[NewMusic] record stores

[Phillip Greenlief]

-----Original Message-----
On Behalf Of Cypod
Subject: Re: [NewMusic] record stores

In the current fake science podcast they have an interview with Booka
Shade, who talk about their great relationship with record stores.
Record store ownership is a tough business to make it in, and the only
way to succeed is to have awsome unique content, think Aquarius
records in the mission. So your indie cd wont ever be on the shelves
at tower, go down to your local shops, press the flesh and try to get
your cd's on consignment. Where better to start than your own
neighborhood.


PG:
I've been running a record label for 15 years now, and that's how I
started out - just talking to store owners and selling discs on
consignment. Eventually, with a store like Streetlight, they started
paying me outright when I brought in discs. Then I went to working with
Amoeba and Grooveyard (exclusively), who used to buys CDs outright.

But Amoeba has been hit hard by internet record sales. Marc almost
closed the Berkeley store last year - not too many people knew that -
apparently sales were down in a big way and he was scared. Instead, he
installed listening booths and decided to take Amoeba online (it will
happen soon).

Now Amoeba will buy one or two new releases when I bring them in. If I
don't go on a day when I know the buyer, I get the long pitch of how
they can't afford to buy my CDs, and that I will have to leave them on
consignment.

This is another aspect (touches on it anyway) of how hard it became
eventually to work with multiple stores - you really have to "work" your
relationship with those stores. Eventually, people that I had developed
a business relationship with at Streetlight left (as it so often
happens), and then you have to start all over with a new relationship.
It didn't matter that I had a Phillip Greenlief bin at Streetlight, I
went in there after my friends left the store and they didn't know me
anymore. So there are those kinds of ups and downs, and personally, I
don't have a lot of time to just drop by all the record stores in town
that I have worked with over the years on a regular basis just to keep
things rolling smoothly. I usually spend a whole day doing this kind of
leg work, and yeah - it gets the job done, but I got to a point where I
couldn't peel off that much time. (I know, I'm running a record label,
and my business depends on it - but shit, where am I supposed to find
the time to do that once or twice a month?).

The struggle continues. I agree with Cypod's assertion about getting out
and meeting the folks running the stores - it's good business. But
eventually, you have to start wondering if it's worth it when the profit
you're making on a full day of leg work yields enough cash to buy two or
three burritos.

PG