Invest in Vinyl Collective/Suburban Home's Future

[magicbulletrecords]

Also, if a band is worried about a distro taking away money from their merch sales AT THEIR OWN SHOW, they should make better records and shirts, honestly. If your record rules, people will buy it no matter who's around.

And I'm say this from a band perspective...

[vinyljunkie]

I think it's a strange concept, because I've always felt 100% of the spare merch money in peoples' pockets at shows should go to the touring band, they need all the help they can get out there.

i'm kind of hesitant to set up at shows for this reason, but i think the instances where it actually ends up impacting touring bands merch sales are few and far between. especially if you're setting up at a show where you really like the band and can talk up the band and encourage anyone browsing through your distro to really pick up some of their stuff first/as well.

with that said, i very rarely set up the distro at shows unless i'm on tour with the band playing. but not really because i think it's the right thing to do. i actually think it's good for the scene to have this kind of thing going on. i should set up more often.

if someone likes the band, they are going to go to the bands table, and buy some merch. If someone doesnt like the band, kids arent going to rush to the merch table to buy their records/cds whether or not there is anything else set up for sale. Everytime i have set up at a show, i make sure to remove anything i carry from the bands playing, or labels there, or whatever, so as not to take those sales away, and i just refer them to the bands merch table (with the exceptions of times like when weekend nachos played, and i had their 7" in my box, and they were out. i asked them, and they said sure go ahead sell them all if you want, we dont have anymore. so i did)

Just because a band is on tour does not mean they deserve your money. That sort of attitude just makes touring bands EXPECT things, and shitty bands tour and complain the whole time when they dont recieve their expectations. You supported them by paying the entrance fee, now its up to them to entertain to get farther. If a band sucks, and they sell no CDs, thats the bands fault. perhaps they shouldnt have gone on tour, or done more advertising, played better music(?) etc.

[ihprstl]

Besides, if a band is worried about a distro taking away money from their merch sales AT THEIR OWN SHOW, they should make better records and shirts, honestly. If your record rules, people will buy it no matter who's around.

I think that's the key to all of this.

[mattisr1984]

i think its funny / sad how this thread has spiraled out of control into a discussion about whether or not people see distros being set up at shows and whether so-and-so has seen them or not. the only thing that can be said with any bit of certainty is that some do and some dont and thats about it.

a better discussion would be to talk about whether the initial ideas being proposed are worthwhile to you as a customer (in my opinion, they're not). if i had my vote, id rather see VC going back to be what they were when it was initially started. a webstore that sold records for a half way decent price (most of the time, though im not so sure as of late) with fair shipping prices and friendly / non-robotic customer service and to stop trying to compete w/ larger distros, licensing records from labels by and large that nobody cares about (at least not vinyl collectors), and to stop launching preorders months and months in advance for their own releases and others. youre just compounding your own debt.

[vinyljunkie]

whats sad about a discussion?

[Guest Admin]

i think its funny / sad how this thread has spiraled out of control into a discussion about whether or not people see distros being set up at shows and whether so-and-so has seen them or not. the only thing that can be said with any bit of certainty is that some do and some dont and thats about it.

a better discussion would be to talk about whether the initial ideas being proposed are worthwhile to you as a customer (in my opinion, they're not). if i had my vote, id rather see VC going back to be what they were when it was initially started. a webstore that sold records for a half way decent price (most of the time, though im not so sure as of late) with fair shipping prices and friendly / non-robotic customer service and to stop trying to compete w/ larger distros, licensing records from labels by and large that nobody cares about (at least not vinyl collectors), and to stop launching preorders months and months in advance for their own releases and others. youre just compounding your own debt.

matt, thanks for your suggestions and thanks everyone for theirs. The points you bring up are already ones I am working on. I think we are done carrying most major label titles as we can't offer a good price. I also plan to start posting pre-orders for records as we get them into production and know exactly when they will be turned around. thanks everyone for making this such a crazy thread.

[aarondanger]

Often times, the "touring band" wouldn't be out there (with people physically attending their shows) if it weren't for distros pushing their releases in person and of course in stores. A distro at a show serves the function of exposing real people (who actually leave their computers and go to shows) to bands and releases. So if a guy/gal who is already motivated to go to shows learns about a new band, guess who's most likely to be at said band's show when they roll around? It's a two-way street.

Besides, everyone knows the rule about distroing at a show: you don't put out stuff by the bands playing.

