Full Article: September 13, 2001

Article: Wheelers and Dealers - Distribution is the final arduous step in getting records from bands to listeners (Part 3 in a 4 part series) by J. Caleb Mozzocco of the Columbus Alive

When Manda and The Marbles were finishing their second album, 2001's Seduction, they weren't ready to be quite as DIY as they were for 1999's Rock's Not Dead. The decision had more to do with the rigors of putting together CD packaging than it did with punk politics or rock 'n' roll ethics, however.

The trio of Columbus punk poppers copied, cut, folded and inserted the packaging material for all 500 copies of their debut album themselves, which amounted to a hell of a lot of work. And more work is something a band can do without when creating an album.



Once an album's been written, recorded, mixed, mastered and pressed, there's still more to be done-it's time for the band to make sure their work is heard, which means it's time to sell, sell, sell. Distribution is the final step in the process of getting music from the heads and hearts of musicians to the ears of listeners, and with this one more potentially arduous step in the recording process left to take, extra folding and jewel case stuffing is something many bands can do without.

The Stepford Five have distributed their own album once already with their 2000 debut Mesh, and they're gearing up to do it again with this fall's The Stepford Five and The Art of Self Defense.

As hard as recording the music can be, distribution can be just as hard for some artists. "Musicians don't all have the natural ability to wheel and deal," said Jon Chinn, guitarist/vocalist for Pretty Mighty Mighty and one half of Workbook Studio, where The Stepford Five have created both of their albums. "The type of personality it takes to make good music isn't generally the type it takes to make a deal."

Certain deals are easier to make than others, however. Like negotiating a CD sale with a fan at the merchandise table after your set.

Selling CDs at shows is probably the most effective way for a local band to get their records to their audience, and that's certainly the case with The Stepford Five, according to bassist Tim Minneci. "At shows your music has the most immediate impact," he said. "If someone liked what they just heard, they can just walk over and pick up a CD."

But rock bands, like prophets, are often without honor in their hometowns. If The Stepford Five can move one or two Meshes after a show in Columbus, it's considered an above-average night, while sales on the road are always much better.

"We'll play a show out of town, and there may only be 10 people there, but all 10 will buy a CD," Stepford Five vocalist/guitarist Keith Jenkins said. "We could play in front of a hundred people in Columbus, and no one will buy a CD."


Does familiarity breed contempt? Well, if not contempt, at least consumer apathy.

"It doesn't take long before everyone who comes to your shows has either already bought an album and they aren't going to buy another one, or aren't going to because they didn't want to buy one in the first place," Minneci said.

The Marbles have encountered the same phenomena. Hometown sales may be lackluster, but the band cleans up when they play for appreciative audiences at all-ages shows in under-entertained small towns.

The trio-bassist/vocalist Manda Marble, guitarist Joe Damage, and drummer Mark Slak-often take weekend-long tours of small Pennsylvania and New York towns like Meadville, Oil City, Jamestown and Warren, playing shows sometimes set up by teens at venues vastly different from the Columbus High Street bar circuit.

"We'll play township buildings and fire halls," Marble said, "and we always sell a lot of stuff, a lot more than at 21-and-over bars. I guess people at bars don't plan on buying music, while these kids plan on going there and buying things in these little towns where there's nowhere else to go and hear music."

Of course, selling CDs out of the back of your tour van or a suitcase in the back of the club, though effective, can be so 20th century. The advent of the Internet has changed the unloading of one's albums just like it's changed everything else. "The Internet has really fucked things up in a lot of ways, both good and bad," Chinn said.

Aside from obliterating the business plan bands needed to follow to be successful half a decade ago, the Internet has given every band a way to reach every potential fan in the world, and electronic access that equals that of the major labels.

"Our website takes up as much space as Warner Brothers'," Chinn said. "I tell [bands looking to record at Workbook], 'Don't even call me again until you have a website.'"

Homepages can serve as little merchandise tables in cyberspace, but local bands can also unload their albums on larger sites. In addition to dishing copies of Mesh from stepfordfive.com, The Stepford Five distribute albums on consignment through sites like CDNow.com, Amazon.com, and CDBaby.com. For an application fee and a small cut, the warehouse-type organization Orchard can hook bands up with

Amazon and CD Now, and CD Baby works similarly but features all independent bands.

Finally, there's your friendly neighborhood record store-"Your local record store can be your best friend, we learned," Minneci said-many of which carry the work of local musicians.

With various self-distribution avenues available, coupled with the scores of copies sent off for review or as demos (The Stepford Five mailed out about 200 copies of Mesh, on top of what they've sold), it's easy to avoid the situation all bands dread-filling their closets with 964 unsold copies of their album.

But just because a band gets rid of most of their discs doesn't mean they'll all be appreciated. "Our ultimate fear is that we'll go to somebody's house and find them using our album as a coaster," Minneci said.