Eric Hill said:
:I'm not sure what makes the informality of club-centered whitelabel promo
:exchange any more desirable than a mailed record (except that maybe it
puts
:the labelmeister in friend/fan positioning, increasing the chances of
:playage ;-)
Actually, that's sort of what I was thinking. I think promos are fine,
as long as the people who get them are actually going to play them.
What I'm afraid of, though, is the all too common scenario where
a small label's scarce resources are wasted sending records to
somebody who's using this months stack of promos to
pay off his bar tab. Or my other favorite -- records that sit
around uncatalogued in a back room somewhere and never
get played. From a "value for promo dollar" standpoint,
I think you're better off handing that record to, say, Mixmaster
Morris or Claude Young than mailing it to KGRUNGE.
How does a label know which stations are worth the investment
(WCBN, WZBC!) and which aren't (too many CMJ charting
clones to mention...)?
: I don't think that servicing (what a
:wacky oral-sex metaphor) radio DJs who request this stuff imply that the
:labels will have to pester any other stations for exposure or build a
roster
:any longer than they make for the club DJs that they build promotional
:relationships with.
I just think that, the current economic model most small
electronic labels work under now (i.e. scrimp up enough
money to pay for mastering and pressing/duplication,
then hope the distributors pay you on time) doesn't
leave much room for frills like maintaining a mailing
list of radio stations to send free stuff to. Once again, I'd
rather see that money going to keep the records out
and available in the shops.
-d.w.