Grouptune = Groupon for Christian Music. Amazing deals on the best Christian music sent straight to your inbox, absolutely free.

Check it out at here http://grouptune.com.

If you’re a lucky fan at an Emery show (beginning 3/4) you’ll be able to pre-purchase their upcoming album We Do What We Want via download card at the merch table. You’ll be able to download their single I Never Got To See The West Coast” instantly, then on street date (3.29.11) you’ll get an email with instructions to download the full album. 

Israel Houghton’s fourth Grammy!

Israel posed backstage with his hardware after winning his fourth Grammy - this one for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album. This is Israel’s third such award in four years. That’s borderline ridiculous! Think about that for a moment. If you want a sports analogy he’s like the New England Patriots of the early 2000’s or the current LA Lakers of Contemporary Gospel music.

We had the pleasure of powering the pre-sale for Love God. Love People. and wanted to take this opportunity to congratulate Israel and his stellar team on this incredible affirmation of their hard work. Congrats! Let’s go for a three-peat!

What do you think…are we too obsessed with Facebook? (source: http://mashable.com/2011/01/12/obsessed-with-facebook-infographic/)

Tommy Shaw (of Styx) Download Cards…how many of you would like to see a Tommy Shaw pre-sale? Check out his Facebook post and all the comments here: 

http://on.fb.me/fxG0Aw

Personally, we can’t wait for his bluegrass debut! Comment on his Facebook page and let him know you’re dying for a pre-sale!!!

http://www.facebook.com/tsgreatdivide

How To Edit Song Metadata in iTunes

Metadata is the any data about the song that is stored inside the song file. Things like album art, album name, artist name, total number of tracks in the album, individual track number, genre, etc. These can be easily edited in iTunes (seriously, it’s super-easy). Please do your fans a favor and edit this data before you distribute your music. Otherwise they’ll be downloading songs like “MASTER_01” by “Unknown Artist”. 

First, let’s make sure your song files are in MP3 format. You can confirm this in iTunes by highlighting the song and going to File > Get Info. In the Summary tab, the Format should be “MPEG-1, Layer 3”. If they’re not already, you’ll want to convert them to MP3 format first. 

You can edit the metadata for a single song (one at a time) OR for a list of songs (in a batch). You’ll want to edit all metadata that’s the same for the entire album first using batch editing. The big ones are:

• Artist Name
• Album Name
• Total Number of Tracks in Album
• Genre
• Year
• Album Art

Highlight all the songs you want to edit and then go up to File > Get Info. Most of these metadata fields will be in the Info tab but album art will be in the Artwork tab. When you’re done click OK and iTunes will save the changes. Next you’ll need to edit the metadata specific to each song. Song Title and Track Number are the two big ones here, but you can also add a Composer, Lyrics, etc. 

Once all the metadata looks perfect, highlight any song in the album and right-click (control-click on Mac) and select Show in Windows Explorer (Windows) or Show in Finder (Mac). This will take you to the source file for the song, which is the file you’ve just edited. You’ll want to use that file when sending us your music. 

Let’s Get Your StoreFront Up And Running, Shall We?

The info below will help you get your StoreFront up and running on your website as quickly as possible. The quicker you can get us these items, the sooner you’ll be selling your music & merch direct to your fans. 

Before you start on these items, you’ll want to make sure you fill out the StoreFront Activation Form. 

We’ll need a few things from you:

• Header Image
• Product Image(s)
• Your Media (Zip Files)

Header Image

Your Header Image will be displayed at the top of your StoreFront. It’s probably a good idea to have your band name, logo or likeness visible on your Header Image.

Your Header Image should be a 510 x 65 jpg. Below are two good examples of Header Images:

Product Image(s)

Your Product Image is the visual representation of your Product. If the Product is the digital album or a physical CD, this is simply your album art. 

Your Product Image should be a 200 x 200 jpg. Below are two good examples of Product Images:

One Product Image per Product, please. 

Your Media (Zip Files)

When fans purchase a product which includes a digital download, that download will be packaged as a zip file. You’ll need to create that zip file. If you’re unfamiliar with zip files you can learn more about zip files, learn how to create a zip file using a Mac (we like YemuZip) or learn how to create a zip file using a Windows-based system.

YOU WILL NEED TO CREATE A ZIP FILE FOR EACH PRODUCT THAT CONTAINS A DIGITAL DOWNLOAD. For instance, if you have 2 digital albums for sale, we’ll need a zip file for each album (sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised!).

Please use MP3 format for your music files (we suggest a bit rate of 320 kbps). MP3 is a universal format that will play in any media player (need to convert your tracks to mp3s?…here’s how). MP3s also allow you to store metadata inside the file. Metadata are things like Artist Name, Album Title, Track Title, Track #, Album Art, Genre, etc. that appear when you play the audio file in iTunes. Please make sure your MP3s are tagged with the appropriate metadata. 

You can include any additional files in your zip file (chord charts, liner notes, artist bio, thank-you note to fans, tour pictures, etc.). Please note that we won’t alter your zip file at all. Your fans will download the zip file exactly as you send it, so it’s important that you organize it accordingly. 

