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Online E-Music Retailing
by Christopher Knab - Fourfront
Media & Music - August
2000
For bands and artists who are releasing their own records,
the Internet offers many new and exciting opportunities. But getting online retailers to pick up your CDs (and
other music related product) is as much a business as getting offline distributors or brick-and-mortar stores to
carry your records.
Online Retail Shakeout
CDs, tapes, vinyl, videotapes and DVDs are now available at over one hundred locations on the Internet, and new
online stores pop up all the time. Many of these online retailers, however, are still developing their presence
on the Internet. Not all of the stores listed below will be around a year from now. For example, CDNow.com, once
a leader in the field, has been struggling. As of mid-year 2000, they cut expenses by turning over fulfillment
of orders placed on their website to Buy.com. Also, CDNnow has recently been bought by Bertlesmann, one of the
leading media corporations in the world. It is yet to be determined how this will affect the selling of independent
product through this online retailer, since Bertlesman owns the BMG roster of major labels and may want to concentrate
on selling their affiliated label releases through CDNow…stay tuned.
A wise independent label, or independent recording artist with their own release, will carefully research each
and every online retailer they're interested in.
Here's a list of the major e-music retailers as of Summer 2000
| Amazon.com CDUniverse.com CDWorld.com Getmusic.com Massmusic.com Cdquest.com CDconnection.com Twec.com Shopping.com Video.com CD Explosion.com Barnes&Noble.com Insound.com Mediax.com Cdwarehouse.com Atomicpop.com Valueamerica.com Wherehouse.com Ticketmaster.com Borders.com |
CDNow.com CDPoint.com EveryCD.com Ktel.com Buy.com Bestbuy.com CDusa.com Netradio.com West Coast.com Harmonyhouse.com CDBaby.com Rock.com Cdhut.com Towerrecords.com Tunes.com Checkout.com Moviegallery.com Internetlab.com Blockbuster.com Theorchard.com (dist) |
Like any good record store, e-music stores look at all
the new releases that have come out each week. Every store uses different methods to decide what to carry, but
basically they will decide to buy your record if they feel it's a potential seller. When they're re-ordering your
record, they check their stock on hand to decide if they should re-order, and how many they should buy. Their goals
are to monitor what their online customers are buying, and to get them the music they demand.
Each CD, record, or tape is called a "unit". The more copies a title sells, the more units an online
store may keep in its inventory. The more a record label "works" its records, (actively promoting and
marketing their releases by securing airplay, putting the act out on tour, and getting publicity for them), the
more likely e-music retailers-like their brick-and mortar-cousins-will find it necessary to carry the record.
Brick-and-mortar stores use "POPs"-"point of purchase" advertising items like posters, cardboard
stand-ups, and counter display materials. Online music retailers have their own version of POPs. If "action"
occurs (increased sales of a record, usually a result of a label or independent artist's marketing activities),
the label or artist will have to supply extra album cover artwork and track listings to the online music retailers
who are carrying the CD. You can contact the company listed below to learn about their services to labels. You
will need your UPC code to work with them.
Muze Inc.
Label Liaison
304 Hudson St., 8th Floor
New York, NY 10013
(212) 824-0321
You may also need to supply online music retailers with RealAudio soundclips. You can contact Discovermusic.com
to check on their policies regarding soundclips. Please remember that you must have a barcode to consider this
option.:
Discovermusic.com
1000 Denny Way, Suite 700
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 336-3103
fax: (206) 336-3167
http://www.DiscoverMusic.com
A Tip
My recommendation for the most effective online music retailer is Amazon.com. Go to www.Amazon.com/Advantage, and
read how to get your CDs sold through their system. It's a simple, yet powerful way for an independent label or
artist to sell their music over the Internet. You will get your own "page" which you create. You will
detail everything you want a customer to know about your release: include a thumbnail of your CD cover and the
song listings, as well as audio samples of selected songs. Over the last year I've spoken to dozens of acts that
have used Amazon, and I have yet to hear a negative word about them. Remember though, Amazon is not a record label
- YOU are your own record label and YOU have to steer people toward them with your on and offline marketing ideas.
