Category Archives: brand developement

Music Artists as Entrepreneurs: Building Your Empire

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Until recently, the only way to “make it” was to be picked by an A&R rep at a major record label, and even that didn’t guarantee success if the label dropped your record or cut your marketing budget. Today, your success is primarily up to you. You are your own CEO and your product is your music. Identifying multiple sources of revenue and having a team is the first step in thinking like an entrepreneur and forming your thriving business 

Develop Your Product & Identify an Audience
Think about exactly what it is you are making and how it is different from existing music. What genre do you mow identify with? Your personality and image are significant aspects of your business, too. Understanding how to develop your brand in the market is invaluable.
Next, find out who your customers or fans are. Use internet tools like Google Analytics, Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels to see who is listening, watching and commenting. Talking to fans after shows will allow you to figure out who your key demographic is. 
Get Your Music Out There
You’ll need to get your product to the market as quickly as possible, so release small and often on easily accessible digital platforms. If you don’t have the money to release a full length album, start with distributing singles every few months or EP’s. Cover Songs for your YouTube channel can keep fans interested without forcing you to spend thousands of dollars. Another good method is releasing a song to social media and telling fans you’ll release the next once you get a certain number of comments or likes. Promotions are key to building your fan base. Most importantly, get feedback as soon as you can and adjust your business accordingly. 


Network
Take tips from outgoing and energetic entrepreneurs and don’t be afraid to talk about your music, your band, and what you are trying to achieve. When you play gigs, Introduce yourself to the other bands playing or the guys behind the scenes running lights or sound. You never know who you can meet and you may find a way to collaborate! In the music industry, your success will come from your connections.
Build a Team
Think about who you know who would be willing and able to work with you to develop your career. Hiring professionals, like those at Pro Music Records, to carry out your website, marketing, promotions, and submissions to labels or radio stations can ease your stress and keep you organized. Delegating tasks to your team can also give you more time to hone your craft and create more music. There’s a reason most successful businesses are more than one person! 
Pro Music Records & Entertainment

Brand Representation: Professional Photos & Headshots

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Whether you’re a musician, actor, dancer or model, image plays a key role in how people decide what to listen to and what to pass on to their friends. Your headshot is often the first impression fans and the press can get of you. That being said, your headshots, album covers, and social media photos are another way to help you communicate with the world. They need to support your music, website, tweets, emails, and songs to complete who you are as an artist and brand. A true, engaging snapshot can help portray your message and go a long way in attracting new fans and entertaining current ones. 
The first step? Hiring a professional. While more money doesn’t always translate into higher quality, investing something in your photos is crucial to generating revenue. You’ll make all your money back if you have the right image to captivate an audience!
Getting the right light to eliminate shadows and under-eye circles can be a lifesaver. Cloudy days make for more forgiving conditions and facing the light will place you in the spotlight. Artistic, vast landscapes as backdrops can also be great, but the focus ultimately needs to be on you as the star. 
Make sure the background of your photo matches your brand. For example, if your music is more folksy, look for something outdoors and vintage. If you’re a rocker, edgy streets and darker lighting can set the mood. Variety in both background and wardrobe can also be beneficial for having photos for different purposes while maintaining consistency in your brand.
Being comfortable (and happy) during a shoot is essential, so play around and don’t be afraid to try new things! Changing your focus or how you’re positioned (sitting, standing, etc.) can lead to awesome shots. And, once you pick your favorites, if something is off like the lighting or a stray hair, editing can fix all kinds of small details.
Pro Music Records & Entertainment Media has highly skilled photographers and all price levels to get you the photos you need. We work with your image and budget to find the right photographer, location and wardrobe for the perfect shot. Call 818.971.9301 for a custom quote or e-mail info@promusicrecords.com to set up a photoshoot today!

How a Professional Music Video can Make an Artist: Creation & Promotion

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We’ve all heard of it: the YouTube sensation who landed a huge record label because of a viral video. As ridiculous as it sounds, independent musicians putting up their music videos on YouTube and then becoming big time stars is more and more common in today’s world of digital media. And, with the release of MTV’s VMA nominations, it’s clear that interesting, unusual and well-made videos can do a lot for an artists career.

For example, Iggy Azalea, who is nominated for seven awards this year, released her video for “Fancy” featuring Charli XCX long after the song was released this past February. It took a month and half for the song to be recognized and debut on the Hot 100 chart, but this success can be greatly contributed to her music video, which went viral shortly after it was released on March 4th. The video now has 161.5 million views (and counting) and portrays the theme of the iconic movie “Clueless,”  which almost any listener in Iggy’s target audience can relate to. The Australian rapper is now one of the most talked about artists of the year.

