October 20th, 2011 
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Facebook has over 800 million active users, with 50% of those users visiting on any given day. This means that 400 million people are on Facebook every day! The average user has 163 friends, so there is no argument that you need to be using Facebook to not only find new fans, but to sell them your music as well.
In the past this has been difficult. Facebook has been just another “fan” site for artists and bands, but over the past twelve months, with the changes to Facebook and the addition of “third-party” apps, bands can now sell their music directly from their Facebook Fan Page. After doing the research, we’re taking a closer look at two services that help you sell your music on the worlds larget social network.
The two services we will be comparing are CD Baby, a well known distributor of physical records as well as a company that has digital distribution through iTunes and other music sales services, and a relative newcomer, Moontoast Impulse. Let’s take a look at both of these options.
CD Baby
CD Baby has been around for many years, and was one of the earliest resources for indie music artists to sell their music online. Many of you are probably already members of this site, so that may make CD Baby the best option if you already use them to sell your music. Let’s look at the fees that CD Baby charges for you to sell your music on the world’s busiest website.
Album Signup – $39 Per Album
Single Signup – $9.95 Per Single
Sales Fee – 9% (You keep 91% of sales)
*Keep in mind that using CD Baby you can sell physical copies as well as distribute your music to iTunes, Amazon MP3, Rhapsody and more.
Moontoast Impulse
Moontoast Impulse is a newcomer compared to CD Baby, but has been selling music via it’s website based Distributed Store™ for a while now. Let’s look at what Impulse will cost you.
Album Signup – No Fee
Sales Fee – 15% (You keep 85% of sales)
Paypal Fees – Standard Fee is 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction or the Micropayment Fee is 5% + $0.05 per transaction (Micropayments are any payment under $10 USD)
The Breakdown
CD Baby will cost you upfront, but with a larger chunk of each sale going to the artist and the fact that you can distribute your music to iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody and others makes this a very attractive service. Moontoast Impulse not only keeps a larger percentage of each sale, but sticks the artist with the PayPal fees associated with each sale.
The upside to Moontoast Impulse is that the money goes directly into your account and you don’t have to worry about waiting for a check or deposit from the company. CD Baby will send you a check, direct deposit, or use your PayPal (keep in mind, PayPal will charge you for receiving the payment). CD Baby requires a minimum of $10 in sales for you to collect.
All in all, I believe that CD Baby is still the best choice for artists looking to make money on Facebook, but I will keep on eye on Moontoast Impulse and will report on any updates they release.
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