Do-it-yourself digital music distributor TuneCore has announced its artists are this close to hitting the $1 billion mark in terms of download and streaming revenue. The company said that as of May 31, artists have earned more than $920 million on the strength of over 75 billion streams and downloads. That number is now approaching $937 million, according to a counter on its website.
This figure only includes the distribution side of TuneCore's business -- the firm also offers publishing administration and artists services -- which helps artist get their music placed with iTunes, Apple Music, Amazon Music and Spotify, among others, for an annual fee. The service touts that it pays its artists 100 percent of sales revenue and rights.
TuneCore also revealed limited international figures, including a 119 percent year-over-year increase in streaming in Australia, as well as 89 percent in Germany and 84 percent in the United Kingdom.
To help speed its path to a billion, TuneCore is giving new and existing users the ability to upload a single for worldwide distribution, for free, using a special code (details). The special promotion has been dubbed the "Billion Dollar Club."
"TuneCore is incredibly proud of our artists for reaching such an impactful industry milestone while keeping 100 percent of their earnings through streaming and downloads," said Scott Ackerman, TuneCore's CEO. "We are deeply committed to helping our artists maximize their revenue, which is why we are so excited to celebrate as they approach this historic achievement."
The Brooklyn-based service has offices in Burbank, Calif., Nashville, New Orleans, Atlanta and Austin, TX, and also operates in the U.K., Australia, Japan, Canada, Germany, France and Italy.