I love independent record stores. Waterloo Records is one of my favorite places to spend a free hour in Austin. Though I do buy indie records at Waterloo, I can't always afford buying all the discs I want at the higher indie prices. That's why I'm also a regular visitor of my local Best Buy, where I can satisfy my new music addiction for, often times, the low, low price of $7.99 (or $9.99 if it's a larger "known" artist).
Many people don't even have an independent record store in their vicinity, so anything not sold in a big box retailer is unavailable to them unless they actively search for a particular artist online. That's why I really like the idea of Best Buy starting up a program to sell independent artists in their stores, working directly with the artist through Best Buys own personal distribution company.
How it works: Artists will submit their material to J Distribution, founded by a former Best Buy retail buyer, where it goes through a screening process. After a week in which the screening panel takes into account publicity, relative popularity and sales potential, artists will be accepted to the program. Much like CDBaby, a one time set-up fee is charged and, voila, the band's cd is put in regional (and outside areas where the band is popular) Best Buys to best cater their home-base fans.
The best part is when cds are sold, artists get paid directly from Best Buy/J Distribution. The quoted price sent to the band is $5.15 for each full-length disc sold and $3.65 for EPs, much better than the royalties paid per disc via a label.
Another example of how the industry is changing to allow artists to fend more for themselves without the backing of corporate entertainment conglomerations behind them.
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