Digital Distribution Deals

[Krazyfingaz]

I posted this on another site and I just want to kno what illfam thinks. seeing the way technology, the music business and the economy is going. is it a negative to go with "only" Digital Distribution Deals? your thoughts.....

 

[2GooD Productions]

The main benefit of digital only deals is the cost of manufacturing the finished product.
Without the costs of packaging, inserts, cds etc this cuts the costs of manufacture.
But the downside of digital only is a limited marketbase.
By supplying a product in as many forms as possible you are maximising potential revenue streams.
You have to weigh the balance between costs and maximizing potential customers.
Its also good to have a physical copy to sell at live shows.
And me personally, I still like to have a physical cd of an album, just in case a hardrive fails or something.
I also like to read the inlays and find out about who did what on a track etc.

 

[C.P.]

Speaking of live performances and the digital thing. As we all know people download a lot of music now-a-days(legal and otherwise), I've also seen download cards of some albums in stores such as Target. Do you think a download card that lets the cardholder download a certain number of songs from you for say $5. All the info is printed on the card btw. Do you think that is as good or almost as good as a physical cd on some hand to hand stuff?

 

[shadeed]

I posted this on another site and I just want to kno what illfam thinks. seeing the way technology, the music business and the economy is going. is it a negative to go with "only" Digital Distribution Deals? your thoughts.....

Disclaimer: I'm posting strictly from the underground/unsigned/independent perspective.
There's a different approach from a major label perspective which others members from the Illmuzik community can add in and provide.

Bex, you coulda called me directly on this one, you, of all people should know better lol.
Nah, but this discussion can help others as well so let's get it.

I don't believe in the word "only" in any situation where I'm selling a product.
You want to create as many point-of-sale opportunities for transactions as possible.
So to answer your question, from a sales perspective it is a negative.

From a reality perspective, it costs lots of money to set up distribution and the marketing and touring to support that distribution.
You can only go as far as your $$$ will take you, which is what Master P and Baby didn't tell
everyone when they wrote the Independent Hip-Hop label manual that everyone tries to follow today.

In terms of physical distribution: You're not gonna walk off the street into Select-O (Hits, Memphis TN) and "just" set up a physical distribution deal. Companies such as this especially in today's climate are gonna want you to provide "receipts" or some type of proof/backing that you can generate a return.

If you're working with some kind of budget, then look into doing consignment deals with local music retailers in your region. As an indie artist, I want to give fans in the region that I'm based the opportunity to go to the store and pick my CD up.

Real-World Example
Big Kuntry King's CD "My Turn To Eat" was under-shipped in Atlanta and surrounding areas of GA. The feedback from fans wasn't "Big Kuntry's CD isn't in Best Buy, so I'll go home and download it." It was "Why isn't Big Kuntry's CD at Best Buy, I'll drive to another to see if its there"

You mention the economy in your question. Money is tight for everyone, which means people aren't gonna buy your music "by accident". H-Town rapper Lil' Troy went platinum in the late 90's from 1 song. Today, you have to get the people talking through your presence both online and offline.

Just because your music is "everywhere online" doesn't mean people online will buy it.
The positive of dealng with digital distribution is that it does provide an opportunity to package your music in different ways, i.e. single sales, selling older material from your catalog etc.
It you're going to pursue a digital distribution deal, the traditional album promotion methods apply...and you still have to deliver good music and perform to generate a buzz factor.

 

[shadeed]

Speaking of live performances and the digital thing. As we all know people download a lot of music now-a-days(legal and otherwise), I've also seen download cards of some albums in stores such as Target. Do you think a download card that lets the cardholder download a certain number of songs from you for say $5. All the info is printed on the card btw. Do you think that is as good or almost as good as a physical cd on some hand to hand stuff?

To be honest, it depends on what type of rapper (content-wise) that you are. Rappers that target "the streets" or "the hood" would do better with a physical copy at the shows.
I wouldn't advise Gucci Mane, Yo Gotti, or even Bump J to go with a download card (for example) as a "just as good" alternative to physical CDs.

