Donald Satz wrote:
>I thank Bill Hong for initiating this thread, although the news certainly
>is not good. Be it Tower, Universal, or Sony, these companies will go to
>any lengths to hide their inadequate managerial decisions. They almost
>sound like 'grifters'. Of course, they are only protecting themselves
>as best they can; however, that won't do folks like me any good.
>
>Whatever happened to ordering inventory and having to live with those
>ordering decisions? I suppose we would all like to have a year to pay our
>bills. Since utility bills go up in hot summer months, I should call my
>utility company and try to get a 365 day credit.
>
>Although I remain convinced that private enterprise is the best way to go,
>there is a lot of unsavory activity which takes place on a daily basis.
>I've never bought anything from Tower, but I'm not sure that the sources I
>do buy from are any better.
I have many questions about all of this myself. I believe that quite a few
years ago laws changed and a vendor could not deduct inventory at tax time.
While this may have not been the reason, there seems to be a fundamental
notion with vendors that if it doesn't sell in a month or so, send it
back...an approach I equate to grocery store marketing.
I would wager that the bulk of the popular music market would survive quite
well within such a context. Popular music is what pays the bills for these
vendors. However, even that market seems to be changing some, as now there
is really some history in popular music that even that genre has its fair
share of "classics." Some of it may need to stay on the shelf for awhile.
While the initial issue of disc can spark significant sales, I believe
that a vendor with an interest in selling classical music needs to keep a
substantial representation of the literature in stock and understand that
it needs to remain there for the long haul. That can mean a substantial,
non deductable investment for a dealer.
For my label, we send out product to the distributor and then hope they
will pay us when the product is sold. Sold, is of course, a relative
concept, as often times the vendor will return the product if it isn't
being sold quickly. So, that leaves the distributor having to second guess
on returns and the small labels, like mine, waiting a long time for some
cash. I have about a dozen issues to manufacture, but don't have the cash!
It seems to me that a solution would be for the distributor to take on the
role of vendor. One could have a central web page, say something like
classical.net, which already has pointers to the labels and distributors,
acting as a clearing house for orders. The distributors maintain some
inventory anywway. Their cost is space, as the product is there on
consignment.
I have wondered...and perhaps to some extent this already exists... but...
If one could convince all distributors to become vendors for the product
they carry and if there was some centrally maintained WEB site which
took its percentage of sales, one could have open access to whatever was
available, and do it at a reduced price to the consumer, and the little
guys, like me, might get paid every once and awhile.
For that matter the entire catalog process could be tied into it. My
dream scenario is, have a public access Opus catalog online. You click
on the selection you want to order and it points you to the distributor
who then ships out the order. One downside is that since you might end
up ordering from several different distributors, you might have increased
shipping and handling as each order might require shipping from each
different distributor. As it is now, each online dealer has its own
online catalog, while Opus seems to be struggling to survive.
Of course that might put all of the stores out of business, but they seem
to be self destructing anyway. It tooks MONTHS for our local Tower and
Wherehouse to get our product in the store. They both sold out in a week
and now tell us that they are having trouble with our distributor...oh
well.
Just my two cents...well maybe my 99 cents.
Karl
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