06 A List Of Mailorder Sources Of Progressive Music Introduction
Description
This article is from the Progressive Music FAQ, by Phil Kime(Philip@kime.org.uk) with numerous contributions by others.
06 A List Of Mailorder Sources Of Progressive Music Introduction
"Independent distribution is virtually dead. ...Most American stores
get nearly all their wares from six suppliers." (CBS, Warner, BMG,
Capitol-EMI, Polygram, and MCA.)
-from "Hit Men" by Frederic Dannen, Vintage Books 1991 (ISBN
0-679-73061-3)
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Introduction
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Despite the major labels dominating the music industry and
distribution, artists are still releasing their own product and some
small labels are dedicated to releasing new music and reissuing old
releases once considered rare, out of print and lost forever. Small
distributors are still around filling a need, helping us find those
releases that nobody else seems to carry. Even in large metropolitan
areas in this age it can be difficult to find a retail music outlet
that stocks even a small selection of progressive music. The same
is essentially true of mail order vendors. It is too difficult
and expensive for a small business to maintain a large inventory
on hand. Both retail and mail order vendors tend to have special
areas of interest, typically heavily influenced by the interests
of the employee(s) ordering the stock. With many small one-person
businesses in music mail order, the focus of musical interest
is often somewhat narrow and consequently it is hard to find any
one mail order source for everything if your musical tastes are
diverse. This listing of sources attempts to address this problem by
listing comments from customers of the various vendors to help obtain
a better idea of what they stock and what service can be expected.
If you are serious about tracking down hard to find music you will
end up having to turn to a variety of resources to find what you
want. This list is oriented to that perspective, with no intent to
imply that any one vendor is better than another.
Many of the vendors are small operations running out of people's
homes or on a modest budget. Please be considerate when calling
numbers with preferred calling hours listed as the owner might not
enjoy answering your calls during meals or while abed. It is probably
a good idea to send a SASE (Self-Addressed- Stamped-Envelope) or an
IRC (International Reply Coupon from the Post Office) if writing
overseas. It may not be necessary but I consider it a gesture of
goodwill and it can make the difference in whether you get a reply
or not. Catalog costs listed here may be inaccurate, or a catalog
may have a fee associated that is not noted here. No guarantee
is made for the accuracy of addresses, pricing or opinions listed
herein. Please help keep this up to date by informing of any changes
or corrections.
Please note that comments below are not attributable and are
certainly not the product of the FAQ maintainer in the main. They
have been collated from the comments of many, many people and largely
inserted verbatim. The FAQ maintainer accepts no responsibility for
either mode of expression or content in any entry. It is appropriate
to warn others if you have been seriously or repeatedly mistreated
by anyone listed here and to that end, there has been no attempt
to disguise fairly expressed negative comments.
As of early May, 1994, all author names have been removed from
their respective contributions. This was done mainly because it was
requested and since this file appears in the Gibraltar Encyclopedia
of Progressive Rock, negative comments may be construed as libel
(though they are meant to be constructive criticism).
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