VC Cooperative Label Details,Buy in date announced

[mclz]

i'm in on buying a share, but if i don't like the release and sell it for cash, sorry for being a dick in advance

[andrews]

i'm in on buying a share, but if i don't like the release and sell it for cash, sorry for being a dick in advance

I'm hoping I like a release enough not to do this.

[cbbrew22]

I'm definitely going to buy in, its a great idea and even if its not a release i'm hoping for it will still be a nice addition to my collection and it'll be cool to know I'm a part of VC history

[rafter242]

Not charging for shipping would KILL this project. Think about it. 220 LPs shipped worldwide. Even with an average cost of say $5 in postage and supplies (mailing box, labels etc). x 220 is $1,100 per album. $4,400 for our 1st 4 pressings and near zero to rollover into more albums.

Please think about this. Who would gripe about paying reasonable shipping to get a free album? Or combine it with another LP.

This will be OUR money and I think we would all like to see it last.

Oh yeah, postage rates are going up next month...

[bigmonkey]

Wow, reading this thread was a fun way to spend an hour at work. I'm really excited about this idea just because it hasn't been tried before and I don't really care if my favorite record ever gets pressed. Virgil's a pretty amazing dude to put this out here and even more so to address all the concerns that have been brought up by people who say its a terrible idea (I have a feeling those people are still going to buy a share though, since they know they can sell it, the records and the share, later, and there's a chance this is going to be awesome).

Looking ahead, like six months to a year ahead, if this goes well, there could always be a second label. Sell another 100-200 shares and start it up again with a whole new group. Hell, in time there might even be a cooperative euro disco death metal label. Which actually sounds kind of awesome.

[flood]

or we could ship them 2 at a time.

[flood]

actually... virgil you should look into bulk mailing rates as well... i know they offer them over a certain # of same size packages.... might be able to do even better than media mail

[Guest Admin]

or we could ship them 2 at a time.

I am thinking we will ship them 2 at a time. most will be in the u.s. by media mail and I have budgeted for this. We should be ok. I might throw out that if anyone wants to place an order when these ship, that obviously will help with shipping costs. thanks for the concern guys.

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

So for the voting, will this be done by email, or is there a poll that will be created, or how are you planning on gathering the information of the shareholders? I dont think this was asked? I for one am totally against using a message board to place votes as it is really easy to skip over someones comments or input.

[rtw88]

So for the voting, will this be done by email, or is there a poll that will be created, or how are you planning on gathering the information of the shareholders? I dont think this was asked? I for one am totally against using a message board to place votes as it is really easy to skip over someones comments or input.

Each shareholder is assigned a board member, with each board member having 10 people assigned to them, and you give your vote to them. That way instead of Virgil having to keep track of 100 people, he only keeps track of 10 people, as far as I understand it.

[skumbucket]

personally i find myself placing at least one order every two weeks so i think there's definitely some avenue to assist with shipping.

[thesupervillain]

I've already stated in this thread that I am completely on board with this, but I have a few observations/suggestions/questions.

1) Since a record label is a business, the goal is going to be turning a profit so we can get more records pressed. Therefore, I think what albums are chosen for the first two or three releases is going to be crucial in deciding the fate of the label. If our first release is something that very few people are going to want, it's going to take a long time to sell... if it does at all. I know that sounds obvious, but I still think it needs to be said. It's sort of silly for people to be suggesting the album they've always wanted on vinyl for the first release. I would be completely happy with an album that I don't even like and will never listen to as the first release, as long as I was confident that other people will like & buy it, because that opens up more opportunities to get a record I will like somewhere down the line. I would love to see the first two Moneen albums on vinyl, but how quickly are we gonna sell 700 copies of those albums? I don't know. I think that is something that should be discussed with every release.

2) At first I was pretty happy about getting the releases shipped to me for free, but someone posted a few pages back about their estimations on shipping costs (sorry to that poster, i seem to not be able to find the post right now to give you credit) and it got me a little worried. It does seem like it would end up getting fairly expensive. I would hate for this whole thing to go under because Virgil promised free shipping to everyone and he didn't want to go back on that and piss people off. I totally wouldn't mind paying $2-$5 extra in shipping for every 2 releases shipped together. Just a suggestion, and I think it's something else that should be discussed in a little more detail.

3) This is more of a question for Virgil. How long are you going to give everyone a shot at buying in before you let people buy more than one share. I was thinking about buying 3 or 4 until I saw that you were limiting it to one per person. (Which I totally agree with by the way) I just want to see this get off the ground, and although I can't really see it happening, it would be a shame to wait a month for all of the shares to sell out since that would delay getting the releases in our hands that much longer.

If you agree or think I'm a complete asshole, I'd like to hear about it. More discussion is never a bad thing.

