All albums are listed with iTunes, Napster, Amazon mp3 and Rhapsody, but there is a problem with Rhapsody regarding the new album, 3 EPs. Currently they are only offering 3 tracks because of some problems they’re having. As a Tunecore artist, I at least have someone who is working with Rhapsody on the issue which is an ongoing problem affecting many artists. In short, it could be a while before the entire album, 3 EPs is available from them. Rhapsody’s service, iLike, has only 2 of the tracks from the album. BTW, iLike apps for Facebook do not work with the new Facebook layout, though the iLike app people have told me that they do intend to redo all their apps to be compatible again. No indication how soon. No indication if the problems getting the entire album, 3 EPs, on Rhapsody and iLike will be resolved soon. It’s cold comfort that this problem with processing submissions is happening to a lot of artists. Given what I’ve learned, I’m just grateful that my other two albums were processed and available on Rhapsody.

I feel like I should reinterate a point that not everyone who buys from online stores is aware of: the artist has very little control over how and when their album is displayed or sold on online stores. In some cases we can give a general indication of what we’d like for pricing, but ultimately each store sets pricing for albums it sells. They can sell for less or more than the artist wishes or than other stores. They can designate tracks as “album only” —as iTunes has done on one track on 3 EPs. They can discount tracks or albums. They can decline to carry an album or reject a track for a variety of reasons. Once an artist submits an album to an online store it’s out of their hands. All further decision about how that material is promoted, displayed or sold in that digital store is made by the store, not the artist.

The customers, however, do have some input. Your plays of songs on iLike determine the list of most popular songs which is what people see when they first hit my page on iLike. You can submit album reviews on iTunes and Amazon mp3s. Please take advantage of whatever your fav music store offers to enhance the Gymshoes listing. Thanks!