I used to work for Apple on the corporate level, so I’m an informed source on this one. Truly, stop wasting time trying to get featured on iTunes, and don’t believe distributors who say they will get you featured. Here’s why: iTunes features two kinds of music. Music that will sell like mad (Madonna, Taylor Swift, NOT unknown indie artists), and music that is catching the ear of the staff, whether it’s popular or not. It is one of the only music stores around that truly lets the staff select taste-based features, but there are millions of us and a very, very few of them, so unless your dad or wife or the person you donated a kidney to is an iTunes content producer, getting picked for a feature runs the same odds as winning the lottery. Best approach is to pray your song catches their ear and go spend your time on a task that can offer some return.
- Phil Putnam