A remarkable music video has the power to get an musician’s name out and be seen by the masses in a short period of time. It shows audiences who the artist is, how they perform, and how they want their craft to be portrayed. In addition to making a top-quality video, it is key to have a team that can promote your video to major labels, television networks, music blogs and potential fans. Without the right targeting, even the most professionally made videos can go unnoticed. That’s where we come in! Pro Music Records can not only write, produce and direct your next customized video, but push it to MTV, BET and VH1 amongst hundreds of broadband video companies and shows worldwide. Leave it to our team of experts to help you create a top-quality video that gets you noticed and recognized as a legitimate artist.


Business Strategies: Translating Social Media Popularity into a Career

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In an era of social media obsession, it seems almost senseless not to utilize these platforms to grow a business or brand. Some social media users have even more followers than celebrities (ie. teen idol Nash Grier has double the followers of Oprah Winfrey)! These users have leveraged their fame to generate income, receiving free products (clothes, food, alcohol, cosmetics, etc.) or invitations to exclusive events as long as they promote whatever it is they receive. These social media superstars all have one thing in common: using their popularity to launch a potential career.
Being virtually free of cost, social media is an ideal way to market a brand, especially since it holds the potential to reach broader audiences at a much faster rate. Updating all of these social media platforms or even a website can take up a ton of time, so when you are ready to build your own personal brand, it may make sense to hire someone to keep up with your posts. This can generate visibility and take advantage of online advertising capabilities. Here at Pro Music Records we offer services that guarantee social media popularity, increasing your likes, fans and followers. The more followers a profile has, the more chances it has to target potential customers. Today’s day and age requires that a new artist or brand maintains social media profiles and we can do that for you! Using entertainment marketing business strategies, we guarantee a certain number of real fans depending on your plan and less than 1% unfollow rate or your money back. Save your time and money and allow PMR to build your brand and increase your fan base by using social media promotions.

Getting Your Songs Out There: A Pro Music Records Experience

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As an independent artist, it can be really hard to get your music out there without some serious help! That’s where Pro Music Records comes in! We can guide you through the process of becoming an established musician with our vast array of services.
Here’s the Top Eight Things we can do!
  • We know what the music reviewers are looking for!!
    • Nothing slow burns a radio host, music editor, label owner, or blogger like getting bombarded with music that is totally unrelated to the style they promote. It displays a total disrespect. Your songs, of course, are trashed immediately.Our Promotions department knows how to get you air play.  
  • Let’s Make Contact:  We have contacts, so you can get your foot in the door.
    • Most music services ask that you contact them before sending in your music, just to make sure your music is a good fit. It’s for this reason that many services do not post their physical address online. There are a lot of local music resources. Local can mean several things; it may be a particular city and its surrounding suburbs; it may be an entire state or province. Local could also include several states, or even a specific section of a state and still yet local can be a whole country. Our SEO Local Marketing  services can help you make those first contacts with your region!
  • Reaching the blogosphere. 
    • Many bloggers don’t post any contact information at all. In order to get in touch you have to post a comment on their blog. Pro Music Records can find relevant music blogs and contact them on your behalf!
  • Get Formatted. 
    • Music services usually post their format of preference. Often it’s a combination of several formats. They may also welcome videos. Or they may be old school and will ask for physical submissions only. No matter what format their asking for, our Mastering department can work with you to get you single ready.
  • College radio. 
    • Some college radio stations allow you to send your music directly to a show’s host, but many insist that all music must be sent to the Music Director. The Music Director then passes on the music to the various shows, according to the genre. Make sure you’re clear on whom to address your music to.
  • Time sensitive material. 
    • There are a number of music blogs, radio shows, promoters and review sites that will only deal with music that has been released recently. The cutoff date varies, but the allowable time of release is usually six months or less. Work with our  Music Production department to get your relevant work ready and out in a timely manner!
  • Which reviewer accepts my style of music?
    • There are a large number of music blog and review websites that have a stable of reviewers. Each reviewer accepts one or more particular styles of music. So, even though the overall website may welcome many styles, the responsibility is on you to find out which of the reviews/bloggers deals with your particular style of music. Our Promotions department knows who should be listening to your music and can put it in their hands!
  • Sending a press kit. 
    • Another important consideration when sending your music is the accompanying bio information about you or your band. Submission guidelines are usually specific about what sort of information they would like to have included. Our Publicity Services will put your press kit together and make it shine.

