   
 |
|
|
     |
|
You're in a band, you've written some songs. They sound cool as hell, you want them on wax, the only format for a single. What the hell are you going to do? Option One - Try a few labels for example: There is of course, hundreds of others....e mail them, send them your songs. Remember this though....These are small labels like us, so money is always a problem. Chances are they have sorted out what they are going to be releasing well in advance (for example - as I type this, it is Feb 2003, we have planned: the 'TwoMinutemen Two' double 7" for April and 2 mini CD albums for October. We may have enough cash for a 7", but we don't know yet) . If and when they reply and say "sorry, we have no money" that is probably the truth, don't get offended. Option Two - No label has bitten. Don't worry. DO IT YOURSELF. It's this easy.....  Look up http://www.gzcd.cz/ They press records, they are based in the Czech Republic. We have never had a problem with them, some people have. I guess we've been lucky so far. They are cheap and reliable. We have pressed up clear vinyl, white vinyl, black vinyl. We have done full colour sleeves and had plain ones.E-Mail them, let them know you are going to be sending them a DAT or CD. Ask for a quote (although you can work out the costs from the site), they are quick at replying (again, we've never had a problem). We send all our art on CD and all our music on DAT. Tips Use TNT as a delivery service, it's 40 odd pounds, but it's better than having to go to Heathrow and sort it out like we did once. Try and use a business address when getting them sent to this country, they'll come quicker (in our experience). We pay them through HSBC, go into the bank, fill out an HSBC paying in form. Hand over the cash, get a receipt and fax it to the Czech Republic to prove you've paid them. No pay, no records. They won't send the wax till you've paid 'em!! Remember About 2-3 weeks after your records turn up you'll get a VAT bill from TNT, which will be 17.5% of the GZ bill. We paid about 350 pounds for a recent 7", TNT sent a bill for around 60 pounds because they pay the import tax when the records arrive in the UK. Of course if you are VAT registered this doesn't apply. What to do with your records Get them distributed? We go through Cargo, who are cool. Payment works like this: they sell records to the shops, they tell you what they've sold each month, you invoice them each month. They prefer to pay you when they owe you a reasonable amount. If you want your record in the shops for 2.50, cargo sell them to the shop for around 1.75. You get around 1.25 of each sale. Look at the ads in the press, see what distribution is more suited to you ....Indie / noise - Cargo, dancey / indie - SRD, Hardcore / punk - Plastichead, etc, etc. contact details will be on the ads. Not get them distributed? If you are only pressing 300 and have no intention of doing anymore it may be better to sell them at gigs, put them through a few mailorder companies, and go into your local shop and get them to stock them. Virtually all shops are 100% willing to help, Rough Trade sold 30 of our first 7" before we had distribution.
Build yourself a website and sell your records online. As well as letting people know a what your band are up to you can easily sell your records online. We use a company called PayPal who take care of the credit card stuff and take a small percentage from each sale - (3.4% + £0.20). You can also get orders by post so make sure you have a visible address for orders and details about record prices. Again, there are loads of other mailorder companies. We sell a fair amount through a company called Amulet Mailorder, he doesn't have a web site, but his e mail is: info@amuletrecs.demon.co.uk A great source for everything is http://www.diskant.net/ you can find over 600 useful links here, labels, mailorders, and loads more. Reviews Webzines rule, there are literally hundreds. Some bigger than others. Mail the people that run them, let them know you're sending them stuff.
these are three that we like, each has a good link section to others.... In our opinion sending records to the NME is a waste of a record, but you can prove us wrong.... A fanzine like Unpeeled has a mailout of 1600 at the present time, so they are definitely worth it. Unpeeled, 102 Clifton Rd, Hastings, East Sussex, TN35 5AP. Record Collector and Careless Talk Costs Lives are also worth a poke. If Record Collector review your record, you're guaranteed at least 5-10 mailorders, the sort of people that read that magazine are into ltd mailorder wax. This is a very simplified rough guide, if you have any questions please ask us, we aren't genius's or masters on the subject, but we'll help in anyway we can. |
|
 Web design Australia | Web design UK |
|
