FINDING DISTRIBUTION

Rapcointelpro is Rap Coalition's Intelligence Program to give insight into starting a label and selling units on your own.  If you haven't read all of the articles in the first section, WHERE TO START, or the second section, SETTING UP THE RELEASE, please go back and read them so you'll know what you are doing.  If you don't have your shit together, and come to a distributor half-assed, you will never get a deal.  The biggest mistakes I see in this industry are misconceived notions of what a distributor can do, and a lack of understanding on what a distribution deal is.  Hopefully the following will clearly illustrate what distribution is and how to find it.

The information on this site is here to help you, and we take no responsibility for the quality of the information here other than to share otherwise hard-to-obtain stuff, blah, blah, blah... And well, hell, it's free!  Here it is.  You can access the article by clicking on the blue title of the article.

Here's what's in this third of five sections:

TYPES OF DEALS I wanted to give you some information about what can happen IF you do get the industry's attention. Starting an indie label is really quite similar to starting your career as a musician. Your label needs to impress the music industry with its stories of success, just like you as a musician need to do the same with your creative talents. The reward for building a successful label is the possibility of doing business with a major label someday…

SECURING DISTRIBUTION There are three things a distribution company looks at when deciding whether or not to distribute a record label. The quality of the product (music), the flow of the product into the pipeline (does the label have enough music to release something every few months), and the economics (does the label have enough financing to be a real record label and cause "push" and "pull" through the retail stores). "Push" is getting the retail stores excited about carrying the record so they'll order it for their stores, and "pull" is getting the consumers into the store to buy the record. Retailers are in business to sell records, be informed about artists and their releases, create store loyalty, provide a local service....

FINDING DISTRIBUTION If some of this seems ridiculously basic, you're way ahead of the game! 
1. What's the first step?  Send a sample of your product. Most distributors accept finished product for consideration only. CD's are the format of choice. Most distributors rarely consider cassette only releases for distribution, and most no longer deal with vinyl. At the moment, most distributors are strictly a distributor and not a label (i.e. they do not manufacture finished CD's from your master)...

DISTRIBUTION 101 At a time in music business history when there is more product being manufactured, promoted, and distributed than ever, the role of the distributor, and their relationship with labels is an increasingly important one. The purpose of making a record is to (hopefully) sell it. The following information is intended to introduce the role of, and the relationships between Independent Distributors, and Record Labels. Types of Distributors
To begin with, there are several different kinds of distributors in the US....

DISTRIBUTION  A year has passed since my words have graced the pages of Murder Dog.  In that time, close to 1,000 new urban “independent labels” have sprung up and sold between 7 units and 125,000 units of each release, according to SoundScan.  The major labels have remained steady with their close to 300 releases this past year.  The majors, in comparison, have sold from 1,000 copies up to (how many has Nelly sold worldwide?) multi-Platinum.  Informally speaking, if you are putting out your own record, this is what you are up against.  This is the competition.  OK, so it should come as no surprise that record stores will always carry what the majors pay them to-- er, uh, I mean what the majors want them to.  But what about those other one thousand releases last year?...

INDIE DISTRIBUTION As they have always done, the major and independent record labels battle over retail space, but are chain stores breaking the independent's backs?  According to trade magazines, the US independent music industry is experiencing a disaster akin to the stock market crash of the eighties. The reason? Industry players blame "the market," however this term is nothing more than a smokescreen for greedy major labels, distributors and national music chains. The ramifications of the current lull in sales are manifold, with many independent labels forced to seek deals with major labels, downscale operations or declare bankruptcy...

RAP DISTRIBUTORS There are distributors on here ONLY who are reputable, but some of which have a history of not paying properly. I did leave off some of the bigger scumbags, but that does not mean that just because a distributor is missing, they are a scumbag. This list is in no way comprehensive, just offered as a service.  Enter into agreements only after doing MASSIVE amounts of research, and even then at your own risk. And never, NEVER pay any distributor an up-front fee to work with you, carry your product, or to evaluate your product. You can expect to make $7-$9 a CD based on your deal....

DISTRIBUTORS This list of US Distributors is not comprehensive, but does contain almost all of the distributors who work with urban product-- even the scumbags, so be VERY careful.