Since your zip file will be too large to send via email, use Dropbox, yousendit or any other free file sharing service you’re comfortable with. 

Once we receive your Header Image, Product Image(s), and zip file(s) we’ll send you a chunk of HTML for each Product you have available for sale. You’ll simply paste each chunk of HTML into the Store section of your website as the “Buy” button for that Product. Then you’re all set!

Shipment of Phil Wickham Songs for Christmas CDs…

Q: How many do you think are in here?

A: Definitely at least a billion.

Hungry fans, get ready to devour in T-5 days… 

How to Convert Any Audio File to MP3 Using iTunes

You probably want to deliver your music files as MP3s instead of WAV, AIFF or M4A files. MP3 files are significantly smaller than those other file types, which means your fans will be able to download your music quicker. When you convert a file to an MP3, you will lose some quality from the file, but in most instances it’s not enough to make a noticeable difference to your fans. MP3s are also playable in any media player, while files like M4A are only playable in iTunes (so if you delivered your files as M4As, only your fans using iTunes would be able to play them - anyone using Windows Media Player would be out of luck).

We recommend any bit rate between 192 and 320 kbps. The higher the bit rate, the larger the file and the higher the quality.

1. In iTunes, open Preferences
2. In the General tab, click Import Settings
3. Import Using should be set to MP3 Encoder
4. Click the Setting drop-down menu and select Custom
5. Under Stereo Bit Rate select 320 kbps (select any bit rate between 192 kbps and 320 kbps)
6. Click OK (MP3 Encoder Screen)
7. Click OK (Import Settings Screen)
8. Click OK (General Screen)
9. Navigate to the track you want to convert to an mp3
10. Right-click the track (control-click on a Mac) and select Create MP3 Version (note that this will make a copy of the file as an MP3; you will still have the original non-mp3 version of the file)
11. Once the file is done being copied as an mp3, right click the the mp3 version of the track (control-click on a Mac) and select [Show in Explorer] (Windows) or Show in Finder (Mac)
12. The file will appear in the hard drive location from which iTunes is pulling it. From there you can copy the file and paste it anywhere you need to.

A Guide to Completing Your Download Card Order

This post will guide you through the entire process of preparing your download cards for printing and getting your redemption platform up and running on your website as quickly as possible. Please spend a few minutes reading and, we promise, all of your questions will be answered.

Here’s what we’ll need to complete your Download Card order (in order of priority): 

• Card Front
• Card Back
• Header Image
• Product Image
• Media

Card Front

Your card front is the first priority, especially if we’re working on a time constraint. Everything else can wait until your cards are in production. First, download the download card template. Take a look at the “README” files closely - these will be your instructions for designing your cards. Be sure to take a close look at the tips to keep in mind when designing.

If you’d like us to professionally design your download cards and all other artwork for your project (Card Back, Header Image and Product Image) give us a call (404.477.4339).

[Blog post on tips for designing gorgeous download cards to come…]

Card Back

Simply download the download card template and select which card back option you’d like to use. The only thing you need to edit on your Card Back is the URL. Remember, your URL should be either your band website home page, some other page on your site (for example, www.yourbandsite.com/download) or your myspace page (in order of preference). This is where fans will be visiting to redeem your Download Cards.

Please save both your Card Front and Card Back as PDFs.

Header Image

Your Header Image will be displayed at the top of your redemption platform. It’s probably a good idea to have your band name and/or album name visible on your Header Image. Below are two great examples:

Your Header Image should be a 510 x 65 jpg.

Product Image

The Product Image is simply a visual representation of the Product your fans are redeeming. In almost all cases your Product Image will simply be your album art. After a fan enters their redemption code, the Product Image is displayed along with the Product Name (usually simply the album title). 

Your Product Image should be a 200 x 200 jpg.

Media

When your fans redeem their Download Cards, they will download a zip file. You’ll need to create that zip file. If you’re unfamiliar with zip files you can learn more about zip files, learn how to create a zip file using a Mac (we like YemuZip) or learn how to create a zip file using a Windows-based system.

Please use MP3 format for your music files (we suggest a bit rate of 320 kbps). MP3 is a universal format that will play in any media player (need to convert you tracks to mp3s?…here’s how). MP3s also allow you to store metadata inside the file. Metadata are things like Artist Name, Album Title, Track Title, Track #, Album Art, Genre, etc. that appear when you play the audio file in iTunes. Please make sure your MP3s are tagged with the appropriate metadata. 

You can include any additional files in the zip file (chord charts, liner notes, artist bio, thank-you note to fans, tour pictures, etc.). Please note that we won’t alter your zip file at all. Your fans will download the zip file exactly as you send it, so it’s important that you organize it accordingly. 

Since your zip file will be too large to send via email, use Dropbox, yousendit or any other free file sharing service you’re comfortable with. 

Once we receive your assets we’ll send you a chunk of HTML and a redemption code for testing purposes. We’ll ask you to paste the HTML into your website and confirm the download comes through properly. Once you confirm everything looks and works properly, you’re done!

If you read the above and still have questions, you’re probably in a unique situation, so feel free to give us a call at 404.477.4339.