What are vinyl sales like these days?

[Analog.1]

Techno Sales?

Minimal Tech Sales?

House Sales?

Drum n Bass Sales?


Is it still possible to press up 500 white labels and do a sale or return thing at record shops and maybe break even? or is that passed the bucked these days?

[The Overfiend]

Great question.

[gumpy green]

i recon if the tunes were good enuf then defo........

mind you some kiddies do better out of trash music.

but IMO i recon speaking with the right shops would sort ya....maybe take a little longer to get them all sold than yrs ago but i recon you could do it.....

[eyeswithoutaface]

depends on the shops. I wouldnt expect your local HMV to take a few hundred of you, try the independant record stores and even any local second hand record store's but even then they are probably only likely to take a few, especially if you dont have much of a following in the local scene, in the sense that if no one knows who you are then probably you might not actually shift the whole 500 units, and even if you are a local talent then even 500 may not shift, it's too unpredictable to say these days. I know established artists who fail to shift over 500 unit's on well established labels, so maybe look at a smaller run if thats possible? and if you are going to do it i wouldnt expect to break even, tell yourself your gonna run at a loss and then if you do break even its a bonus

[gumpy green]

and defo put it up on forums like this cos im one who luvs to get shit that aint in shops etc...

i like getting tunes from folks doing it like this....not many have em so keeps yer collection a bit more unique.

[fresh_an_funky_design]

if your selling themself then i highly doubt u can sell 500, not unless u can shift some abroad

[DJAmok]

if you sell them yourself your only bet is to go to all onlineshops you can find and make em a good offer. then once a few of them list it and the record sells, try and go to the distributors.

still, it's a hell of a job to carry all them record boxes to the postal office yourself.

[Lujo]

My town has no record shop :)
What else to say...Complete techno scene is disaster
Closest shop that realy has quality products is 250km away in Slovenia.
Internet buying is only option in my country.
Pretty sad :cry:

[fresh_an_funky_design]

it'd be easier to send your tunes off to an established label, if there good enough some1 will release them. you'll prob get your music to a wider audience as well

[Dustin Zahn]

You can try and sell your stock to certain one-stops. I can't think of the european ones off hand, but I know "watts" for instance in USA, may take a box of 25-50 if they think they can sell it, and you wouldn't have to have an exclusive contract. As for the numbers, its all flucuating a great deal lately. I can't speak for house or dnb at the moment. But, it seems its really hard to sell techno these days. Most of the reliable harder techno names are having troubles pushing 800 copies at the moment.

If you're a new hard techno label or a new producer on a mediocre hard techno label, I wouldn't expect the release to do much more than 250-450 copies these days. For scrhanz hard type techno, I've heard it is doing decent. Those really horrible bootlegs do upwards of 5,000 copies I'm told. I don't get into that stuff at all so I don't know much about it, and can't confirm.

Minimal stuff can do fairly well lately. I know some labels who have just started and repressed their first couple releases. Selling about 600-700 each at least so far and its growing. Though a fairly reasonable minimal record should be able to do 1,500-2,000 and the obviously big shit like Border Community, Pokerflat, Luciano, etc. I'm sure does a lot better. Those numbers could be fairly inaccurate but I'd say its a good guess.

In the end like the say, good music sells and bad music doesn't. A name will still help the music sell as well (though maybe not as much as it used to).

My advice is unless you have a lot of money you don't mind losing, don't start a label. Focus on sending stuff elsewhere. Build up the profile, and then you'll have more security with your name when you do start a label.

[eyeswithoutaface]

the last thing techno needs right now is more labels, and it's been like that for a while i think. Lets's be honest, if your tracks are good enough then someone will pick them up eventually, its not the hardest thing in the world to achieve if you really push yourself

the big mistake is every newcomer thinking they need their own label and then they end up bitter and with loss when it doesnt sell because they have'nt built up a solid profile before hand. It's not always the case, some labels appear and the music such quality that things happen from then on, but its rare i think at the moment

[BRADLEE]

You can try and sell your stock to certain one-stops. I can't think of the european ones off hand, but I know "watts" for instance in USA, may take a box of 25-50 if they think they can sell it, and you wouldn't have to have an exclusive contract.

I thought that watts closed already Dust???

[xfive]

Nah Watts is still around... I really don't know how tho as they never have anything in stock.

[Sir Real]

Those really horrible bootlegs do upwards of 5,000 copies I'm told.
Sometimes true, sad to say...


In the end like they say, good music sells and bad music doesn't.
Not true at all, sad to say (and make your mind up)...bad music very often sells a lot more than good music...which is exactly why those 'horrible bootlegs' sell so well, and also why people still make a living from churning out the same 'bassline house anthem' again and again and again. Until the public in general refines its musical palate somewhat that will never change (and it is mirrored in all musical genres, be it pop, rock, whatever...) The nature of making something commercial is that interesting elements get watered down or removed completely to make it more digestible and understandable to the average punter. Any artist should understand that if they want to retain their integrity (ie keep on writing interesting music, assuming that they were in the first place) they have to expect smaller sales. Of course, if the music is absolute rubbish then there is less of a chance of getting any sales in the first place, but it doesn't necessarliy work out that way...personality, charisma and bullshit go a VERY long way in this industry...how else would Pete Doherty (Babyshambles/Libertines) still be selling tickets for gigs?http://www.ananova.com/images/web/100679.jpg

[Miromiric]

bad music sells way better then something that we can actually even call music. it is not like this only in techno, it spreads across all genres.
dustin, you will get a serious ass spank for your bold statement from me. are you beefing yourself up for your new minimal label?

[The Divide]

The decline in sales across diff genres isnt as big as some people think. People are still buying bassline house and drum and bass is doing very well (although my mate who warmed up for pendulum tells me the majority of drum and bass dj's playing out are on CD).

[Dustin Zahn]

obviously cheese will sell first and best. What I meant is for instance, if you put out a cookie cutter drum track...its going to sell like shit. If you make a really impressive drum track that stands out from the rest, it should do better. Now, if the cookie cutter drum track is really cheesy, then of course it will sell well. The only way to win is to close up shop. :)

[dirty_bass]

Something monumentally bad has happened that will shock a lot of people, especially in the uk.
It really is a reflection of how bad things are.
I can`t say more as I think those involved will make announcements in their own way.

[victor]

Something monumentally bad has happened that will shock a lot of people, especially in the uk.
It really is a reflection of how bad things are.
I can`t say more as I think those involved will make announcements in their own way.


that's a big statement, nothings that bad.

give us a clue.

[Sir Real]

Something monumentally bad has happened that will shock a lot of people, especially in the uk.
It really is a reflection of how bad things are.
I can`t say more as I think those involved will make announcements in their own way.
Yeah come on, no teasing...

[Sunil]

Something monumentally bad has happened that will shock a lot of people, especially in the uk.
It really is a reflection of how bad things are.
I can`t say more as I think those involved will make announcements in their own way.

Oh shit, I think I know. Intec are going bust?
Please don't say it's true :(