Limited Edition CDs

[BraneFreeze]

Draeke --

 

First of all, thanks for all the great music you've put out the last few years. I really appreciate the hard work and dedication needed to pull that off.

 

Now my questions. I've noticed that Beatspace uses Bandcamp for digital distribution of DAT Records. Does that mean that DAT is unable to set up a separate Bandcamp account to function as the "back office" for your own DAT online store? I've always thought that labels and producers get a pretty fair deal when they work directly with Bandcamp. Does Beatspace involvement negate that advantage? Do you have any input regarding Beatspace pricing (because I think their digital prices are out of line)?

 

 

[Anoebis]

Some very interesting things were said here!

Lets start with the start... The "limited" editions-idea. The Suntrip limited editions were explained well in the interview... So I guess that is clear. The aim is not to fuck people who are too slow... In our case it is just music which is certain to sell only "limited" I'm sure we won't sell out easily our Limited prints, so don't think you have to buy immediate or you are "too late"
All other Suntrip cds are not limited. And this means, if there is a lot of demand for "out of stock" cds, we reprint them! Like this we reprinted almost all 10 first Suntrip cds.

I, personally, don't like the "limited" idea when you have a release that will sell A LOT. For instance, Mind Rewind, you should print enough copies. Many people pay now 100€ and more for a cd, which could be easily reprinted... But thats personal of course

The download vs cd topic... As Federico explained clearly above, downloads are only a small income for labels... For sure in the goa scene! Which means, ordering CD's - downloads directly from the label, or Suntrip shop, is much better as the profit factor is indeed bigger. Without our Suntrip shop, Suntrip was probably a corpse now!

As for bancamp, we are thinking of entering it too, but indeed, weird enough Beatspace is offering D5 there, weird, we will investigate!

[BraneFreeze]

Beatspace sells many labels through Bandcamp:

 

http://bandcamp.com/search?q=beatspace

 

http://beatspace-suntrip.bandcamp.com/

 

Is it possible that some labels aren't aware of this? Does Beatspace pay the labels as fast as Bandcamp pays Beatspace?

[BraneFreeze]

The Beatspace + Bandcamp combo probably also involves two sets of distribution fees. Maybe that's why the B + B album prices are so high.

[Padmapani]

on the topic of digital vs cd release, we have had this thread/poll.

considering how large of a percentage of potential buyers of goa trance are here on psynews, i think it's only logical for labels to sell cds.

[BraneFreeze]

Some people want CDs. Some people prefer (high quality) digital. Just provide both options at a reasonable price. After all, the incremental cost to provide digital is tiny compared to CDs.

[radi6404]

For me it does not matter what the format is if the price is reasonable, but I prefer digital to download. However I would buy both options if they can be bought with paypal, it is easy to buy things with paypal so the shop where I buy the stuff should have paypal.

[draeke]

Regarding the subject of Beatspace: I do have a signed contract with them and I know they are selling my releases through Bandcamp, but the thing is they have somehow a name and a wider audience that I would have if I were to open a Bandcamp myself and I think that my online shop can be my bandcamp, I would feel I would simply duplicate what I offer on my online shop if I were on bandcamp isn't it? And if Beatspace is not selling a lot on Bandcamp, probably I won't as well.

 

But maybe it is worth a shot and I should end my relationship with Beatspace and be the sole owner of my own releases over there. They obviously get a % of the sale and I haven't cashed in anything from them yet although I know I may have a small credit from their sales. I will see what to do next.

 

@BraneFreeze: Thanks for the nice words, I'm doing my best

 

@radi6404: I offer payments throgh paypal if you are interested in official digital from my label, cheers!

[radi6404]

Depends, if you have the music I am looking for I am interested, if not I am not intrerested.

[masen023]

I will never stop buying Cd´s. I usually buy straight from the labels... 9/10 times. I never buy digital (only when ther´s no other option)

 

If i want digital... i´ll rip it myself!

 

Nothing beats... having a Cd in the hand (Vinyl excluded)

 

Keep it up labels... pressing Cd

[Richpa]

Depends, if you have the music I am looking for I am interested, if not I am not intrerested.

Logic.

 

He got some stuff from Etnica/Pleiadians guys called Crop Circles, you might fell in love with their stuff aswell. Great Goa for mountaineering

[Goa-Head]

@36 my CD buying habit is going from obsession to ultra-obsession

When they stop releasing new music on CD but only digitally I'll have to deal with it.

[franki]

I like the idea of more fully supporting artists by buying from their own site or bandcamp / label sites and I'm doing it more & more, but there are two drawbacks to this the way I see it:

 

Firstly it's not easy to find the releases, unless you search for the artist, (I only found out that Whrikk had released a limited CD, by stumbling across a photo on Facebook by accident today,) but I like so many, in different genres of psy, that I don't have the time to check each one individually for new CDs.

