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HOW CAN I GET DISTRIBUTION? The website BCDmg.com has a section “Get Distribution” … go there and fill-out the submission forms. Filling out the forms and submitting your title is a very simple process. If you have any questions while you’re reviewing the information, please call us. Tel 281 260-7777 ext 2250 WHEN SHOULD I DECIDE ON WHICH DISTRIBUTOR? You should establish your relationship with a distributor 6-8 weeks before you want your title in stores. The longer you have to establish your relationship, the better. BCD would like to be involved when you first plan your project. We’ve distributed hundreds of projects and we’ve learned some valuable things that we can share with you. WHAT SORT OF MUSIC DOES THE DISTRIBUTOR WANT? Every distributor is different. Most want labels with lots of previous, successful releases. BCD specializes in new labels and artists. It is more important to us that the label and artist have a good attitude, are realistic, and know that releasing a new record requires hard work and a budget WHY DO U CHARGE A SETUP FEE? Because BCD accepts new artists, and it requires a substantial amount of work to setup a new title on the distributor's part, BCD charges $250. If 1) the label/artist has a previous release with sales greater than 10,000 units sold; or 2) the current release contains major features; or 3) the label/artist has a substantial budget, the setup fee can be back-charged. HOW DO U DECIDE WHICH TITLES YOU ACCEPT? We like to do business with folks that are realistic and work hard. You might be surprised to hear this, but the music on the disc is not as important as your attitude. WHEN DO I GET A PROJECT MANAGER? One of our project managers will phone you shortly after we receive your submission. Our primary purpose for the initial call is to determine your commitment and financial ability to release and promote your title. Once we understand your project and have decided on a Street Date’, we’ll assign a permanent Projected Manager. WHAT WILL I BE RESPONSIBLE FOR? This is a very important question. You are responsible for creating demand for your new release. We are more than happy to help you formulate a plan and help you decide how to “create demand’. WHAT IS THE DISTRIBUTOR’S RESPONSIBILITY? Unless you hire us and pay us to perform specific marketing tasks, our responsibility is to let one-stops and retail stores know that we have the new title, and if the ‘buyer’ is interested in ordering the title, to get the right product to the right store at the right time. HOW CAN I GET A P&D DEAL? If 1) the label/artist has a previous release with sales greater than 10,000 units sold; or 2) the current release contains major features; or 3) the label/artist has a substantial budged, the cost of pressing the CDs can be back-charged. HOW CAN I GET HELP WITH PROMOTING MY TITLE? You will need a budget and demonstrate that you are serious about promoting your new title. Depending on your commitment, and your title, we might be interested in helping with your promotions. If you need financial aid and have exhausted your own contacts, you may want to apply to government sponsored programs. See Covenant Capital Group HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO GET MY TITLE INTO STORES? A distributor needs 6-8 weeks to setup a new title. It can be done quicker if there is a sudden demand for certain title, and customers are asking for the title in stores, or radio is starting to play a single, and not having the title in stores means missing the “window of opportunity”. In such a case, the distributor can get product into stores w/in a few days. However, the store’s buyers must be aware of the possible lost opportunity, and must be willing to expedite the purchasing process. Taking extra time is to the advantage of the label/artist. The reason the distributor needs 6-8 weeks, is because many different parties need to be notified of the new title. Internal departments, must get the music retail ready by pressing copies or checking existing product … 1-sheets need to be created, entries need to be made to internal catalog and accounting systems. Some of these external parties respond only monthly to new titles. All of the distributor’s buyers need to be notified … this represents 15-20 different parties. Then setup information needs to be submitted to online stores and single track download services, as well as Soundscan, BDS, All Music Guide, etc WHAT STORES WILL HAVE MY TITLE? Any store that thinks that they can sell your title will stock it. The easiest way to persuade a store manager that your title will sell is if your fans walk into the store and ask for your title. If your title is NOT on the shelf, your fans will hopefully leave a deposit and ask the store to order the title. Failing that, you can propose to do in-store promotions where you would invite fans, you might perform and sign autograph, and most importantly sell CDs for the store. Remember that store managers talk to each other … if you do well in one store that news will travel. Another way to get store to take note of your new title is to launch a radio, live event and PR campaign. Remember: store managers love traffic into their stores … if you contribute