The terms are Urbanlife Distribution terms. Urbanlife sells to indie retailers including Rapbay.com
Terms are as follows:
Payment is due for products sold in 60 days of receipt. We pay you for sales of product sold the first 30 days. Why? Because what if I sold 25% of your total sales the last week of your terms. I probably have not got paid for those CD's yet. Even if it was sold the first 30, I may not collected payment yet. Not all of our customers are COD. Some are 30, 60 or even 90 days. Should I carry your payment for that term? Multiply that by a large number of vendors and my cash flow has been affected and I risk the possiblity of owning product that won't sell. So the answer is no.*
*Artists with a strong sales history and high pre-orders can warrant COD. But, it's usually just for Rapbay or coming from another distributor... we do try new artists from other distributors that we occasionally buy. Though we order conservatively and can return what doesn't sell.
Even if you go with another distributor who may say they pay you on "net" terms, it's pretty damn close to consignment. You won't get paid for what product hasn't sold and payment would be withheld for impending returns. And if you don't have another project coming to recoup potential returns or losses, you won' t get final payment.
It's not a one-way street, just because a store gives your CD a try...doesn't mean they won't return it if they sell it. We are a 100% returnable distributor as most, if not all audio distributor or one-stops are.
Many record stores also pay on consigment. Do you realize how many CD's that have flooded the bay area market in the last 5-10 years. Especiallly the last 5. And trust me, they all haven't been hits. Anybody want to buy 500 Luni Coleone Narration CD's for CHEAP? LOL! Do you think we want to own an artists very first solo album when his ass shouldn't even be rapping. Or buy that comp that has 6+ recycled songs, the same ass features, not enough promotion and no barcode ...To sell below cost or liquidate it because I bought them? Hell no! Don't get me wrong, we sell a ton of very good product. There's a wealth of talent in the bay, why do you think we do what we do. But, there's always good and bad of everything in life.
Rasputins is returning a lot of product left and right these days. If you have a new project and they have 100 from last project, you won't get the new one in there without accepting your returns. Cold game, hopefully after this saturation of the market and decrease of cd sales we will begin to hear more true artistry and see more fresh new talent in our emerging digital music industry. Speaking of, my prediction is J-Stalin is next to blow!
That's all folks....
