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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

Buying digital downloads vs actual cds plus what's a fair price for a download?


RedM

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The problem extends to small record labels too unfortunately has they have virtually no price negociation powers with their distributor(s). Often distris buy at a fixed price from all small labels and offer the same T's and C's on a "take it or leave it" basis.

 

I've been there, I used to run a record label a few years ago, only releasing vinyl (500 to 1000 copies per single) and it was a nightmare dealing with distis.

 

As a matter of fact, each vinyl (1000 copies heavyweigh 180gr) including CMYK cover print, including mastering, shipping and everything was about £1.60 to produce. Distris buy them at 2.50 and shops sell them £6. So, label gets 90p, artist gets half (usually on small labels) plus some mechanical reproduction royalties if the label is honest enough to pay them to the MCPS/PRS.

 

CD's are an even greedier business as they cost a fraction of the price to produce comparing to vinyls (no metal mastering and CD mediums are dead cheap).

 

Most record companies made a s***load of money in the 90's and if they failed to recognise digital medium as a threat early enough, I say too bad for them.

 

So all in all, I think 90p per track and global exposure is a fair deal :)

 

Some sense at last. I have been running my labels for 20 years now and today I have just seen yet another of our distributors go bust which has cost me thousand of pounds and I have to take that on the chin.

 

If people think this business is alive with cash then they are wrong. Just because wnakers at the top of the tree like Elton John etc splash their cash does not mean it filters down, there are 1000s of labels struggling to survive, and if it means 99p for a download then that is cheap for a song that would well have cost thousands to produce.

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