textatrack.co.uk has changed the way we process Credit Card payments for tracks.

Previously, users could enter credit card details on the site. In an effort to reduce costs, we have decided to switch to PayPal to process credit card payments.

Selling MP3s via PayPal required careful consideration, as payments need to be confirmed before we can allow the user to download the track.

We have implemented the necessary systems to facilitate this, but it does require that a user has, or signs up for, a PayPal account before they can make a payment. It is not possible for us to allow users process a credit card payment on PayPal without them having an account.

Credit Cards form only about 5% of all sales on textatrack.co.uk, so we do not anticipate that this will have a significant impact on our service.

A while back I wrote ten reasons why independent UK artists should use textatrack. Actually, it has been updated since to 11 because sales now count toward the Official UK Charts.

Well here is reason number 12.

UK Official Chart Company

We are delighted to announce that all sales from textatrack.co.uk are now counted towards the UK Charts!

As of August 1st, all sales of downloaded tracks on textatrack.co.uk will be reported to the Official Charts Company and be counted in the compilation of their weekly charts!

This is an excellent opportunity for Independent and Unsigned artists to compete for air play with the biggest names in the business.

Our unique text-based payment method, and direct to mobile download option, means that you music is available to the widest audience possible, which gives you an enormous advantage in terms of getting into the charts.

And unlike 7 Digital’s Indiestore, its free to use all of these services!

Check out the other 10 reasons to use textatrack.co.uk

For more, login to textatrack.co.uk today!

I was at Unconvention Manchester (Salford) on Thursday and Friday last. What fun we had not to mention what we learned. One of the most enjoyable moments I had was watching Andrew Dubber make this great music video in a pizza joint on Thursday night with Brad and Tracy. I’m off screen to right but who cares.

Please watch it and help it go viral.

Lies Like These - Merchandise from Andrew Dubber on Vimeo.

UPDATE: Another reason, sales now count toward the Official UK Chart.

1. FREE to use, just register, upload your tracks and they will be available immediately for sale. See how in 30 seconds

2. Fans can pay with a text and download to their mobile and PC (sell at gigs from stage, with flyers, posters, radio/TV interviews, even with rubber stamps). NO CREDIT CARD NO FUSS! **ONLY 99p for both mobile or PC download**

3. People from all over the world can buy with their credit card. Also check our Irish (downloadmusic.ie) version.

4. Downloads count toward the Official UK Chart.

5. Fans can buy from your MySpace page with our MySpace Application

6. You can sell from your own website/blog with our widgets and others can too

7. You can upload videos, gig listing (automatically taken from your MySpace) and bio

8. Create your own jukebox player and pass it around. Add it to iGoogle (my current playlist)

9. Search engine friendly URL’s e.g. textatrack.co.uk/bandname

10. UK’s only dedicated independent music website that sells by text message

Artists can now use textatrack.co.uk technology to sell music anywhere on the Internet.

We have provided every registered artist with a Sales Widget in which they can list all their tracks or individual tracks.

Login to your account now to get your Widget.

Here’s an example of what they look like:

Multiple Tracks:

Single Track:

Following on from our last post, we are now delighted to annouce that users can now download tracks from textatrack.co.uk directly to their mobile phones.

All they have to do it add a ‘m’ to the end of their text message, and they’ll be given instructions by return txt about how to get their track.

Have a look at this link for an example:

http://www.textatrack.co.uk/?m=2476

This is an issue that comes up again and again: why, if the user pays for a track with their phone, doesn’t the track go to their phone?

First off, we love if this were the case, but the reality is that there are numerous reasons why we can’t do this (yet).

The biggest difficulty is that there are no real standards when it comes to handsets and data transfer, so what might work (and be easy to use) for one handset might not work for another.

Then, there is the issue of cost. Different users pay for data transfer in different ways, and it is impossible for us to predict that the cost of transferring a track to a users phone might be.

These are issues that we have been aware of for a while now, and we are working through them. What we want to offer the user is the option of transferring the track to their phone at a reasonable and transparent cost.

We realise that this is the future of the business, and as soon as we are able to do it, it will happen.

The Grapevine is a very easy and cost-efficient way to put a piece on information on every page of the textatrack.co.uk site using your mobile phone.

Say you want to advertise a gig, like ‘Driving by Night play the Water Rats, London, 2nite. Tickets at door.’

Compose the following txt message:

‘track Driving by Night play the Water Rats, London, Dec 2. Tickets at door.’

and send it to 83262.

The txt will cost you £1 and your message will appear in the Grapevine Box on every page of the site for 3 days.

How’s that for cheap advertising, not to mention a bit of Search Engine Optimisation!

A few artists have asked about our pre-release feature, so here’s the low down.

When you set up a track, you can set it to Active, Inactive or Pre-release. When you select Pre-release, you must select a time and a date on which the Pre-release period ends.

Active:

This means that the track is available for sale and download immediately

Inactive:

This means that the track is not available for sale or download and will not appear in search results

Pre-release:

This means that the track is available for sale immediately but will not be available for download until the time and date when the Pre-release period ends

When a user buys a pre-release track, they receive an email telling them that their sales has been recorded and the time and date on which is will become available for download. At that time, they will receive a second txt reminding them of their purchase and telling them that the track is now available for download.

Pre-release is a good feature to build up publicity re. your track and to concentracte all your downloads in a single week, which can help with Chart position.

The revenue you receive for a Pre-release sale is exactly the same as for a normal sale, but we do charge £0.05 per reminder sent out, which is deducted from your revenue when we come to pay you.

Questions? support@textatrack.co.uk