Yea I only distro at peoples shows who's records I carry fore this reason.

[redscare]

Bands aren't always too keen about selling someone else's shit. They're trying to get by themselves, and another band's merch can cut into their sales. I can totally understand that.

are you serious? any band not willing to help out a fellow labelmates band can eat a dick, and have their van blow all 4 tires......between every show. thats the shittiest attitude. after all, their label mates are out on the road helping support them by returning the favor and selling the releases.

how egomaniacal do you have to be to think that your music should be the only one there, and that you are above helping out your friends/labelmates/great independent music. if some kid doesnt like the band, they arent going to buy their LP. but maybe they like another band in the box. Not carrying some other bands LP isnt going to get some kid who thought the bands playing sucked to buy their merch anyway just cause of lack of options.

just the thought of some band pulling that rockstar attitude gets me angry.

Haha! Not only do you guys have the music industry all figured out, you're PISSED about it too! It's awesome. I dunno how long you've worked around touring bands, but I have quite a bit of experience, and I can tell you that bands NEED their merch sales to get by. There's no rockstar attitude involved in bands wanting to do the best they can in that department.

Don't flatter yourself or be too eager in awarding yourself punk points yet, Junior.

When I tour manage bands like The Lawrence Arms, Teenage Bottlerocket, or Cobra Skulls I DO sell the Red Scare shit on the road. But I do ask the bands first, out of courtesy. I can understand if other bands would object to it though, it's their show and they need to get by.

And another thing: lighten up. This "punk rock" shit is supposed to be fun.

[lokithelion]

I go to at least two basement shows at a well known southern punk house a month. I can count on one hand the number of times distros have been there. It aint that weird.

so not even bands that play the house have a distro with them? or their roadie/bassist doesnt run a label with some other titles?

Like I said, there have been a handful of times. It is much much much less common than you think man. Same goes for the house shows I've been to in ATL, Nashville, Knoxville, and a ton of other places.

[lokithelion]

I mean... what shows are you going to? Sure, if you're going to Gaslight Anthem and Poison the Well shows where the bands have managers, publicists, booking agents, and all that... well, they probably don't give a fuck about bringing distro items in with them and probably don't ever even think about it. And that's totally fine, but it's kind of more of a "concert" than a "show," if you dig. There's exceptions of course. I haven't been to an Isis show in years, but highly suspect Aaron still rolls with the latest HH stuff. And on and on.

But if you're going to shows where the bands are self-booked and the promoter isn't "_______ Productions" and it's not a Clear Channel venue, get ready to do some digging. I've played maybe 30-40 shows so far this year and they've all had distro presence ("distro presence" = more than just the bands playing's releases). Even "bigger" shows like Wolves in the Throne Room had me and dudes from Krallice bringing in other artists' records for our merch tables. Our show with Rorschach on Wednesday had all three bands bringing in other bands/labels' releases.

It's just where you come from and what you're into, I guess...

You also live in a heavily punk/hardcore area. Virgina is going to have more presence because people are used to it. People with less old scenes aren't going to have the same pull towards random diy distros setting up at shows.

[jimmythescumbag]

Distros in Tampa: sometimes based on the show (KOD, ADD, IFB, etc.)

VC ideas: heading in the right direction, just need tweaking to make sure that all parties involved are happy. I think the 3000 record prize is crazy cool, but like the idea/probability of maybe winning 100/500/1000 instead.

Also:

And another thing: lighten up. This "punk rock" shit is supposed to be fun.

[Guest kissthesharks]

I mean... what shows are you going to? Sure, if you're going to Gaslight Anthem and Poison the Well shows where the bands have managers, publicists, booking agents, and all that... well, they probably don't give a fuck about bringing distro items in with them and probably don't ever even think about it. And that's totally fine, but it's kind of more of a "concert" than a "show," if you dig. There's exceptions of course. I haven't been to an Isis show in years, but highly suspect Aaron still rolls with the latest HH stuff. And on and on.

But if you're going to shows where the bands are self-booked and the promoter isn't "_______ Productions" and it's not a Clear Channel venue, get ready to do some digging. I've played maybe 30-40 shows so far this year and they've all had distro presence ("distro presence" = more than just the bands playing's releases). Even "bigger" shows like Wolves in the Throne Room had me and dudes from Krallice bringing in other artists' records for our merch tables. Our show with Rorschach on Wednesday had all three bands bringing in other bands/labels' releases.

It's just where you come from and what you're into, I guess...

