Interested in SECONDtunes? Great! Here’s a list of soon-to-be-frequently-asked questions:

What does SECONDtunes offer?

Amongst other things, the primary function of SECONDtunes is the ability to sell real-life MP3s to Second Life avatars at performances in-world. This means that all an avatar will have to do to purchase your music is choose the song or album they want from a vendor object, and pay the object a designated amount in Linden Dollars. We hope to extend this functionality to other merchandise, both in-world and real-world, but we’re keeping it simple to start out. At the very core of SECONDtunes is a philosophy that connecting listeners with artists and their music should be as simple and enjoyable as possible.

OK, so how much does it cost?

Nothing. Zero. Nada. There is absolutely no start-up cost involved with becoming a SECONDtunes artist (other than the small amount of time it takes to set up your account). On every sale that comes through SECONDtunes, a 15% commission will be deducted and given to an avatar named SECONDtunes Sellers. All said and done, you’ll be making 85% of sales that anyone makes, all the time! It’s a whole lot better than any other digital music retailer we’ve seen around, and we feel that if we can keep the service paying for itself and possibly make a small amount for the time spent developing it, then everybody wins!

I’m sold. How do I sign up?

Currently (and possibly permanently) the only way to begin the process of registration for SECONDtunes is by contacting Bobby Fairweather in-world. We’ll probably have some other in-world representatives soon as well, but for now it’s all Bobby! The process will be as simple as clicking a customized SECONDtunes Sign Up Object in world, adding your music through the web interface, and enjoying the ability to sell digital music in the virtual world.  Alternatively, you can e-mail bobby [AT] secondtunes [DOT] com to get signed up!

Where do I store my MP3 files?

We provide unlimited storage on our server, no matter whether it’s a 10-second or 3-hour long MP3.  We do ask that for large files you set a reasonable price so that the commission can help cover the storage and bandwidth required.

What’s the difference between SECONDtunes and (insert iTunes, Rhapsody, eMusic, lulu, etc. here)

The primary difference between SECONDtunes and other digital music retailers is that we are devoted to providing music for the virtual world. Our experience of Second Life is that generally avatars would rather do their shopping in-world with the Linden economy. SECONDtunes is committed to acknowledging the virtual world as a viable place of commerce and respecting the residents of Second Life enough to provide simple ways for them to purchase great music.

Will you also sell music for real-world $US?

We’re currently looking into the ability to process small payments via Paypal. If we go that route, all proceeds will still be paid out in $L at the end of each month, based on the average exchange rate. There will probably be an added percentage of the sale to go against Paypal’s built-in commission system as well. We’ll only go this route if we believe it’s in the best interest of the artists, and if the demand is high enough to warrant it. Our initial feeling is that there are plenty of retailers (see the list above) that provide this service, and it may not be in anyone’s best interest to reinvent the wheel. Let us know what you think, and we’ll see what we can do.

Can I sell my recordings of other people’s music (covers)?

The short answer is “Yes, you can, if you acquire the licenses.” The long answer can be found here: http://www.harryfox.com/public/songfile.jsp.

The summary of what it will cost you as an artist to sell someone else’s song is as follows (assuming that HFA can license it):

• $15 ($US) one-time fee for each song ($13 for each song after 5 licensed together). This is a processing fee for the agency that does the licensing.
• 9.1 cents per copy sold (minimum of 150 licenses per song can be purchased at a given time)

What this means is that it will cost $28.65 to license 150 downloads of any given song for SECONDtunes. This is the case with any retailer, and the license you purchase carries to any and all retailers (iTunes, etc.). You can use the “View Statistics” button in your artist tools to keep up with how many copies have been downloaded, and when you need to re-up your license. If you anticipate selling more than 150 downloads in a year (which is how long the license is good for) you should go ahead and license how many you expect to sell. Once it runs out, you hit the $15 processing fee again.

SECONDtunes is not going to require you to submit these licenses currently, but will only accept songs that you mark “Yes, I own or own the license to sell this song” on the “Add Song” dialogue. Hopefully this will remain the case to reduce the amount of paperwork for everyone, but understand that you may have to produce the license in the event that (1) our policy on this changes or (2) a publisher requests confirmation that the license has been acquired.

After performing some additional research, we have discovered that there is another (cheaper) method of selling “cover” songs via Digital Download called “Compulsary License” that (if in the United States) is guaranteed by Copyright Law. Information on this process can be found here: http://cdbaby.net/dd-covers.