to that, they’ll love you. HOW MANY CDS SHOULD I PRESS TO GET STARTED? If you are a typical local or regional artist, don’t press more than 1000 copies … make sure that they are pressed and NOT burned on a computer. Burned CDs cause difficulties playing on many CD players and will not make you seem like a serious artist. HOW MUCH MONEY DO I NEED FOR PROMOTION? A planned and synchronized release is more important than the amount of money you spend. It also depends on how much buzz you may have already and how many CDs you wish to sell. $5,000 will most certainly be needed for a local release and $20,000 for a regional release. Plan on having a $500,000 budget if you want to release your project nationally, and hit all stores at one time. A much more detailed discussion with your distributor could be beneficial to you. HOW SHOULD I START MY PROMOTIONS? Understand your window of opportunity (WOO). Be realistic – don’t hope for a platinum record if you only have a $50,000 budget. If you’re realistic, your project is much more likely to be a success. WHEN CAN I EXPECT MY FIRST CHECK? If you are not a major artist and do NOT have a sales history, the distributor will want to pay you when he receives payment from stores resulting from your record sales. To entice stores to buy your title, the distributor may need to offer extended payment terms to stores … 60 to 90 days is not unreasonable. You then need to allow your distributor an additional 30 days to do their accounting and issue you a check (if due). It is not unreasonable for the distributor to hold back 25-30% from your sales to allow for possible unsold product to be returned by the stores. If you are NOT happy about that, you increase the risk you ask your distributor to take, and he will probably be extremely cautious and only deliver minimal quantities to retail stores. HOW MUCH DO I GET PAID? A distributor needs 22-30% off it’s selling price (wholesale price) to stay in business. If you want your CD to be sold to the public for $15, you need to allow the retail store to make approx $6, making the distributor’s selling price $9. If the distributor uses sub-distributors to reach certain retail stores, you’ll need to give up an additional $1, which makes your distributor’s wholesale price approx $8. If your distributor does a good job for you, you should be happy paying 30% for distribution services, which would make your pay-out approx $5.50. If somebody promises you much more than that, they’re probably getting ready to cheat you. Remember that there is no such a thing as a “free lunch”, and you want your distributor to make money on your title … otherwise, why would the distributor want your title? HOW CAN I GET A MAJOR RECORD DEAL? Major record labels look for an assurance or guarantee other than your promise that your joint is hot. If you have a following of 300-500 folks that show up every time you perform, you’ll find that radio stations will start to pay attention to you. Major record labels will be looking for a sales history of 10-20,000 CDs. Remember, your claim that you sold 10,000 out of your trunk won’t count because it cannot be verified. Also your claim (or evidence) that your Soundscan shows 10,000 units sold through small mom & pop record stores also won’t matter, because it's too easy to fudge these numbers. Majors will be looking for 10-15,000 sales where 60-70% came from national retail stores. This is one of the main reasons why BCD emphasizes getting your music into major retail stores. WHAT’S A “1-STOP”? A 1-stop is a wholesaler of music. A 1-stop buys its merchandize from other 1-stops, distributors, or record labels. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A “1-STOP” AND A “DISTRIBUTOR”? A 1-stop is a type of distributor that resells all types of CDs (major and independent titles), and does not have exclusive relationship with any label or artist. A classic distributor will contract with labels/artists on an exclusive basis to get titles into retail stores. A distributor will also assist with retail store advertising and promotional activities, since retail stores seldom make retail programs available directly to labels/artists. WHAT IS THE “WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY” AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO HIT IT? The window of opportunity (“WOO”) refers to a specific amount of time in which the opportunity exists to release and achieve success for a certain release. All forces must be focused and synchronized to come together at pretty much the same time in order to take advantage of the WOO. For example, there is little benefit to do radio promotions w/out having CDs in stores and other promotional activities under way. If you plan your in-store campaign or public relations campaign sometime down the road and not at the same time as your radio promotions, folks will have forgotten that they heard your music. If you are not a major national act, you cannot preannounce your release … your fans will have forgotten and have their interested attracted by something else if your release is not available immediately. The WOO is normally about three to six months … if you miss it, you’ll be facing an uphill struggle. | |
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