At Pro Music Records, a distribution and marketing program for our clients has been implemented to generate revenue from the growing digital download and entertainment industry market.  We do everything we can to bring success to you!

20 Reasons Why Musicians Get Stuck at the Local or Regional Level

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Ever wonder why some talented local musicians never get that elusive record deal? Or why the careers of some signed artists or American Idols stall out just past the starting gate? It’s not just “bad luck.” Here are 20 common reasons why some artists never make it to the next level:

1. Poorly-defined goals. Even if they’re too modest to say so in public, successful artists have a solid answer for the question: “What are your goals in the industry?” (Need help with goal setting? Check this out.)
P.M.R & Entertainment Media Services


2. Band members with different goals. In order to succeed, you have to be on the same page. It’s tough to stay on track if some band members know what they want and others want different things or don’t know what they want at all.

3. Lack of musical focus. Creativity is good, but in the mainstream music industry, only artists with multiple past successes have leeway to gravitate toward other musical styles. Here’s why: Different musical genres involve different networking contacts and working methods. Artists whose styles are too diverse have difficulty achieving consistent contacts and working methods…and it takes consistency to break a new artist. (Newsflash for artists who think playing a lot of different styles makes them unique: it doesn’t. We see artists with this “unique” talent all the time. In fact most artists can play or sing in more than one style, but publicly they focus on one they do best.)

4. Poor work ethic. The old saying that harder you work, the “luckier” you get is true.

5. Waiting to be discovered. People who are “discovered” make it happen instead of waiting.

6. Ineffective artist management, or not listening to good management. It sounds simplistic, but it’s where many artists go wrong. In order to be effective, your management has to know what they’re doing. And if you have good, experienced management but don’t follow their advice, they can’t help you.

7. Working with people who don’t have contacts in the industry at the next level. Ideally, the people you start with should be constantly building better skills and contacts along the way. If that doesn’t happen, you’ll need to work with people who have contacts at the next level.

8. Signing with a label with inadequate funding or poor distribution. If you want a record deal, the goal isn’t “a record deal.” The goal is the record deal with the most potential for long-term success.

9. Lack of a live following. Especially in rock and country, no draw means no deal.

10. Artist “settles” too much; recording quality, image, stage presence, photos, and demo packaging, and overall presentation are all just “OK.” Successful artists are more than just “OK” and never settle. Nor do their managers.

11. Poor networking skills. Successful artists constantly seek new networking methods and know how to use them.

12. Hanging onto ineffective band members. Many artists have trouble separating business and friendship, at the cost of their careers.

13. Dated musical style. (Sounding like 1990’s Pearl Jam or ‘NSync probably isn’t going to cut it.)

14. Dated image. If you still dress the same way you did 5 to 10 years ago or have the same hair style, it’s
time to freshen up. If you’re fond of the clothes, wear them on your own time–not when you want someone to invest money in your music being the hippest, happening thing since sliced bread.

15. Lack of radio-friendly songwriting (or lack of access to radio-friendly original songs). No hit potential, no deal.

16. Bowing to peer or family pressure not to change. Doing the same thing, the same way, brings the same results. So in order to improve something, change has to occur; it literally can’t stay the same. Change isn’t necessarily a bad thing: if you put icing on a cake, the cake changes but is still the same underneath. If it’s bad icing or you do something stupid when frosting it, the cake falls apart. (Fortunately, that doesn’t happen too often.)

17. Drug or alcohol issues. Many artists with easy access to drugs, alcohol, and groupies at the local level have the distorted impression that they’ve “made it” and lose motivation to go any further.

18. Spouse / child obligations. Putting together an entertainment career is expensive and requires a major time commitment. The same is true of spouses and children. We’re not saying it’s impossible, but it’s definitely more difficult.

19. Impossible to work with. Being impossible to work with doesn’t always mean the artist isn’t a nice person; we know one very nice artist who has had seven managers in the past ten years. We like this artist just fine as a person, but in order for a team to become successful, it needs time to gel. With a rotating litany of band members, managers, and agents, that’s not likely to happen.

20. Not understanding how the industry works. You have to know how the game is played in order to move the right pieces.

P.S.  If you aren’t satisfied with just having a music hobby and
you want to be a successful musician, you need to  check out the
New Music Economy NOW!

Are you Chasing A Dream??

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Are you chasing that elusive creature called success in the music industry? 

