more on The Music Piracy Myth

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Mary Shaw <mary.shaw () cs cmu edu>
Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2003 09:34:31 -0400
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] more on The Music Piracy Myth

Rich Kulawiec <rsk () gsp org> said,
> [1] Example: there are thousands of musicians with music to sell and no
> effective way to to do that without an online presence.  An open-source
> "music store" web site that could be customized and dropped onto any
> BSD/Linux/etc. server would at least get them on the air.  And even
> local/regional musicians, who currently have a relatively small audience,
> probably have *someone* in that audience who would be thrilled to help
> them out by setting up and running such a site.

There already is such a service.  It has global reach and wide name
recognition, and it puts small labels on a nearly-even footing with the big
names.

The service is amazon.com's "Advantage" program.  My experience with
publishing and selling my own books is that amazon.com gets marketing
information from me, includes the books in the bookstore, keeps a few copies
in inventory, and does fulfillment for me.  I also do local marketing and
fulfillment myself, and it takes a lot of time.

They take the standard wholesaler's cut -- 55% of the retail price. This
sounded awfully high when I first encountered it in the physical sales
space, but the author/publisher actually gets value in the form of
visibility and fulfillment).  Also, the amazon deal is non-exclusive -- I
also sell through other channels.  And the visibility on their site is good
for me.  Since I'm the author as well as the publisher, I get the other 45%.
(Of course, I also pay the printer.)

If you don't want to pay that commission, you can use amazon.com
marketplace. I believe that searches in their main catalog provide
visibility. In this case you handle customer service and fulfillment
yourself but pay smaller commissions.

Their description:

"You'll first need to apply to the Advantage Program and submit one or more
titles for consideration. If your application is approved, you simply list
your products (along with appropriate bibliographic information) in our
catalog and consign copies of your inventory in our warehouse. When
customers purchase your titles, we process the orders within 24 hours and
ship the titles anywhere in the world. We monitor your inventory and
automatically send you an e-mail request for additional copies based on
customer demand."

The "for consideration" bit is for suitability (physical packaging suitable
for their inventory system, legal content. As far as I know, they are only
setting a minimal threshold for marketability, not passing judgement on the
quality of the content.  The relevant points for CDs are:

"If your title is a music CD, it must have a UPC that is bar-coded and
readable on the outside of the package. The bar code must scan to match the
UPC on the CD, and the UPC on the CD must match the UPC on the application.
Music CDs must also be shrink-wrapped in a protective case, such as a
plastic jewel case, with the title and artist name printed on and readable
from the spine (the thin side of the CD). "

"Each title, whether book, CD, video, or DVD, must also satisfy Amazon.com's
suitability standards. These standards currently relate to quality, value,
subject matter, production standards, and compliance with intellectual
property laws. In no event will any title that we deem, at our sole
discretion, to be pornographic be accepted into the program"

For more information, go to the amazon.com home page, scroll to the bottom,
and click on "Join Advantage".


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