Filed under: album
Sorry for the delay in sharing my experience
coming up with this DIY - I’ve been too busy resting and enjoying
myself after a mad dash the past 5 mths 
So, I want to share my take on - Is there a need to get a distributor for your DIY?
I
remember thinking to myself I need a distributor after the master cd
was out, mainly to help distribute my cds to various stores, and even
harboured the vanity thought - "My cd will look better if it has a "distributed by "(fill-in big-brand-name-here)" sticker on the cover. Maybe more people will pay attention to it?"
I
agree, actually, it almost seems like a chop of guarantee when you
manage to secure a deal with a well-known distributor, and one should
go for it and have a try. But is there a real need? I did try to source
for a distributor, actually, I stupidly sent copies of master cd to the
various distributors - one at a time. On hindsight, it was not a good
time to be "faithful" because each one of them dragged me for what
seemed ages (at least 2 weeks each). Ranging from replies like "Sorry
but we have other big names coming up end of the year, so we won’t be
able to distribute your album" to "I’m sorry but we’re prefer if there
are more Mandarin songs" blah and etc.
And so, the waiting
turned out to be fruitless and - though it might sadly sound like I’m
eating sour grapes now - I am truly thankful things turned out this
way. Why so? Yes, even though I cursed and swore when I had to deliver
1 or 2 humongous and heavy boxes of cds down to the headquarters of
Sembawang Music and Gramophone, I actually enjoyed a few points:
1.I
get to know the manager of the company PERSONALLY. It’s the personal
touch, and it was very encouraging to hear them spur you on. And they
tell you personally, from the retailers’ point of views, what music
they want to hear more from you.
2.I do not have to give a cut
to the distributor. It is anything from 20-30% of the retail price, so
imagine if you are selling your album at the retail price of $18.90, the retailer will take 30-35%; assuming at 30% it’ll be $5.67. If there is a distributor, it will be another say 20% off (just a conservative estimation), which comes up to be $3.78. So after giving these 2 portion away, your cut is only $9.45
per cd. You do the maths. For 1 or 2 trips, or 3 trips of taxi fare,
it’s much worthwhile to not have a distributor do the carrying of cds
down for you, because you do not have to go down shop by shop, but only
to the headquarter of each compay.
3.It’s a DIY album, so DIY and get the experience!
Next I will share my take on "Is there a need to have a manager?"
More blog entries here.
No Comments so far
Leave a comment
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