If you're more of a mash-up type of rapper (rock/rap/skateboard) or at least conscious, you'll attract a different crowd so I would say to provide that option on your website, but it shouldn't be your primary strategy.
At a live show, nothing beats merchandise and/or physical copy of the CD. Nothing.

 

[Ash Holmz]

Being on the grind as an 100% independent entity I can tell you that Shadeed is 100% spot on. Nothing beats a CD. We have sold more physical CD's than online downloads by far. People just gravitate to Cd's for some reason. I was at an industry networking event at my boys studio the other week and everyone was interested in the smash brothers simply because i was handing out a real retail cd instead of a business card or just running my mouth talking about how i was the hottest artist since sliced bread. My advice is do BOTH digital and Physical copy. There both relatively cheap. Get 300 Cd's pressed up and spend $100 bucks on digital and you got everything covered. Prolly $600 - $700 for both or less depending on what kindof deal you can setup.

 

[classic]

Being on the grind as an 100% independent entity I can tell you that Shadeed is 100% spot on. Nothing beats a CD. We have sold more physical CD's than online downloads by far. People just gravitate to Cd's for some reason. I was at an industry networking event at my boys studio the other week and everyone was interested in the smash brothers simply because i was handing out a real retail cd instead of a business card or just running my mouth talking about how i was the hottest artist since sliced bread. My advice is do BOTH digital and Physical copy. There both relatively cheap. Get 300 Cd's pressed up and spend $100 bucks on digital and you got everything covered. Prolly $600 - $700 for both or less depending on what kindof deal you can setup.

Yep you beat me to the punch, have both, its cheap as hell these days.. Tunecore.com man you can have your shit on every digital outlet for 60 bucks....

 

[Vice]

Yep you beat me to the punch, have both, its cheap as hell these days.. Tunecore.com man you can have your shit on every digital outlet for 60 bucks....

thats dope man.. i never looked into this.

 

[7thangel]

Yep you beat me to the punch, have both, its cheap as hell these days.. Tunecore.com man you can have your shit on every digital outlet for 60 bucks....

reverbnation offers the same (plus so much more in terms of promo for an artist) for a lower price http://www.reverbnation.com/main/artist_feature/digitaldistribution

 

[StressWon]

listen to sha yall. his advice is priceless. one of the reasons I stopped wit the "Mic Wars" full release. I'm waiting until the time is right. Why go with a company when with the right know how, you can do it yaself. My thing is, it's easy as hell to distribute electronically on ya own. Its the promotion or buzz that helps out the most. But that can be done on yaself.

Tonite for example. Buku got a show and I'm jumpin on for a joint right,,,we got mad cds to hand out. ghetto as hell on some burnt joints wit our contact info. I know the joints on the cds are hot, so let them play them. If they like it, they'll find you. i got cats from Ny who hit me on myspace always askin when the next NYC show is. All this because they peoples performed the same night i did. I havnt even promoted my latest album and I'm makin some revenue off rhapsody. Thats without promotion. Feel me.

 

[5th Sequence]

listen to sha yall. his advice is priceless. one of the reasons I stopped wit the "Mic Wars" full release. I'm waiting until the time is right. Why go with a company when with the right know how, you can do it yaself. My thing is, it's easy as hell to distribute electronically on ya own. Its the promotion or buzz that helps out the most. But that can be done on yaself.

Tonite for example. Buku got a show and I'm jumpin on for a joint right,,,we got mad cds to hand out. ghetto as hell on some burnt joints wit our contact info. I know the joints on the cds are hot, so let them play them. If they like it, they'll find you. i got cats from Ny who hit me on myspace always askin when the next NYC show is. All this because they peoples performed the same night i did. I havnt even promoted my latest album and I'm makin some revenue off rhapsody. Thats without promotion. Feel me.

That's what's up man. That's how I want to do my stuff, just hand out cdr's at shows, or even at other artist shows if i'm not performing. Tryna bust into the show scene myself soon here.