[kurtmanner]

I can't wait to start bashing other candidates in my campaign for Start Here to be pressed. This could get nasty.

OneDaySavior is already in the process of pressing it...

Woah, I guess I missed when this was said. That is awesome. Thanks for the heads up!

[cbbrew22]

^ ^ ^

I totally agree

[skumbucket]

I would love to see the first two Moneen albums on vinyl, but how quickly are we gonna sell 700 copies of those albums? I don't know. I think that is something that should be discussed with every release.

i may have misinterpreted things, but i think part of the motivation behind virgil choosing the board members was that they would have a good barometer of how some things would sell. i could be wrong, but...

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

So for the voting, will this be done by email, or is there a poll that will be created, or how are you planning on gathering the information of the shareholders? I dont think this was asked? I for one am totally against using a message board to place votes as it is really easy to skip over someones comments or input.

Each shareholder is assigned a board member, with each board member having 10 people assigned to them, and you give your vote to them. That way instead of Virgil having to keep track of 100 people, he only keeps track of 10 people, as far as I understand it.

my question was HOW were those board members going to gather the votes from their designated shareholders. does each board member set up their own method to gather the information, or will there be one, universal method that everyone must use?

[motorbike]

i think everyone chill out, i think virgil has enough experience to think things through a bit. how long has this "label" been in talks now?

[Guest Admin]

So for the voting, will this be done by email, or is there a poll that will be created, or how are you planning on gathering the information of the shareholders? I dont think this was asked? I for one am totally against using a message board to place votes as it is really easy to skip over someones comments or input.

the above is true, but we will be setting up an independent place where you can place your votes. All of the nominated releases will be compiled by the board members and will be put on a site where you can vote your top 3, your #1 choice gets 3 points, #2 gets 2 points, and #3 gets 1 point. thanks.

Each shareholder is assigned a board member, with each board member having 10 people assigned to them, and you give your vote to them. That way instead of Virgil having to keep track of 100 people, he only keeps track of 10 people, as far as I understand it.

[Guest Admin]

I feel that if 210 people are voting on the nominated releases, the consensus will surely pick records that will fair well in retail. Also, future records will depend on the sales of current records. If we have 210 people posting myspace bulletins, blog posts, emails, and what not, I don't see a problem selling through a pressing. Plus, I would be willing to bet that some of the shareholders are likely to buy the 2nd color if it is a record they like. Also understand that we are not relying on VC.com only. We will be selling this to distributors all over the world. I think we should be ok.

On the topic of shipping, I think even if we ship regular media mail and air mail, I think we should be ok. I will look into bulk mail prices though. And if we send an email saying add something to your cooperative label release by placing an order, I am sure some will do that, too. I think we should be ok.

The board members will help facilitate communication with the shareholders and we will adopt a universal format to accept and compile nominations. All of the nominations will be compiled and we will set up an independent site where people will vote on the releases.

[ronniethebear]

I don't know if this has been touched on yet, but would there be additional pressings if the first sold quickly enough and there is demand for more?

[counterfiction]

^ i would assume that there would be second pressings. most likely voted upon by the collective but the members would still only retain their one copy of the first pressing.

[adamlikesmusic]

^ i would assume that there would be second pressings. most likely voted upon by the collective but the members would still only retain their one copy of the first pressing.

Why would they only have the one first press copy? A new press is the same as a new record. It still costs money. Why don't the shareholders deserve their part?

[thesupervillain]

^ i would assume that there would be second pressings. most likely voted upon by the collective but the members would still only retain their one copy of the first pressing.

Why would they only have the one first press copy? A new press is the same as a new record. It still costs money. Why don't the shareholders deserve their part?

I sort of agree with both of you guys. Maybe let the shareholders opt out of any subsequent pressings if they choose to. We're bound to get releases that not everyone would want, but if we start repressing stuff, people might end up with two or three different pressings of a record they don't want.

Personally I would rather my second and third pressings be put up for sale to raise more money. Unless of course it was a record I really, really wanted, which is why I think an optional opt out could be a good idea.

[counterfiction]

Why would they only have the one first press copy? A new press is the same as a new record. It still costs money. Why don't the shareholders deserve their part?

I sort of agree with both of you guys. Maybe let the shareholders opt out of any subsequent pressings if they choose to. We're bound to get releases that not everyone would want, but if we start repressing stuff, people might end up with two or three different pressings of a record they don't want.

Personally I would rather my second and third pressings be put up for sale to raise more money. Unless of course it was a record I really, really wanted, which is why I think an optional opt out could be a good idea.

That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking. My fault for not expressing it as well as you did.

[jhulud]

I can't wait to see how much the "discussions" will escalate once this thing rolls out full-on.