They will help you get started, but you are on your own, like any other label, to get the word out about your release.
Online Distribution
On my above list of online e-music retailers, the last listing was for an online company called Theorchard.com.
They're not a store, but an online distributor of sorts. For a small fee they can get an indie label's releases
into all the major online retailers. They function much like a brick-and-mortar "one-stop distributor",
meaning they can make it possible for an independent label to get their music to many online stores at once. Please
be advised that since it takes time for them to ship product to all the different online stores, and each store
has a different buying and inventory policy, it will take them longer to send you or your label the checks you
are owed. (By the way, if you use them without setting up your own Amazon.com Advantage program, you will NOT have
that "page" on Amazon created by theorchard.com. You have to do that on your own.) At theorchard.com,
artists and independent labels are paid 70% of the wholesale price of each unit. Online e-music retail list prices
always fluctuate, just like offline retail list prices, whereas wholesale prices are fixed. A store may want to
compete by slashing their retail prices, but the wholesale price never changes. If the wholesale price is $7.18,
the artist would receive $5.03. In addition, they withhold a 25% reserve, again, just like in the brick-and-mortar
retail business, because some product may/will be returned. After two quarters, they will settle up on what you
are owed… hopefully.
Theorchard charges a 30% distribution fee. As a distributor, they sell things wholesale so that retailers can mark
them up. You should also know that theorchard.com charges a fee of $40 to join. They pay quarterly for records
sold and accumulate monies paid to them each quarter and then pay 30 days after the end of each quarter. As a distributor,
they do not get paid the moment someone buys your product at an online store, so they can't pay you until they
receive the money from the accounts they deal with. They accept your product as consignment merchandise. They do
not buy product outright.
Your Own Website Sales
I feel that all serious cybermusic marketers should consider selling their product on their own websites. Many
fans of independent music still like the idea of as much money as possible going directly to the artist. Let's
face it, direct sales have the best royalty rate going, don't they? For the novice cyber-seller, a primitive but
still valid alternative is to simply post a P.O. Box where your fans can send their checks or money orders, then
you send them back a CD. When you get too busy to handle all the orders coming in from your own site, there are
many secure-server e-commerce companies around who are eager to take you on as a client. One such company is www.ccnow.com.
However, the options discussed earlier are a more professional way to go.
Since you are in control of your own 'music store' at your site, give serious thought to putting more than just
Real Audio samples of the songs from your CD. Try putting 1 or 2 mp3 versions of your song up at a time, then take
them down after a few weeks and replace them with a couple more. This can increase return visits to your site,
and research is showing now that giving away songs (even through Napster,) does not hurt sales. In fact, as I suspected
from the start, it actually is increasing sales of CDs.
A Final Note
At this time the business of cyber-selling manufactured CDs, tapes, etc. over the Internet is still a business
of shipping physical objects to the customer. Remember - just as it takes time to get a record from the manufacturer
to a brick-and -mortar distributor, and for the distributor to get those records into a store, and for the store
to sell them, (possibly returning product to you later)-it takes time for the online version of that process too.
You'll need patience as you wait to collect money from online retailers. We're not talking about downloading music
files here, folks. Online e-music retailers at this time in history are still selling good ol' plastic storage
devices wrapped in paper and plastic. They face many of the same challenges as brick-and-mortar stores: dealing
with payments on records sold, return policies and lots of rules and regulations.
But stay tuned, who knows…before you finish reading this there may be a downloadable e-music retailer opening up
shop at a URL near you.
-----
Christopher Knab is an independent music business consultant based in Seattle, Washington.
He is available for private consultations on promoting and marketing independent music, and can be reached at 206-282-6116
or by email at: Chris@Knab.com
Visit the FourFront Media and
Music website for more information on the business
of music from Christopher Knab.