Do you spend hundreds of dollars on getting CD’s of your
bands latest album or traveling to perform at your next gig only to
find you have boxes of unsold CD’s to pack up at the end of every
show and just enough profit to pay for your dinner on the road?

Are you tired of this routine yet? 

If so, you are probably ready
to quit being a hobbyist and start being a career musician, you
just haven’t found the secrets to that cross over yet.  I can help
you by sharing one of the most important secrets of successful
musicians.

One of the biggest things most musicians miss when they are trying
to make the change from the proud but broke owner of a music hobby
to the successful career of the professional musician is music
marketing.  Right now, I need you to stop everything else.  Sit
quietly and read the next few sentences. 

Music is a business.
Just like any other business, we have a product that we sell, our
music.  In the same way that other businesses must use some form of
advertising to sell their products, the music business demands that
you do a bit of marketing to be successful.

Did you catch the message in those three sentences?   If you
haven’t been seeing the success you want to have, then you haven’t
been marketing your music in the right way. 

To help you succeed in marketing your music, I have put together 

a few tips and at the end of this article, I will share a resource
with you that will help you take your music to the next level.
Tip #1 –  Get the attention of your audience

If you have ever been to a carnival, you have seen what they call a
“barker”.  This is the guy who sits along the sides of the main
travel route and loudly yells to the passerby about the game or
show they are hosting.  You know the game is there but this guy
feels the need to yell it across the road at you.  Why?  Experience
has shown them that sometimes people see right thru things with a
sort of tunnel vision.  We are focused on the Ferris wheel or the
concession stand and we walk right past everything else to get
there.   The barkers job is to get your attention, even if just for
a moment, and try to redirect you to his booth.

Does your music career feel that way sometimes?  You know that
people have heard of your band but it seems they pass you by to go
to the bigger shows.  Why?  Because you aren’t catching their
attention.  While you can’t send a barker out to draw people into
your shows, there are things you can do to get the attention
focused on your band.  Try performing at a couple of charity gigs.
Get your current fans to spread the word about your next gig to
their friends.  Arrange to open for a few popular bands.  Try
anything and everything that will show your band in a good light
and gain the attention of as many people as possible.

Tip #2  –  Invest a little bit.

Whether it’s your time or your money, you need to put a little
investment into marketing your music.  Investing money is the
simple one.  You can buy business cards, put up billboards, pay
people to promote your music and any number of other things in the
name of music marketing.

Investing your time, however, requires a little more thought.  Time
is precious and you don’t want to waste it on things that don’t
work so here’s a few music marketing investments you should be
putting your time into:

·                    Online Forums  –  The forums are a great place
to market your music to people with similar interest.  Find several
good music forums and be a regular participant.

·                    Press Releases  –  Everyone loves a good
story.  If your band is playing at a charity event to benefit kids
with cancer or the animals effected by the BP oil spill, then write
a press release about it and distribute it to the media.

·                    CD Release Parties and other fan functions  –
People like to feel close to the musicians they like.  Make
yourself available to your fans and you will find that they grow in
numbers and your merchandise sales will skyrocket.

Marketing your music doesn’t have to be difficult.  These are just
two tips for helping your music make the leap from hobby to career.
If you really want to know the most closely guarded secrets of
successful musicians in the industry, you need to check out the New
Music Economy at this link:

 
http://www.promusicrecords.com/index.html

I was able to see what I wanted to do, I could see the opportunity,
even when others could not, and I stay committed to doing it and
doing it well, no matter what. –  Magic Johnson

P.S.  If you aren’t satisfied with just having a music hobby and
you want to be a successful musician, you need to  check out the
New Music Economy NOW!

The Emergence of The New Music Industry

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It’s Global, Generates A Lot Of Money & Is Based On Six Copyrights

There have been six fundamental changes to the music industry that have revolutionized and transformed the business.  It is vital that artists are fully aware of these changes in order to make the most money and pursue their passion on their own terms.

These six changes are:
1)   Music fans now buy and listen to music from digital music stores and services.
2)   There is unlimited shelf space where everything can be in stock at no detriment to anything else. 
3)   For no up front cost, there is unlimited inventory always available on demand as a perfect digital copy.
4)   With the launch of www.promusicrecords.com, there is no gatekeeper to placing a song on Apple, Amazon’s etc store or hard drive.
5)   Distribution of a release is now global and not restricted to just one country.
6)   Artists can market directly to their fans.

With these changes, gone are the days of needing to be able to negotiate a label and/or distributor deal agreement (provided you were lucky enough to get one). 
 
