Ok, You've pressed up your CD, promotions are in full effect, your distribution is on lock and you've pushed out enough units to make you either happy or embarrassingly humiliated and you can't understand why you Sound Scanned 2 units. At least your mom and sister bought one---everyone else just wanted a freebie (and they still never bumped it in their load!).
Start asking for a status 30 days before your contract states that you're supposed to be paid.
Insist that you don't get overlooked by Accounts Payable. Find out who processes checks. Know that person by name. Be nice, but stay firm and wear your game face.
Ask for Sound Scan two to four weeks before you are to get paid. You may not get it right away, so that's why I say start early.
Once you get the numbers make sure they have your correct address and principal for the check to be made to.
Give them up to two weeks to process your check.
That sounded good, but let's now look at it from the real world.
Most labels don't stick with one distributor for the life of the CD. They may feel that they are not being treated right or maybe that the distributor isn't moving enough units. Whatever the case may be, now we have two, three or more parties involved. When that happens you can kiss relying on Sound Scan good bye.
Distributors don't want to catch the next guys returns. So now you have to wait. And wait is what accounting loves for you to do. Your sales rep doesn't pay you for the CD's, the company does.
So now you're mad because your calls aren't being taken.....Wait, it's not that they're avoiding you, it's because you're calling 3-4 times a day. 3-4 times more than you were before it was pay day.
You tell yourself,"I'm going to fuck up such and such. It's funk on sight!" Hold your horses big guy. You're right, you deserve to be paid. But, with all the distributors for one release it's confusing as to who sold what and who's gonna catch the returns. You shot yourself in the foot before you even left the house.
My advice:
Stick with one distributor. Don't take your label to as many people that will have you. Don't spread your label so thin. The relationship between you and your distributor is a precarious one. You both need to feel that you have the upper hand, but only one of you is relying on the other for payment. Which one do you think you are?
Leverage:
Do you know what leverage is? You probably think you do, but 11 times out of 10 (1 extra because there's someone out there who 'knows-it all') labels don't understand what that means.
i.e.
You've found a place to call home and you have a couple of titles that are in the wings.
Leverage comes into play when it's time to get paid.
Time is almost up to get your money. That's usually the time you present your second release to your distributor. Well, your distributor wants your next release because they too can use that release for leverage against who owes them money.
Try to time your releases to go with payment terms.
Leverage is way more involved than what is here, but I wanted to give you some insight how this part of the machine works.
Gotta go for now..
Cuda
Start asking for a status 30 days before your contract states that you're supposed to be paid.
Insist that you don't get overlooked by Accounts Payable. Find out who processes checks. Know that person by name. Be nice, but stay firm and wear your game face.
Ask for Sound Scan two to four weeks before you are to get paid. You may not get it right away, so that's why I say start early.
Once you get the numbers make sure they have your correct address and principal for the check to be made to.
Give them up to two weeks to process your check.
That sounded good, but let's now look at it from the real world.
Most labels don't stick with one distributor for the life of the CD. They may feel that they are not being treated right or maybe that the distributor isn't moving enough units. Whatever the case may be, now we have two, three or more parties involved. When that happens you can kiss relying on Sound Scan good bye.
Distributors don't want to catch the next guys returns. So now you have to wait. And wait is what accounting loves for you to do. Your sales rep doesn't pay you for the CD's, the company does.
So now you're mad because your calls aren't being taken.....Wait, it's not that they're avoiding you, it's because you're calling 3-4 times a day. 3-4 times more than you were before it was pay day.
You tell yourself,"I'm going to fuck up such and such. It's funk on sight!" Hold your horses big guy. You're right, you deserve to be paid. But, with all the distributors for one release it's confusing as to who sold what and who's gonna catch the returns. You shot yourself in the foot before you even left the house.
My advice:
Stick with one distributor. Don't take your label to as many people that will have you. Don't spread your label so thin. The relationship between you and your distributor is a precarious one. You both need to feel that you have the upper hand, but only one of you is relying on the other for payment. Which one do you think you are?
Leverage:
Do you know what leverage is? You probably think you do, but 11 times out of 10 (1 extra because there's someone out there who 'knows-it all') labels don't understand what that means.
i.e.
You've found a place to call home and you have a couple of titles that are in the wings.
Leverage comes into play when it's time to get paid.
Time is almost up to get your money. That's usually the time you present your second release to your distributor. Well, your distributor wants your next release because they too can use that release for leverage against who owes them money.
Try to time your releases to go with payment terms.
Leverage is way more involved than what is here, but I wanted to give you some insight how this part of the machine works.
Gotta go for now..
Cuda
