Record Stores Part II

You actually may already be networked enough to at least start your
quest to get your CDs into the physical record stores both to
"scratch that itch" of success and for the profit potential of
having your records sold commercially will bring. But we have to
be realistic about our expectations starting out.


The truth is that the big national retailers are not part of the
"music industry" in a strict sense of the word any more than
Wal-Mart could be considered a dietary specialty store just because
they sell skim milk. These big department store sized venues sell
music for only one reason, to make a lot of money. So they are
going to stock only artists that are extremely well known. Sadly
any more that means that much of what they stock are going to be
artists from ten or twenty years ago who people are aware of and
will buy those recordings from name recognition.

Also we have to understand that the contracts and lines of
distribution through those stores are primarily done by large scale
distributors who are working with the major record labels. It is
all a very carefully refined process in which music is produced as
a commodity to be sold with no more regard for the artistic merit
than they would worry about selling a movie even though it sticks.


Now this doesn't reduce the value of putting your release into one
of those stores but it does make that objective something we should
put at the end of our quest, not at the beginning. You are not
going to be able to walk into your local Best Buy, present your CD
to the manager and expect him to stock it in his store. He has no
control over those decisions and you will get nowhere with that
approach, even if you could get in to see him.


But the big box retailers are not the only record stores in town.
You know from being part of the music scene that there are other
smaller stores who sell Indie records and who are willing to take
chances on new bands or bands who are not going to appeal to the
mass market mentality. So those are the retail venues to target
first. Then once you get some momentum going and your CD is
starting to take off, that will draw the attention of the big boys
of the music industry and you can find your way to the bigger
stores once your "name" is big enough to take you there.


So with our target better known and with our focus on retailers
that are within the grasp of an up and coming act to break into,
the next step is to figure out how to sneak into the Indie record
stores. Getting your CD on the racks even in one of those funky
little stores still scratches that itch to see your release out
there on the racks ready to be sold to interested fans. But it is
also the first step in the long climb to success. And each step
means you are closer so it's a worthwhile quest you are starting
out on.