Dubstepforum.com

As someone working with Cargo, I have nothing but props and respect for them. Quality.

Completely off subject, but which format are you at Cargo selling the most

Digital or Physical?

not off the subject at all...

physical releases account for much the greater proportion of sales, but digital is growing all the time. different patterns are emerging for different types of music though. as far as dubstep & related style are concerned, digital releases are probably increasing in popularity at an above average rate - which is not to say that vinyl & cd sales in those genres are suffering as a result.

Which I like a lot, I've sent you some of our work.

Your thoughts on digital only labels ( purely due to costs )

For me, the hardest thing is promotion.
Having the right product isn't enough. (I know it helps)

Peace out..

didierbrigante wrote:
For me, the hardest thing is promotion.
Having the right product isn't enough. (I know it helps)

me too

interested to hear anything you have say on the subject of promo and getting stuff heard in the right way

i'm probably not the best person to comment on that. as i said in my original post, a distributor exists to sell, and as such their relationship to promo activity is after the fact. to put it another way, it is our job to capitalise upon the opportunities created by promo work, rather than do that work ourselves. if you want the inside track, speak to a promo agent (who will more than likely give you a quote for their services rather than tell you how to do it yourself!)

some distributors will offer an in-house promo service. cargo does not, and anything i might have to say on this subject can only be based on my own professsional experience under those circumstances. ask someone else and you'll get a different answer. although i worked for other distributors before taking up my current position, i've been with cargo nearly 15 years, and the music industry has changed radically in that time, so there's no point discussing today what might have been relevent in 1994.

all i can really usefully say about promo is that you should never assume that there is a direct correlation between positive publicity and increased sales, but it certainly can't hurt to put the time and effort into establishing a decent level of exposure for a track or artist. ultimately it comes down to spade work, and you can either do that yourself, or employ an agent to act on your behalf (on the understanding that they already have the right contacts with press, radio and clubs). either way, there's always an element of speculation involved, and like cautious gambler, you should never put down what you can't afford or aren't prepared to lose. your own time is free, but you'll have to use a lot (a LOT) of it. meanwhile, an agency's time is costly, and what you get for that investment may well turn out to be far removed from what you hoped for. you could end up several hundred pounds worse off just to find out that no one else thinks your track is as good as you do. no reviews? too bad... pay the invoice please.

on the other hand, if i told you how little direct effort had been put in to the promotion of some hugely succesful records, i doubt you'd believe me... serendpity has a big part to play, and if i ever work out how to put that in a bottle, i will fly you and several of your friends out to the majorcan lemon grove i will have bought on the proceeds and we'll continue this discussion over mas y mas estralla.

ok, i'm being facetious now. maybe, if any of the moderators are following this thread, there's an argument for opening up a dedicated area for artists, labels and distributors to share ideas on this and other subjects directly related to playing the release game. in the meantime, my own personal experience is that there is unfortunately no "how to" guide for promotion. the music business is rife with tales of killer tracks met with mass indifference, so be ready for some hard knocks.

i realise this is a very long answer to a very short question - believe me, there's plenty more where this came from.

didierbrigante - i got your note and i'll be back in touch (after sonar).

boomstix - hit me on the bass@cargo address if you want a more specific discussion.

anyone else - weigh in...

Cargo=quality distro...why? i was in a signed hardcore/math-rock band, and they managed to get our album in Tesco's (as well as other major music retailers)

thanks - there's a lemon grove invitiation with your name on too

Having got my head round

PPL/PRS/MCPS
barcodes & copyright then
digital aggregators

I really thought the promo would be the fun part......
Also your thought on digital only release's....

(I feel like a student, teach me master)

email sent, cheers for your tips so far.

i agree that it would be good to have somewhere to discuss the business side of things.

Got nothing but good things to say about Cargo - quality service, friendly geezers, its been a pleasure working with them.

Get involved.

Night Audio

big appreciation to everyone so far who's been on to put in a good word.