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Demystifying
Distribution for Independents
by Evan Koch |
For many up-and-coming
acts, distribution is this mysterious, elusive, and ultra-important
“missing ingredient” that enables major labels to turn
their artists into mega-stars while indie bands are doomed to struggle
in obscurity. Luckily, this perception is overblown, and the tools
an indie artist needs to successfully distribute its product are neither
mysterious nor elusive.
Distribution is the catch-all term that describes your ability to
make music available where customers can buy it. Major labels have
massive, complex distribution networks that get millions of CDs to
record chains, general retailers (such as Wal-Mart and Target), and
mom and pop stores, while also funding promotional schemes that insure
advertising and promotions are properly targeted and funded. This
top level of distribution is offered only to bands who have a obvious
commercial prospects and rock-solid promotion. But just because this
level of gold-plated business isn’t available to your band,
it doesn’t mean you can’t effectively distribute your
newly-pressed CD.
If you are like most independent artists, you’ve probably begun
by selling CDs from a merch table at your gigs. It isn’t glamorous,
but it’s the simplest and most profitable way to sell your CD.
The people at your shows are familiar with your music, you can use
the band as flesh-and-blood marketing that is far more effective than
any printed advertisement, and you get to keep 100% of the sticker
price.
I’ve seen many bands turn their merch tables into professional-grade
operations simply by consistently keeping their inventory stocked
and organized, bringing clearly-designed signs to every show, and
keeping track of which items sell at which venues. Most importantly,
the bands that do the best with at-show merch sales stand out for
their enthusiasm and hard work at the club. Is there always someone
there to sell your CDs? Are you working the crowd, talking up potential
customers, letting them know you have product available?
Once you’ve tuned up your merch table, the next step is to ensure
that anybody who goes to your band’s website can buy your CD
with a credit card. You don’t need to be a whiz with either
computers or finance to make this happen. Commercial services (such
as CDBaby) offer professional-grade order processing targeted to independent
artists. Most sites that provide fulfillment services post detailed
instructions right online, walking you through the process of how
to link up your band’s merch page to their CD-selling interface.
In addition to filling orders driven by your website, these third-party
providers can also produce sales of their own from the loyal customers
who enjoy browsing through their virtual shelves. Many of these services
also can administer digital download sales for you. And it’s
getting easier every day. When I first tried to get CDs from my label
onto Apple’s iTunes music store, I was told that I would need
to fly out to Cupertino, California to meet with Apple’s lawyers.
Now, just by making your CD available on CDBaby, you only need to
fill out a couple of extra forms to make your music available for
download on iTunes.
If you are more ambitious, it’s possible to do web sales yourself.
For many, the commitment of monitoring PayPal and promptly shipping
out orders is an unwelcome extra responsibility – hardly worth
the extra dollars you save by cutting out the middleman. But for those
who can make it happen, the DIY route does allow for some nifty new
angles.
Customers love getting little extras with their orders – a poster,
a pin, or a bonus CD. A commercial order fulfillment service will
probably be incapable of fulfilling your plan to give the first 100
CD buyers a bonus kit including a copy of your EP from four years
ago (that you’ve still got 800 copies of), but it’s a
snap when you’re doing it yourself.
Once you’ve got your CDs selling from your merch table and website,
it’s time to start thinking about approaching record stores.
The key here is matching supply with demand, making sure you ship
CDs only to the places where they will sell. Wholesale sales agreements
for books, DVDs, and CDs are almost always “100% returnable,”
meaning the retailer is allowed to return unsold product for a 100%
refund at any time. So a band that “sells” CDs to loads
of retailers is setting itself up for disappointment if the retailers
don’t sell the CDs, because they’ll be shipping right
back to your rehearsal space. Needless to say, a band that develops
a reputation for shipping CDs that don’t sell probably won’t
be getting many more orders from those stores.
There are two main strategies for avoiding returns. First, ask yourself
“how many of this CD do I honestly think will sell?” It’s
never good to run out of product when people are ready to buy, but
it’s equally harmful to pay shipping charges on CDs that are
going to be returned without payment – so it pays to be as realistic
as possible. Second, it’s critically important to support the
CDs you ship. You probably don’t have the thousands of dollars
major labels spend on special front-of-store placement for your CD,
but there are things you can do.
For many up-and-coming bands, the trick is to identify a couple of
locally-based stores that stock independent music, and develop strong
relationships with them. Starting bands tend to have most of their
gigs (and most of their fans) in their hometown. If you ask the fans
at your shows where they like to buy CDs, you should be able to nail
down some good candidates.
For me, there was one chain of record stores in the Boston area (the
home market for my micro-label) that quickly emerged as the best target.
For that chain, I conscientiously made sure orders were shipped immediately,
that I called on Thursdays (their preferred day for local artist calls),
and that we promptly delivered posters and flyers for new releases
and upcoming shows. When my CDs began to sell, their purchasing agent
was helpful in keeping the merchandise moving by offering promotional
pricing and positioning at terms even my fledgling operation could
afford.
When the CDs you ship to stores start selling – and when those
stores start asking for re-orders, paying you for your initial shipment
– you may be ready to take the next step: using an outside distributor.
Outside distributors come in all sizes, from a friendly peer in the
industry to a massive corporation that can ship tens of thousands
of units to virtually every store in the country.
Distribution arrangements are not open-to-all: you need to apply and
get the approval of someone in the company. Even to establish an account
with a smaller independent distributor like Darla or Carrot Top, you
need to develop a methodical and objective pitch for your record,
describing your progress so far, your promotional plans, and your
touring markets. With this information, a distributor will decide
which of their retail accounts might be a good match for your record,
and ultimately whether it’s worth their effort. If you get lucky,
one of these “one stops” will place a (100% returnable)
order for 30 or so CD’s to get a taste of what you can do.
If you can make it through these steps, you’ll realize the distribution
systems major labels have put together aren’t mysterious at
all. Carefully and methodically keeping track of your product, promoting
sales, and cultivating relationships that will move merchandise –
in all of the channels available – is something even an up-and-coming
band with 1,000 freshly-printed CDs can do well.
Evan Koch is president and owner of Primary Voltage Records (PVR)
- a Boston-based micro-label specializing in indie rock music, focused
on the Northeast USA music market. PVR's releases have been featured
on hundreds of radio stations as well as on MTV. Primary Voltage was
recently named the "Best of Boston" record label by Improper
Bostonian magazine. Evan is currently on hiatus from PVR, studying
for a business degree. www.PrimaryVoltage.com. |
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