How small labels distribute music
Small label distribution is the set of channels a small independent label uses to get its music into the stores, the streaming platforms, and the hands of the listeners, and it is the part of the small label scene on this site that turns a finished record into a record a listener can buy. The small label distributes through 3 channels, the physical distribution that ships the CD and the vinyl to the stores, the direct channel that sells the record at the shows and through the label's own store, and the digital channel that puts the file on the streaming platforms. The 3 channels together are how the small label releases and distributes the music, and they are the same channels the scene on this site uses for the world, folk, jam, and singer songwriter records it carries. This page defines the role and explains each channel in the order the record meets them.
This is the guide to distribution: it defines what distribution does for the small label, explains the 3 channels the record travels through, and shows how the small label scene uses each one to get the music to the listener.
What distribution does for a small label
What distribution does for a small label is move the finished product from the pressing plant to the listener, and it is the job the label cannot skip. The record is pressed and mastered, and distribution is the step that gets it from the plant to the shelf and to the stream. Without the distribution the record sits in a warehouse, and with it the record is in the store and on the platform where the listener buys it. The small label does the distribution 3 ways, and the 3 ways are the channels the scene on this site runs, because the scene releases and distributes the music through exactly those channels. The role is the movement, and the movement is what turns the pressed record into the sold one.
The physical distribution
The physical distribution is the channel that ships the CD and the vinyl to the stores, and it is the oldest of the 3 channels the small label uses. The independent distributor is the company that does the shipping, and the small label sends the pressed record to the distributor, who stocks it in a warehouse and ships it to the stores and the online shops that order it. The distributor takes a cut of the wholesale price, and the small label sets the wholesale price at about half the retail, so the store has its margin and the distributor has its fee and the label keeps the rest. The physical channel is the one that puts the record in the brick and mortar store, and it is the channel the small label scene uses for the CD and the vinyl of the world, folk, and jam music. The 3 parties in the channel are the label, the distributor, and the store, and the record moves through all 3 to reach the listener's shelf.
The direct channel
The direct channel is the channel that sells the record straight from the label to the listener, and it is the highest margin of the 3. The label sells the record at the shows, through the label's own online store, and through the mailing list, and it keeps the full retail price because there is no distributor and no store in the middle. The direct channel is where the small label makes most of its money, because the margin on a direct sale is the full retail minus the cost of the record and the shipping. The small label scene leans on the direct channel for the vinyl and the limited pressing, because the limited run is the one the fan buys straight from the label rather than from the store. The channel is the label to the listener, and it is the one that keeps the most money in the small label and the most control in the artist.
The digital distribution
The digital distribution is the channel that puts the file on the streaming platforms, and it is the one that gives the record the widest reach of the 3. The distributor for the digital is the aggregator, the company that sends the file to the 200 or more streaming platforms at once, and the small label pays the aggregator a fee or a cut to do the sending. The streaming platform pays the label a royalty per play, and the royalty is a fraction of a cent, so the digital channel is the reach rather than the income, and the small label uses it to get the record in front of the listener who will then buy the vinyl through the direct channel. The digital channel is the one that gets the world, folk, and jam music of the small label scene onto the platform the listener already uses, and it is the channel that completes the distribution of the record.
How the 3 channels work together
How the 3 channels work together is the full distribution of the record, and the small label scene runs all 3 on every release. The physical channel puts the record in the store, the direct channel sells it to the fan at full margin, and the digital channel puts the file on the platform for the reach. The 3 channels are not competing, they are covering different parts of the audience, and the record that uses all 3 reaches the listener in the store, in the hand, and on the screen. The small label scene on this site distributes the music through the same 3 channels, and the world, folk, jam, and singer songwriter records it carries are the records that travel them. The distribution is the movement of the record to the listener, and the 3 channels together are the whole of it, which is the role this page describes.