Cassettes Won’t Listen is back this week to answer your burning DIY music questions…
Steeped In Color asks: How do I get my CD in stores?
That is a great question and, contrary to popular belief, people still do travel to their local record stores to buy those little pieces of plastic otherwise known as “CDs”. But my advice is: be careful!
Just a bit of where the industry is currently at. In 2007, CD and DVD sales dropped 13% while digital sales climbed 34% from the previous year. So if sales continue as they are, you’re plastic disc sitting on a store shelf won’t be worth much to anyone besides your mother.
Regardless, there are two ways to get your music into stores. Either by being signed to a record label or by doing it yourself. Let’s stick to DIY.
The main person you’ll want to become friends with at your local shop is called “the buyer.” This person is responsible for bringing in all of the music that you see on their shelves. They are responsible for keeping their ear to the ground and knowing the local music scene along with keeping relationships with distributors in order to bring in CDs from the labels. All you have to do is call up your store and ask to talk to their buyer, let them know you have a CD coming out and would like to know if they have interest in stocking a few. It will help if you have any local or national press, history of touring, or upcoming shows to talk about. Otherwise convincing them that the CD will sell may be a bit tough and I would advise to go back and build a fan base to strike the buyers attention. You can go ahead and repeat this process for as many stores as you wish but please stick to indie stores as you won’t have much luck at Best Buy or Wal-mart.
Once in stores it is your responsibility to stay on top of accounting. You won’t be able to sit back and watch the checks come rolling in so once your CD sells it is up to you to collect the money. I’m not advising to call the store everyday but once every 60-90 days isn’t terrible.
If you’re having problems getting your CD into stores, that probably means you haven’t done enough leg work to get the public interested. I know, I know, your latest CD is hot fire and genre destroying and was even produced by the guy who broke Bloc Party. But that doesn’t mean shit if there are no fans to buy the music. Get out there and get heard, let the record store take their cut when you can afford it.
Thank you for your question. That’s it for this week, leave a question in the comments and I’ll get back at ya.
-CWL
Recommended video: Bloc Party - Banquet