Instead, with self-distribution and access to marketing, the artist is now: The Label, The Performer, The Publisher and The Songwriter. While wearing all of these “four hats” at once, artists are now uniquely positioned to profit from the best possible contractual distribution terms and highest revenue generation via the sale, use, or streaming of their music. The challenge is that many artists don’t know what these rights are, or how to collect the money they’ve earned from these revenue streams. A comprehensive, streamlined, and completely inclusive infrastructure does not yet exist that enables every artist who is owed money to easily collect it.  However, there are solutions out there for artists, and it’s imperative that you understand these.

THE SIX COPYRIGHTS YOU MUST GET TO KNOW AND UNDERSTAND
The entire music industry is built on six legal copyrights.
The six copyrights are:

  • Reproduction
  • Derivatives & Samples
  • Public Display
  • Public Performance
  • Distribution
  • Digital Transmission



Money is made from music by either selling, licensing or using it –the sale of the music is the one that gets talked about the most. The others also generate a LOT of money for artists, performers and songwriters.  This money is made based on the USE of music as opposed to just the SALE of the music – in other words, music does not necessarily have to be sold to make the artist, songwriter, performer and label money.   Much of the money from these six copyrights is collected by entities located on every continent around the world called Performing Rights Organizations (PROs).  PROs tend to be not-for-profit or government controlled and/or mandated. Their function is to collect and distribute money owed to songwriters, labels and performers. The amount of money the writers are paid comes from federal laws in those countries that mandate entities MUST pay them for the USE of music. This has become increasingly important now that the music industry is global – with one click your music can be distributed, sold, shared, tracked and marketed around the world.

As one example, unless the songwriter agrees not to be paid, every single time a song is streamed legally for free on the Internet, money is owed to the songwriter. This money is paid to the PROs and sits there waiting to be claimed.

As another, every single time a song is played on the radio (either via the Internet or broadcast from an AM/FM transmitter tower) the songwriter, label and performer must get paid.   As an interesting twist, and to make a point, there is an exception to this rule – everywhere in the world the songwriter, performer and label get paid when a song is played on AM/FM radio EXCEPT for the United States. In the U.S., only the songwriter gets paid.  This means from radio play, there is money sitting in other parts of the world with a PRO for the label and performer.  If the label and performer are based in the U.S., they are not able to collect this money UNLESS there is someone in another country working on behalf of them to collect it. 

As yet another example, if you are a U.S.-based band and you write your own songs and use Pro Music Records to distribute your music into another country like iTunes Japan, each time your music sells in Japan, iTunes pays the Japanese PRO money for the “reproduction” of your song. This money is in addition to the money iTunes pays for the sale of the song. This money sits with the PRO until it is collected by the songwriter/publisher.  After a certain period of time, if it is not collected, it is given to other members of the PRO. It is vital for you to know about all of these potential revenue streams and how to collect on them around the world.

Major Artist Initiatives in 2011
I view it as Pro Music Record’s job to go into the world on behalf of its artists and help them plug into and collect all the money that exists for them.  This is a major initiative for us in 2011.  Over the next 90 days, we will be providing significant news and updates on how we intend on doing this for this new industry.

Also, in the next 45 days or so, we are rolling out a new accounting system that allows for even more transparency down to the one trillionth of a penny as well as even more advanced custom sales reports and free access to iTunes trending data.

A major education initiative is also being undertaken to provide the knowledge and information every artist should know.  To that end, we will continue to post a large amount of specific information on the blog as well as create more PDF booklets for free download. George Howard (former President of Rykodisc, current professor at Loyola) and Jeff Price (Founder of Tunecore) are embarking on a series of free to attend multi-hour seminars discussing in-depth the nuances and information around the six legal copyrights.

If you are attending South By Southwest, please make certain to join them for a free two and half hour seminar on:
The Six Legal Copyrights:
Friday March 18
2:00 – 4:30 PM
Room 8 (Third Floor)
Austin Convention Center
  
Artists today not only can take the power and control into their own hands, but they must do so.  This does not mean that you must go it alone; there are resources that you can avail yourself of in order to create and succeed on your own terms.  It is our mission to continue to work with you to further transform the industry and provides these resources.  Only by setting it free can the industry grow to its full potential. 

