Distribution Basics

After months of recording and way too many 6-packs, your CD is finally manufactured and ready to sell. While you probably can expect to sell a small amount of units to your friends and family, it's ultimately your ability to market your CD to a mass-audience that will determine your bands success.

While many bands are savvy enough to convince local record shops to carry their album, your best chance of reaching a larger audience lies in securing a distribution deal to place your CD on store shelves on a regional or national level. Distribution companies act as a channel between the musician and the retail store, offering entire catalogs of new material for the stores to purchase at wholesale prices. Included in the distributor's monthly “new release catalog” is background and ordering information on upcoming releases. Typically, these catalogs are sent at least 30-days prior to an album's release date as it gives stores the opportunity to pre-order titles at a discount, which is an incentive to have your album on shelves the day your CD is released.

Often times, distributors are reluctant to take on the accounts of new or unproven acts, as they spend a significant amount of time and resources adding product information, cataloging inventory, and shipping product. The best way to ensure that your band is taken seriously is to create and send potential distributors a comprehensive and professional press kit.

Product Placement

While working with a distributor can often get your CD in a store's inventory, it does not guarantee sales or even product placement. When you visit your any retail record store, you will notice new CDs strategically placed on the end cap of store aisles, or above the alphabetically organized artist section. Many people are unaware that this valuable placement decision is not left up to the sole discretion of each individual store, but is actually made at the corporate level. In order for your CD to be placed in a highly-visible position, you must buy into an advertising program for each retail company. For instance, if you want your CD to be placed on end caps in a Tower Records, you would need to pay an advertising fee to your distributor who will then sign you up for that stores program. The cost of this program can range anywhere from $300 for smaller, independent stores to as much as $1,800 for a four week campaign at a major retail outlet. During this advertising campaign, you will typically also receive a small promo ad in that store's ongoing print ads, usually located in the music section of your town's alternative weekly.

However, visibility alone will not guarantee record sales either and I recommend reading the next essay on publicity to give you some ideas of how to create a “buzz” around your band.