond simple distribution. Instead, it now offers marketing services, business tools, help with rights management, and an extensive video network in addition to its flagship distribution service.
Boasting 300 million subscribers who collectively stream 2 billion songs and 7 billion videos per month, it has reached to connect all artists with music fans around the globe.
Music Distribution
ONErpm started as an online music distributor, and distribution is still a key feature of its service today.
Beginning with an intuitive user dashboard, it strives to make it as easy as possible for artists to connect with fans.
The Artist Dashboard
From the portal, artists can upload their tracks, set availability, and establishing pricing (for download services).
The dashboard also makes it simple for artists to select the platforms on which they wish to make their music available, including the ability to offer Spotify Premium users an exclusive two-week first-look at the artist’s music.
Artists can also establish pre-order periods, decide whether to hide track previews until an album release, deliver albums with both audio and video content, and a host of other features that you’d expect from a modern music distributor.
Royalty Management
ONErpm makes it easy to track and receive royalty payments and it allows artists to share royalty revenue with other rights-holders.
It also allows artists to generate monthly accounting reports, broken down by type of content, geographic location, and more.
Detailed Analytics
If you like numbers, It also provides the tools to help you learn exactly how your track is performing.
Offering daily snapshots as well as detailed monthly breakdowns, it helps artists know the specifics of their work’s performance based on the track, video, and geographic location.
It also helps artists keep track of playlists that feature their music as well as when their music appears in user-generated YouTube videos.
Social Media Integration
What would any competent distributor be in today’s world without the ability to seamlessly integrate the artist’s social media presence with his or her work?
For this reason, ONErpm makes it easy for artists to link their social media profiles with their ONErpm account. This allows the artist to gauge their reach and engagement on social media and run targeted and effective advertising campaigns.
It even helps artists get their social media profiles verified so followers know the account is the real deal.
Marketing
ONErpm offers artists an extensive suite of modern music marketing tools and techniques.
ONErpm’s “Featured Placements,” for example, promote its artists by placing their music in dedicated Spotify playlists featuring an assortment of the artist’s essential work, placing a prominent artist banner on iTunes, or creating exclusive content to reward the most dedicated fans, among more.
It also helps artists with advertising across social media. ONErpm’s extensive YouTube presence allows it to help artists place ads for their music either before or within other relevant YouTube videos, directly adding to the artist’s view count.
It comes with a digital toolkit, as well, which helps artists do things like creating and manage email lists, generate promotional art, create smart links and widgets, and establish a Facebook store.
Business Tools
Making music is a wonderful thing. It brings joy to both the artist and the fans. But for better or worse, making a career out of making music is just as much about business as it is about passion.
For this reason, ONErpm strives to help its artists master the business side of things, too.
We covered most of the main business tools above when discussing the artist dashboard, but to recap: ONErpm offers business services such as royalty management, detailed analytics, and customized reporting of artist, track, and video performance.
It also offers playlist tracking so artists can know exactly where their music is getting airtime and who exactly is listening.
Rights Management
Artists work hard to create their music, and ONErpm helps make sure artists get paid for that work.
It allows an artist to register their compositions, which searches the web to find out exactly where those compositions are being used.
It collects royalty payments from YouTube, Soundcloud, and other platforms automatically and then makes sure those royalties get to the artists each month.
It also has specialized teams that submit its artists’ content to television and movie studios to potentially be used in TV shows, movies, and commercials.
Video Network
We’ve mentioned ONErpm’s impressive YouTube presence several times so far. This is because, thanks to an extensive network of content creators, ONErpm generates over 7 billion video views per month.
ONErpm is a YouTube Certified Company in Audience Growth.
This experience means ONErpm knows exactly how to take advantage of YouTube’s marketing algorithms, curate playlists, facilitate search engine results, and take steps to generate interest in its artists’ music.
7 billion sets of eyes per month also mean 7 billion opportunities to influence potential buyers! For this reason, various brands are eager to partner with ONErpm artists to advertise their brand in the artist’s video.
This is just one more way that ONErpm helps its artists make a profitable career out of their passion for music.
ONErpm also offers an array of video production services through its affiliate, ONErpm Studios.
What to Expect
Artists who use ONErpm to distribute their content can expect an intuitive service that takes many of the headaches out of traditional music publishing.
In its 10th year of operation, it has refined its artist dashboard to give artists essentially a one-stop-shop to manage their career! Artists can expect a host of distribution and marketing solutions designed with the modern musician in mind and tailored for today’s music industry.
ONErpm knows physical album sales are on the decline.
Therefore, It focuses its efforts on getting its artists featured on the various streaming platforms that modern music fans use, collecting royalty payments from those plays, and getting that money to the artists that earned it.
And with 24/7 customer service, artists can rest easy knowing that if they ever encounter a problem, they can reach out to ONErpm to get it resolved quickly.
How to Upload Music to ONErpm?
ONErpm makes it fairly simple for artists to upload their music. Artists will start by opening their artist dashboard, clicking the Upload Music tab, and entering some basic information such as album and artist name, genre, and release date.
You’ll then select the geographic area in which you want to release your content, or you can select to release your content worldwide. You’ll then fill out some more information about the track, such as additional composers, songwriters, or producers.
Now it’s time to upload the track. You’ll start by filling out the track name and some other basic information about the track. Then you’ll select the audio file of the track from your computer and upload it to ONErpm.
Next, upload cover art for the track.
After that, you’ll be directed to a screen that allows you to select the platforms that you want your content to appear on. This includes major platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, but it also includes a host of other platforms to make sure your reach is as wide as possible.
Finally, just make sure all information entered is correct and you’re good to go! ONErpm’s team will then review your content and release it for the world to hear.
Plans and Pricing
ONErpm offers three tiers of service.
The first tier is made for independent artists and includes Its full suite of distribution, marketing, business, and analytics tools for artists to manage their own careers.
Importantly, It does not charge any upfront fees for this service. Instead, they take a 15% commission on all streaming royalties collected through their service and a 30% commission on all YouTube royalties.
This isn’t cheap, especially given the relatively small amount streaming platforms pay per stream (maybe link here to article about Apple Music streaming payments published elsewhere on your site).
But for an artist who’s struggling to get their music heard, It could be just what the artist needs to get over that hump!
It is less transparent about its other two tiers, but this is likely because most artists use the first tier. According to ONErpm, its top two tiers “are designed for music professionals requiring customized hands-on solutions and a close relationship with ONErpm’s staff.”
For these reasons, the terms of service for these tiers “are negotiable and depend on numerous variables, like the stage of the artist’s career and the level of ONErpm’s involvement.”
Pros
- Clean, intuitive artist dashboard
- A full suite of distribution, marketing, and business tools
- No upfront costs
Cons
- The steep commission, especially for YouTube plays
- Relatively DIY
Verdict
ONErpm offers a valuable service to independent and established musicians alike.
It makes it easy for artists to get their music heard and to get paid. I would recommend ONErpm for any musician who’s either struggling to get their music heard or who is interested in expanding their reach.
If you are a self-motivated musician who isn’t afraid of taking charge of your own distribution, It could be a useful tool to help you take your career to the next level.
As always, thanks for reading! You can follow ONErpm on Twitter and Instagram and like them on Facebook to stay up to date on all their latest releases.
->> Check Out the ULTIMATE Music Distribution Guide (Reviews & Chart)