Stay tuned for the next transformation…Pro Music Records & Entertainment Media

Casting Call-Project Name: Antoine Carter “World Premiere” Music Video

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Pro Music Records & Entertainment Media is interested in meeting with you for the opportunity to be the lead role for an up & coming Music Video for The Rising R&B Sensation “Antoine Carter” on our Independent Record Label. We are a very strong and reputable video/music production company who is looking to cast women from the age of 18 to 35 for various music videos as well as promotional work.  Check out our video services here.
General Information
Project Name: Antoine Carter “Wear Me Out” Music Video
Project Type: Music Video
Union Status: Non-Union
Role: Girlfriend
Project Rate: Compensation will be discussed once talent is selected upon experience.
Submissions Due By: 1/31/2011
Audition Information
Audition Dates: 1/31/2011
Audition Location: The Grande (Theatre Room)
4735 Sepulveda Blvd. Next to Sherman Oaks Galleria
Sherman Oaks CA 91403
Callback Information
Callback Dates: 02/01/2011
Callback Location: The Grande (Theatre Room)
4735 Sepulveda Blvd. Next to Sherman Oaks Galleria
Sherman Oaks CA 91403
 
Shoot Information
Shoot Dates: 02/11/2011, 02/12/2011
Shoot Times: 3:00pm-3:00am
Shoot Note: Wardrobe, meals, a copy of video and credit will be provided. **Note** No Nudity, but revealing attire will be required.
Shoot Location:  Santa Clarita, CA (San Fernando Valley Region)
Casting Information
Casting Company: Pro Music Records & Entertainment Media
Casting Director: Fiona Chavers
Casting Director Location: San Fernando Valley
Phone: (818) 971-9301
E-mail: info@promusicrecords.com

Project Notes
Pro Music Records is taking online submissions. Please include 2 photos, name and number as well as a portfolio if you have one. Send submission to: info@promusicrecords.com
Please submit your info( email, bio etc) a.s.a.p as roles will be filled swiftly on a first submitted first priority basis. 
If any of this applies to you and you think you’ve got that something special quality that adds and doesn’t take away from a potentially huge project submit your info and we’ll get back to you as swift as possible. Good day to you!
Pro Music Records & Ent. Media
Sherman Oaks, CA 91423
T: (818) 971-9301
www.promusicrecords.com

Big Box Retail-Physical CD Distribution is dead!!

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By “Big Box Retail” (BBR), we’re really only referring to 2 companies: Walmart and Best Buy. Yes, that’s what the music industry has come to in 2010: Down to just 2 major companies, neither of which specialize in music (nor much care, as CDs are a low-margin item anyway), selling the CDs that used to make record companies, and some artists, very rich…..

Decades ago, Big Box Retail sold music as an afterthought, a loss-leader to get customers in the door and steer them towards bigger ticket items like stereo systems, TV’s, or a washer and dryer. By leveraging those big-ticket items, they discounted the CD to bare-bones pricing. This strategy, combined with the overall decline in CD sales, helped to drive big-chain record stores like Virgin, Tower, and Warehouse music out of business in just a few short years. Now, with no CD stores left to compete against except themselves, BBR are still using CDs as a loss leader, AND they’ve begun shrinking the shelf space that was once reserved for music. The simple formula of Major Record Label to Retail Record Store has all but collapsed.

This new reality has not escaped many veteran artists now compelled to bypass record labels completely and sell directly to Big Box. Artists like AC/DC, The Police, and others have offered their CDs exclusively to Walmart and Best Buy, respectively. And why not? With the state of the physical CD retail business, there is only one other possibility (okay, two if you count Target) outside of the “exclusive” retailer anyway. These artists have opted to skip the label, skip the record distributor, and simply ship CDs direct to one Big Box Retailer hub. Yet another nail in the major record label coffin…

So what’s it mean for music? Unfortunately for indie and emerging artists, this new landscape in retail does not add up to a favorable situation. Most indies don’t have the pull to approach BBR directly. And, with fewer outlets to sell a CD, and less labels and distributors to approach, selling a physical CD at a retail store has become that much more difficult. Despite all this, physical CDs still make up the 60% of music sold in the U.S., and although this percentage is falling every year, there are still a good number of consumers who will always prefer walking in a store to buy the CD. So does this mean in a couple more years you won’t be able to get the CD anywhere? Nah, don’t worry, guess which online retailer will fill this void? It’s www.thegoodzonline.com who will compete with the likes of Itunes.com and Amazon.com, whose tied with Walmart for overall sales (CD + digital) and right on the heels of Best Buy for CDs in the first half of 2010.

-Pro Music Records and Entertainment Media
www.promusicrecords.com

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