You also live in a heavily punk/hardcore area. Virgina is going to have more presence because people are used to it. People with less old scenes aren't going to have the same pull towards random diy distros setting up at shows.

This. I'm not copping out or anything, but I would love to set up a distro (always have) but I live in the Texas panhandle. Half of the people wouldn't have a turntable, half of them would be pissed that I don't have any Seether records. I would LOVE to get people into new music, but I live in a reallllly small-minded part of the country.

[redscare]

whats sad about a discussion?

I think Barney Frank said it best.

[swoopdog]

Hey I don't like when people are Jerks but Virgil if I gave you 10K up front (for all of the shares in VCFL) could I have some sort of control over what you put out?

Like I do enjoy about 40% of your releases so could I have my say in at least the decision to never release any of the bands that is probably causing you to be so much into debt to begin with.

A smart business decision could be never release a record by a band called Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground.

That isn't marketable.

[tylerrtv]

Instead of giving three-fucking-thousand records to one person, why not split that up hugely and give 100 people 30 records or something like that. tons more people benefitting, and each person has a decent load of records instead of a hugely unrealistically large amount.

[servo]

i just wanna say that any band who plays a show and is pissed that other people are there selling records of other independent bands isnt a band i would like to be a fan of

[whenslunchrecords]

this whole thread makes me sing this,

if i lived in a perfect world

i would spend my days lying in the sun

the party never ends in a perfect world

if your life has hit the skids

wave goodbye to the wife & kids

i'm ready to move into a perfect world

nacho cheese and anarchy

boy that sure sounds good to me

every kind of drug is free

in the new america

shoot your pistol in the air

celebrate a brand new year

living leisurely in a perfect world

everybody's drinking hams

good by all you straight edge bands

sit around and get a tan

in the new america

when i turn on my t.v.

nothing but pornography

no more rated "g" in a perfect world

strung out hookers everywhere

have a picnic feed the bears

now nobody even cares

in the new america

nothing in this worlds for free

cause everything belongs to me

no more green fees in a perfect world

[Guest]

If there's anything this thread has taught me, its this: Never do anything ever.

[servo]

I WAS WAITING FOR THIS TO TURN INTO A GUTTERMOUTH LYRICS THREAD

you know, what pisses me off more than anything is all these people who aren't exactly politically correct. like the other day, i was out walking my siberian-american huskies. and you know how canines are: they like to sniff everything, including each other's butts. so some guy walks up and he says, "get your dog's ass out of that other dog's nose!" so, i replied, "how dare you call them dogs! they're siberian-american huskies. that's like calling an african-american a black. or calling a mexican-american a mexican. or calling a homosexual a stupid faggot!" it pissed me off so much i got a nose ring, died my hair blue and moved to san francisco!

[fartmike]

it already did become a guttermouth lyrics thread...i was called an "Asshole"..."my mom's an asshole...mom, you asshole."

[riddle350]

Hey I don't like when people are Jerks but Virgil if I gave you 10K up front (for all of the shares in VCFL) could I have some sort of control over what you put out?

Like I do enjoy about 40% of your releases so could I have my say in at least the decision to never release any of the bands that is probably causing you to be so much into debt to begin with.

A smart business decision could be never release a record by a band called Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground.

That isn't marketable.

Which happens to be one of the best releases the label has ever put out.

[axlrose]

whats sad about a discussion?

I think Barney Frank said it best.

I'm a gay, left handed, Jew?

[redscare]

i just wanna say that any band who plays a show and is pissed that other people are there selling records of other independent bands isnt a band i would like to be a fan of

I don't think I have ever heard of any band that's ever gotten pissed. I just don't know if you would find lots of bands (especially the struggling bands we're talking about!) who would be so eager to do added work and cut into their own merch sales. Just curious, have you done much touring?

If a band wants to have their CDs sold at the Conservatory in Oklahoma City then they should get off their ass, book a show there, and sell your merch at the show. I'm all for punk unity, but don't be a cryass because other bands won't take your CDs with them.

[axlrose]

Out of curiosity, and I honestly don't know, do people who set up distros at shows have to pay either the venue or the bands to have that set up at the show (either up front or a cut)? I can see pros and cons of that but I really don't know

[servo]

yeah, ive done some touring. and its all been with dudes who are looking to get new people to hear their jams and make new friends and see new places. dudes who could give a fuck if they get $10 or $100 for a show. dudes that are stoked that their music has taken them outside of their hometown.