The big advantage of Arabesque, Beatspace & Psyshop is that all the new releases are there for me to peruse and order several at a time when they appear on the listings.

 

Secondly, I'm not keen on sending payments to individuals all over the globe that I don't know, with no history of reliable trading and it's far more troublesome e-mailing payments to several parties and then keeping track of all your orders when you buy a lot of music every month.

 

That said, If this is the only viable way for some artists to afford to release CDs, I'm all for it if the only other option is download only!

I'm fully in support of Suntrip's idea of limited runs sold through the label shop only, if it means I can get my hands on more albums in a physical format. I've certainly bought the InnerSpace & Dimension 5 limited editions.

[Master Lu Bu]

I love cds. I love collecting them and i like to look at the collection. If my house was burning down the only thing on my mind is getting out those top shelf CDs. Burning my body = temporary. Burning the CDs = permanent.

[Ormion]

I will never stop buying Cd´s. I usually buy straight from the labels... 9/10 times. I never buy digital (only when ther´s no other option)

 

If i want digital... i´ll rip it myself!

 

Nothing beats... having a Cd in the hand (Vinyl excluded)

 

Keep it up labels... pressing Cd

 

He speaks the truth!

 

Personally i'm not a fan of the 'minimalistic' collection future. Everything is digital. Music, movies, books, video games, comics. You step in a room and see empty shelfs and full hd's. Screw that!

[StraydoG]

Wow, didnt expect this much out of the topic so fast. Thanks for your input, its interesting.

 

haha, if my house was burning I think I would be mostly upset by loosing my CDs. Although on the downloading issue I guess I would d/l a track if I really liked it but theres not enough good material for me to buy the CD.

 

Well, it makes me appreciate more now those certain CDs I hold that GOA labels are producing.

 

Also makes me wonder how Psyshop do it though, sending CDs to NZ so fast and cheaply, they must be losing money on that.

 

 

 

Off topic but was there actually a remastered issue of Chi-A.D. - Infinitism? (have to get if so!)

 

[digitoxin]

I want to continue on this subject by adding that once more I am pressing CDs, and that I am starting with singles because I know that probably there will be 500 people, all over the world, that would want to held a copy of the Crop Circles singles. At least I suspect that some 300 Goa collectors from Belgium would, and that is a reason good enough for me to continue pressing, even if probably in lower numbers from now on, as I want to have a CD for myself and for the people that still like/collect this format.

 

Digital distribution is a marasm: there are old band selling on their own self-made bandcamp and selling old music ranging from 5 to 15 eur per album and 1 to 3 eur per track, depending on who the artist is and many other factors. This is good and bad, good cause they offer long sold out music, maybe that was also only on vinyl and remastered, but also bad as you have to know about the bands and find their online store...

 

Then there are some aggregation sites like the one I use, called Record Union, that send the music to the typical online stores that are iTunes, Amazon, Juno and a few more but so far couldn't deliver my stuff to BeatPort. That, even if it is the most expensive shop out there, is probably the one that has the most audience and where I could hope to sell a bit more.

 

In any case the final buyer should know that the best way to support a label is to buy directly from their online shop, if they have one, and that is why i set up one on my label website. I know that shipping costs are high for CDs but postal rates in Europe are ridiculously high everywhere and in my case I really did put the costs from the post office plus the bubble box cost of 0.5 and I even halved the paypal surcharge to make it easier for final buyers. I honestly don't know how psyshop can offer the postal rates they offer and that is a big bummer for the final sales as everyone will compare different sites before finalizing a purchase.

 

The final buyer maybe thinks that is the same if he buys a cd from big distribution (amazon/beatspace/psyshop/etc) but the reality is that for us those shops are just a way to spread the music to a wider audience and for a CD sold on one of those big store the label ultimately sees only 3 to 4,5 eur, never anything more. That's why to survive we have to sell out the few copies we keep "at home" and sell on our online stores. If I were to sell all my CDs through big distribution only, DAT Records would have been extinct by now.

I must disagree with the last part of this posting. I never sold any Phototropic CD for less than 5€ to any shop. There are less takers but still it works, especially when i let them know that Phototropic CDs will never become any cheaper.

[draeke]

@digitoxin that's probably because you deal yourself (the label) directly with all the shops, DAT and Suntrip and many other labels pass through Arabesque and that's an intermediary. To have not to deal with the trouble of shipping cds to all the shops, anytime they want a refill, you need a distributor and be sure that if you use one, they have their cuts too. So I was speaking for who uses a distributor. Your case is certainly different then