TuneCore is a Brooklyn, New York–based independent digital music distribution, publishing and licensing service founded in 2005. TuneCore principally offers musicians and other rights-holders the opportunity to distribute and sell or stream their music through online retailers such as iTunes, Deezer, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play, Tidal, and others. TuneCore also offers music publishing administration services, helping songwriters register their compositions and collect royalties internationally. The company currently operates out of its Brooklyn headquarters with offices in Austin, Burbank, Boston, Nashville, Atlanta, Australia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. History and background TuneCore garnered media attention from ABC's World News Tonight, The Daily Mirror, and pitchforkmedia.com. TuneCore's first customer was Frank Black, lead singer of the Pixies. In 2008, TuneCore was utilized by Nine Inch Nails to deliver the music from their album, Ghosts I–IV to the Amazon MP3 store. In December 2006, music instrument and equipment retailer Guitar Center bought a stake in TuneCore, giving the company access to the music retailer's customers. In the United States, TuneCore represents about 10 percent of the 20 million songs on iTunes, and it accounts for almost 4 percent of all digital sales. TuneCore reportedly fired Jeff Price, a co-founder and then-CEO, after the company faced a "cash-flow" crisis in 2012. Price has sued TuneCore for severance compensation and has alleged that the company may have been insolvent, an accusation that the company appears to dispute. Tunecore reported that their artists have earned a total of $83 million in Q1 of 2019, a 21 percent increase from Q1 2018. Last year, distribution income for artists reached $308 million, a 28 percent year-on-year increase. Joe Cuello, formerly an executive at MTV was TuneCore's Chief Creative Officer from 2014 through at least 2016. Chris Mooney, who worked with Jeff Price at spinART Records, joined Tunecore in 2008 to establish the Artist Relations team. In 2018, he left to join Ditto Music as their Head of US Artist and Label Services. Acquisition by Believe Digital Tunecore was acquired by Denis Ladegaillerie's Believe Digital in April 2015. The acquisition opened up artists' access to Believe Digital's wider distribution network and label services. Both of the companies remained operationally separate, while jointly claiming to represent of 25 to 30 percent of the new music uploaded to iTunes each day. After the acquisition, TuneCore and Believe used their newly increased leverage in negotiations with digital services including Spotify