INTERVIEW WITH ADA Indie vs. Major Record Distribution / Why Choose Indie Distribution?  Andy Allen, President of Alternative Distribution Alliance, talks to Musician.com about how ADA chooses label product to distribute. He also compares independent and major distribution, and discusses how a label gets the best out of their distributor....

FOREIGN DISTRIBUTION Once you have exploited the United States selling your product, what’s next? For years I have been writing about the basics of selling records regionally and now I am going to speak about what those who’ve been following this column for years can do to get to the next level. Rather than sign a deal with a major label to sell records around the world, you can find your own independent distribution in other countries...

FOREIGN LICENSING In order for an independent record company in the U.S. to distribute its product overseas it will probably have to enter into a contract with a foreign record distributor. These foreign licensing agreements may be entered into on a long term basis or on a project by project basis. As a preliminary matter, you must make sure that the indie's agreement with its recording artist (or with the owner of the masters if the indie is purchasing a master recording from a producer, etc.), provides for a worldwide right of distribution and sale, and permits the indie to use licensees to exploit these rights....

FOREIGN DISTRIBUTORS Although this list seems to me to be very dance and techno focused, it's a good place to start to find foreign distributors overseas...

UK DISTRIBUTORS Although this list also seems to me to be very dance and techno focused, it's a good place to start to find distributors in the United Kingdom...

ONLINE MUSIC When an artist makes recordings available over an online music distributor ("OMD") such as mp3.com, the artist enters into a contractual relationship with the company. This is true whether the artist realizes it or not and whether the artist understands the terms of the contract or not. The vast majority of OMDs do not actually require the artist to "sign" a contract. Instead, the artist agrees to be bound by a contract which the artist can view online. In order to make recordings available, the artist must agree to the contract's terms by clicking on an icon containing a statement such as "I agree." It is likely that many artists click on these icons without a second thought and without reading, let alone trying to understand, the contract's terms...

ONLINE DISTRIBUTORS You can have one reference source for the dozen plus sites that distribute music on the internet. Over a dozen actual websites will be presented to you, so you can examine which sites are best for your circumstances when it comes to getting your music to the people.  Every day, web-based music companies are developing programs to help you market and sell your independently released CDs and music files...

CONSIGNMENT Why and when is consignment better than distribution?  Almost every time I pick up the phone or do a free workshop these days, the inevitable question is, “how do I get national distribution ?” My first response is, “why do you need it?”  With that glassy look in their eyes, most artists respond, “because I want to get my CDs in all the stores across the country.” Then I frustrate them by saying, “what if I could do that for you, what are you going to do to make them sell?”...

INVENTORY Proper management of inventory is one of those necessary functions that all too often is neglected by record companies, large and small. Inventory equals dollars -- every CD or cassette in inventory or overstock represents money that is no longer available for other use.  Do you know exactly, or even approximately, how many pieces of every catalog number and configuration you own, and what this represents in dollars? Do you know how much of this is active, saleable stock, representing titles still in demand by music lovers and distributors? Do you know how much is overstock and obsolete, in other words, no longer salable? Do you know how much inventory is sitting idly in your distributor’s warehouse and which will eventually come back to you as returns...

MUSIC SALES TEST Check Your Music Sales Knowledge: The following questions should be answered "True" or "False". Click on "True or false?" for answers. Record distributors and retail stores are constantly searching out new product by recruiting the record labels and independent recording artists, trying to convince them to use their outlets to get CD's and Tapes to the public. True or false?...

ANATOMY OF A DEAL  I get calls everyday from entertainment attorneys and artists asking how I get such great deals for artists.  It’s easy, really, and I’m happy to share it with the world.  The only negotiation that is successful is one where both sides walk away happy.  If I do a deal with someone, both sides have to walk away feeling like they came out with the better deal, or the resentment will build up and affect the artist adversely.  Think about it….if I offer to sell you a brand new Navigator fully loaded, 22s, TVs in the headrest, DVD and PlayStations, etc and I charge you $150,000, no matter how much you love that truck, you’re going to feel played when you find out it was worth half that.  It’s the same with label deals--the artist has to feel like he (or she) got a great deal, and the distributor/major label has to feel like they got a great deal.  It’s really all about managing expectations....