WaTunes is getting out of the flat fee digital distribution business. This will allow the company to put more emphasis on its music discover and social platform and its download store, WaTunes Marketplace. ON WaTunes' social platform artists can create a profile, embed
widgets, and share music with fans. Certain artist services will be retained in the transition including selling unlimited mobile apps, ringtones, and licensing.
But Watune's departure from flat fee digital distribution also comes just days after sector leader TuneCore got it biggest competition yet. Last week European distributor Zimbalam moved into the U.S. with a very competitive offering; and on Friday, ReverbNation expanded its flat fee offering with more outlets tied to their expanding suite of marketing tools.
An ongoing need to find cost savings as well as growing belief that marketing functions can be delivered outside of the distributor, will continue downward price pressure both for flat fee and percentage based music aggregators.
