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This paper is
an excerpt from Simple Machines' fine publication, An Introductory Guide
to Putting Out Records, Cassettes and CDs. More info about the Guide can
be found at the bottom of this paper.
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So you've released your own record, cassette or CD. What now?
Its not so hard to put out your own release. All it takes is a little
money, a dose of ingenuity, and a lot of perseverance, and you have
yourself a bunch of records, cassettes or CDs. Now that you have your
jewels, what are you going to do with them? We have learned, often the
hard way, that selling them (and actually getting your money back) is
the most difficult part. Basically there are four methods of selling
records, which you could pursue simultaneously.
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Distributors
Distributors act as middle agents between little labels and stores all
over the country. Most of the existing American "independent"
record distributors are corrupt and make a lot of their money from
stepping on tiny labels, or go out of business and take your money with
them (like Rough Trade who went under owing money to almost every little
label mentioned in the back of the packet). However, there are a few
trustworthy distributors, which we've listed in the back. We sell our
7" records to distributors for $1.75-$2.00, and 12" for $4.50
-$5.25, and CDs for $6.40-$7.00, but the prices may be higher or lower
depending on your costs in manufacturing. Most distributors will buy 10
to 100 records from you at this reduced cost, and then (should) pay you
back within 30 or 60 days.
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Retail
Local alternative record stores will probably take local releases.
Although they may buy conservative amounts, it's much easier to talk
local stores into cash on delivery deals, so at least you'll have some
cash in your hand.
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Selling at Shows
Sell them at shows. We know - you want to be dancing up in the front
row, but shows are one of the best opportunities to sell records, zines
or anything. Especially effective if the band you put out is playing and
they announce from stage that you have records for sale.
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Mail Order
Mailorder Ordering records through the mail can be fun! In fact there
are a bunch of healthy mailorder distributors in the US, including K,
Ajax, Parasol, Vinyl Ink and Skullduggery. They're not as big as
distributors, but they may be interested in carrying your stuff on their
catalog. But you should consider offering your records through the mail
yourself, because that's the most direct and sure-fire way to sell your
records. Place an ad in a couple of fanzines and accept mail orders.
Choose wisely, though, because ads are expensive - sometimes $75 to $200
for a 1/4 page! Think about who will be reading that zine, and the
likelihood of them buying your records before signing that check. For
inexpensive publicity, you can also send promo copies of your records to
major fanzines, which will probably review it. Make sure they print your
address and the mailorder price correctly, so that review readers can
contact you about purchasing your record. If you advertise in a few
fanzines and put catalogs in the records that you sell to store and get
a few reviews, you're sure to get some mail. Make sure your prices
absorb the costs of postage and packaging incurred by you. We've cut
down on packaging costs by re-using boxes and packages that have been
sent to us or our friends, and we spend a lot of time cutting up
cardboard boxes otherwise destined for the trash into 7" squares.
You can also get mailing materials from local / college radio stations
or record stores, which usually get a ton of promo records every week,
all neatly packaged in nifty boxes. The radio stations end up throwing
out these boxes, so they're usually more than happy to give them away.
Notes:
This paper is an excerpt from Simple Machines Records' publication An
Introductory Mechanics Guide to Putting Out Records, Cassettes and CDs.
Its widely regarded by the Indie community as one of the most valuable
info sources around, and it receives a big huge thumbs up from Outer
Sound.
You can find more info from the Guide in other Outer Sound University
papers. However, to get a real learnin', we recommend that you check out
the whole thing. You can do this in one of two ways:
Outer Sound has posted a handy text-only version of the guide which you
can easily print up. Follow the link and hit print!
Of course, a text-only version is pretty boring. To enjoy the wonders of
Simple Machines' desktop publishing skills, you can get the print
version by sending a check for $4 (what a bargain!) to:
Simple Machines / P.O. Box 10290 / Arlington, VA 22210-1290
Besides putting out great info for the indie community, Simple Machines
also happens to put out quite a few great records by bands like Tsunami,
Sea Saw, The Raymond Brake and Danielle Howle. Take a look at their
Outer Sound Web page for more info!
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