Get your Music on Itunes For Free

So I have come a long way as an artist trying to gain recognition in the world. Sometime last year I embarked on a journey to make an album. 
With an album title like WTF? you hit the nail on the head if you figured I had no idea what I was getting into.
My desire led me to my producer Boamah MadeIt who I call Ike. Ike kept it real from the jump and believed in my vision as an artist. For that faith he will always have a special place in my kingdom (y’all thought I was going to say heart) 
Ike partnered with me and gave me insight into the costs of making the album. We had a mutual agreement and got to work. We worked track after track building the album and our relationship as friends.
Promotion
I labored so much into making the album that I didn’t think much about promotion. It wasn’t my intention it’s just that as an indie artist without a team it’s difficult to manage all these aspects.
Don’t get me wrong I had a plan but I was a virgin in this world of opportunists and I had built castles in the sky hoping to have a break. 
Resources on my end was short as I had invested in making the album. I wish I had done this when I was younger. I had just had a son and I was trying to put an album together. 
Some will say I had my priorities mixed up but I believe what I had made was a work of art that will make a difference in my world. Problem was I hadn’t put together a plan to let people know that. 
My album is good but I am not famous plus when it came to distribution I had a big problem.
Distribution
My goal was to let the album go for free. I thought SoundCloud could hook a brother up but unfortunately there is a limit to free downloads. 
I eventually found www.noisetrade.com a site that made that possible. I could load up my album and for trading your email address you get to download the album for free. 
As I write this I have had 27 downloads from that option. I have my work on SoundCloud but don’t have much going on getting people to listen to it. 
With everybody screaming “Check Me OUT!” in this digital age we are in  it’s real hectic trying to get attention. Plus I am alone pushing this dream whilst working so needless to say but it’s tough.
Aggregators

After a while I started considering getting an aggregator such as CD Baby, Ditto and the likes. 
(For those who don’t know an aggregator is service that allows you to get your music into the top digital stores. So you deal with one aggregator and they ensure you get your work in stores like iTunes, Spotify etc)
The problem with an aggregator is that it costs money and by money I mean dollars. When I did the math it made no sense to me so I didn’t even bother. 
However for my music and art to reach the masses or for the globe to access it; the responsibility lies on me to make that happen. I couldn’t deny that I needed an aggregator but I just hadn’t found one right for me.
And I Found One

So how am I able to now have my album in digital stores?
I give thanks to Ike again. 
I visited Ike some weeks back to brief him on my plans for the next album. During the visit I saw some art work for a single he was releasing and I realized through the logos on the art, that the single will be available in a couple of digital stores. 
So I enquired as to what aggregator he was using and how much it cost him. I was expecting to hear a familiar name and some reasonable amount of cash. The name of the aggregator and the cash involved however is quite ironic with a pun in it.
First of he was paying NOTHING for the release in the stores and secondly he was able to do this through AMUSE.
? Seriously?
(I know the name sounds like it’s laughing at all the other aggregators)
Amuse

So Ike broke it down for me and showed me how to make it happen. First of this works via an app and not through a computer.
Amuse puts your work into digital stores for free because they are looking for hits that they can invest in. You keep all your royalties and if your track happens to be something they are interested in, they get into an agreement with you to make money.
It sounded too good to be true so I decided to give them a try. 

 
I downloaded the app and got straight to following their instructions to load up my work. It took a bit of time and I had to reformat the tracks and change the album cover to adhere to their guidelines. Thereafter I had to wait for them to review the album.
I waited for a couple of days and they got back to me on an error which I addressed. They later got back to me early this week to let me know that the release is on Friday 27th October 2017. Their email response time is great. I applaud the effort.

So here I am having my album going out to digital stores for free. It is awesome and you too can make it happen by just downloading Amuse. 
(Amuse is available on iOS and Android)
The only downside to us in Ghana is that to collect your money you need to have PayPal. Also you won’t be able to check out (at least immediately) which stores you are in without signing up or subscribing to a service. 
For now I know I am up on Spotify, iTunes, Apple Music, Deezer and Tidal. There are probably others but unless I get access I won’t know for sure.
It still doesn’t mean I get famous but it’s a stepping stone in the right direction. I am still figuring out this promotion thing. If anyone there can help make my dream of touring and performing around the world true, I will be honored.
I will be putting out other resources and tips whenever I stumble on one. Remember to follow me on Social Media @hondredpercent 
To check my album out on iTunes click here
To check my album out on Spotify click here
To check my album out on Deezer click here
Keep it One Hondred!