[mplpost] Selling cds

[Nancy White]

Hi,
 I'm responding to Rick Whitelaw's post.
   Yes! He sold a lot of cd's at my Bloor Cinema gig. To people who didn't
buy MY cd's!!!! And I was renting the hall and sound equipment and buying
ice and snacks for backstage and doing p.r. and I even MADE MYSELF A DRESS.
Had a fabulous time -- partly because Rick's solo spot, and also a guest
spot by the amazing Chilean songwriter Marcelo Puente, and my daughters'
giving out the door prizes made the evening so festive -- but lost, if not
my shirt, at least a sock or two.
   So, I'm waiting on the day when Rick will do a concert and have me do a
guest spot. 
    The guest spot is definitely a nice thing and it does add sparkle to a
show - I think the audience feels it gets a little bargain, a free show, so
to speak.

    Thanks to Bill Usher for starting these threads. I wish I'd had this
advice available to me twenty years ago. I think now it's too late - I am
beyond redemption, careerwise  (oops, does anyone say "....wise" any more???
does anyone still wear a hat? ). But it's fun to read this stuff, even if it
makes me keep hitting my head and saying "doh".

bye for now,
nancy w.  
     




on 1/6/02 11:31 PM, Rick Whitelaw at rick@rickwhitelaw.com wrote:

> Hello to all,
> 
> I've been enjoying reading Bill Usher's postings and the responses
> they've generated. My experiences with selling cds are pretty feeble
> compared to most of the recording artists who've been replying (James Gordon
> for example). Two things come to mind: in the absence of touring, stocking
> record stores with four or five copies of a cd per store can be
> work-intensive and less than rewarding, especially since it's often done on
> consignment and each store must be accounted for seperately. A reasonable
> alternative is the Web. Of course, I doubt anything will ever surpass
> personal performances for generating cd sales. Shortly after I released my
> first and only cd, Nancy White asked me to play a guest spot in the first
> act of a concert of hers. I played a solo spot around halfway through the
> first act, and then stayed on stage for the next twenty minutes or so (I've
> played with Nancy for years). Well, much to my surprise, after spending the
> interval in the lobby greeting folks I ended up having a more profitable
> evening than I would have had playing the concert as a gig! (And of course,
> Nancy pays VERY VERY WELL!) Anyway, it was a good thing for everyone. Nancy
> had a guest for a half hour, I got to sell cds. I couldn't believe my good
> fortune!
> Second point, hopefully brief: A couple of years ago I was speaking to a
> friend who manages a fair-sized label in Canada and we were talking about
> the kind of artist he was looking to "sign". He explained that his company
> was looking for artists that had product available and were touring a lot.
> My reaction was "Why would they need you?" Now I know there are other
> reasons to work with a record company, but if an artist can make sure their
> product is available when they get to a date (carry it yourself maybe) and
> has the means of actually producing the product in the first place, the most
> important equation is: audience=cd buyers. Now that's distribution! Of
> course there are music stores that fall perfectly into the model of
> alternative or folk purveyors and they should not be ignored, but I see
> little point in competing with whoever the flavor of the week happens to be
> at HMV.
> I suppose one last point is in order. If you're carrying your own
> product it gets there when you get there. Many times I've arrived in a town
> where the record store (or the venue) is screaming for product that will
> eventually arrive a few days after the concert!
> 
> All the best,
> 
> Rick Whitelaw
> 
> 
> 
> ****************************************
> RICK WHITELAW
> 
> website     http://www.rickwhitelaw.com
> 
> email:      rick@rickwhitelaw.com
> info@rickwhitelaw.com
> 
> ****************************************
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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"Things don't improve with age. Look at your truck." Red Green


website:  www.nancy-white.com
management: Campbell Webster Entertainment
(902) 566-3346
email David Malahoff at <davem@isn.net>




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