State of the Arts: Distribution
by Euan Kerr
Minnesota Public Radio
April 19, 2002

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It's been argued modern technology is helping artists. Computers make it quicker and easier to write songs, and plays, to make films, and publish books. New materials make it easier to make pictures, sculpt, and weave.

But new technology, and the realities of the modern world can also make things harder. In this month's installment of our State of the Arts series, Word of Mouth's Euan Kerr looks at the next step in the creative process: getting work out to an audience. He found even with the best of work, success can depend on one thing: good distribution.

A few months back Ham and Angst, a Twin Cities based band, released its debut CD, K-Suey Radio.

It was the culmination of almost two years of work, most of it done by band members themselves. Not only did they write the music and mix the disk, they did the artwork too: choosing the graphics, designing the cover. Then they sent the package off to the manufacturer. A thousand bucks got them a thousand CD's.

Three months later, sitting in the Saint Paul classroom where he does his dayjob as a third grade teacher, Ham and Angst frontman John Porter muses about the possibilities.

"They make great coasters, and great Christmas and birthday presents, and Channukah gifts."

Porter sings and plays trombone in the band. He says the band has been learning a great deal about distribution. The band tries to sell CDs at its gigs. But the members also went the route followed by a lot of small bands, visiting the handful of local stores prepared to take a dozen or so CDs on consignment.

"And they will hold them for about four months or so and then if nothing sells then they will give them back to you," Porter says. "Well I've never been contacted, and I haven't got a check either so I have no idea what is going on, but they are out there and that's all we really care about." Porter says Ham and Angst is using the disk to get gigs, and build a fan base. The band members don't expect to retire on the profits. Ultimately if K-Suey Radio breaks even they'll be happy.

While musicians are most commonly seen as the people facing problems breaking into the public consciousness, it's an issue common to almost every artistic discipline. Whether you are a musician, a painter, a potter, a photographer, a playwright, a composer, or a filmmaker, there is no guaranteed audience. Some, like movie historian Douglas Gummery from the University of Maryland, argue that's probably as it should be.

"It's not disheartening, it's just more of a struggle," he says. "It's not easy to get a book published. It's not easy to get on television. It's not easy to become elected president. It's not easy to make a film and have a lot of people see it. It's easy to make a film: that's cheaper than it used to be and much easier. The problem is getting lots of people to see it."

The film example is perhaps most extreme. Gummery says a huge number of feature films made every year never get a distribution deal. These include films made by the big studios themselves, costing millions.

If you have ever taken a trip through a video store and found a movie you have never heard of before with a big name star, you could well have stumbled over an example of the "straight to video" phenomenon.

It's much worse for low budget independents. Many independent movies make it to the festival circuit, then a few showings on cable, then languish. For every "Blair Witch Project" shot on a shoe-string and making millions, there are hundreds of movies that vanish without trace.

Part of the equation is expense. It costs a lot to put out a film. It costs a lot to put on a play, or to hire an orchestra just to play, much less record a new composition. There is real competition for gallery space.

But there is a new issue, at least in some areas. Technology has made it easier for people to produce all sorts of things, and now there is a glut of material. Just ask Red House Record's Bob Feldman.

"Just because you have a great CD, and it can be a great CD," he says, "Doesn't mean you are going to get the kind of attention that is going to help that CD see the light of day, and find that fan and find that audience, and find its way into retail. With more than ten thousand CDs coming out a year now, and there are much more than that with completely independent CDs, how do people even know what to look for?"

Bob Feldman began his label driving around record stores selling his artist's albums out of the trunk of his car. He's used his St. Paul based label to aggressively promote new folk music for close to two decades. Yes, he says, it is easier to make a CD nowadays, but thereby lies a problem. There is a glut of music on the market. Feldman says it's hard for the music lover to try to make an informed decision about buying music. And even though he runs a well-known label, just like the guys in Ham and Angst, Bob Feldman is selling CDs on a consignment basis.

"You don't get paid until it's sold," he says. "Like they say until someone buys it, takes it home and doesn't take it back. That's when you get paid and sometimes it's a long time after that."

Feldman says the new realities have shaped his business. Looking at the bottom line, 2001 was one of the best years ever for Red House, but he says that was because the label was very cautious about what it released. He says he is taking fewer risks on new artists, and that takes a lot of the fun out of the business.

He mourns the loss of the independent record retailers with knowledgeable staff. He says many of them have lost out to the big chains. He says he is frustrated by the chains that demand that he pay so called slotting fees, essentially renting space on their shelves to sell his product. He says even after paying hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars to place an album in a store, there is no guarantee he won't just get a lot of them returned.

"There are chains and stores that are making more money off slotting fees than selling records," he says. "And that's the thing that is killing us as labels. And we face it every day, and you have to learn to say no, and at the same time you have to play ball. And you have to find the people you can work with where it can make economic sense, but what you are doing is giving a very huge discount on your albums."

Feldman says even the Internet has been a double-edged sword for the music business. Yes, it's a way of getting information out to fans. It's also a way for people to get their music heard through MP3's. But file sharing, and music selling has become a real problem. Feldman sends out promotional copies of albums months in advance.

"It's definitely hurting when you send out promotional copies and you find them on E-Bay two days later," he says. "Or you find people downloading music that isn't even out yet."

Feldman says many people don't realize some artists, even some who are world famous, may only sell a few thousand discs. He says they are hurt by downloads.

But Feldman does see hope. He says he would never discourage anyone from making a disc. He says it's still all about building an audience. He says if an artist can gain a following in one city, that artist can do the same in another town. And people are getting smarter about using the Internet, sending targeted e-mails to people in certain geographic areas when a musician is playing nearby.

For Ham and Angst's John Porter, releasing the first disk has been a real learning experience. Next time he says they'll know how to do it better. In the meantime he says he is just enjoying meeting complete strangers who have heard his disc.

"But you know that's what happens," he says. "That's the funny thing that's with all kinds of art. It just goes out there and you never know where it might end up."