The End Records - Fortune Small Business article

[Valarien]

Props to TER for thinking out of the box. It's useful on many levels: exploring alternative business options, a little unusual publicity, general awareness of the realities all labels and the industry as a whole are facing in the wake of the digital revolution, in particularly the massive fallout across the board due to illegal downloading and file-sharing. The additional expenses being in NYC are a challenge, but well worth it if it translates to expanding his business. Nothing risked, nothing gained.

 

[ratanda]

It's a very interesting article.

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

I'm with nailz, my first question is WHY the move to NYC? Egads, that's the most overpopulated and overpriced area in the U.S. Especially considering they are a MAIL ORDER company. That warehouse can be run out of Anytown, USA for a fraction of what they are paying to have it in Brooklyn. That move makes no sense to me.

 

[nailz]

I wondered that myself. Haven't they moved 3 times in the past few years?

 

[Stingray11214]

I'm with nailz, my first question is WHY the move to NYC? Egads, that's the most overpopulated and overpriced area in the U.S. Especially considering they are a MAIL ORDER company. That warehouse can be run out of Anytown, USA for a fraction of what they are paying to have it in Brooklyn. That move makes no sense to me.

They moved it to East Williamsburg (Which is in the Northwest corner of Brooklyn) I think because it was in close proximity to the Lower East Side and Alphabet City in Manhattan (Which is one stop away on the L Line), and they could be in the epicenter of the NYC Metal scene. Also, I believe they wanted to take advantage of the area when it is on a serious upswing. Williamsburg has long been one of Brooklyn's toughest neighborhood's. Only 10-12 years ago, Williamsburg was a crime-ridden neighborhood. Now, it has become the area where the Artsy community comes to avoid the insanity of Manhattan.

That said, I think they saw it as cheaper to scout and sign acts operating from NYC. However, what might be cheaper in one area, you will get with costs in the other.

Peace,
Ray C.

 

[Metaldrumz]

Still havent recieved my Dominici CD I ordered 2 weeks ago. Gettin pissed off now especially with the slow responses to my emails.

Why I love nehrecords.com.....might be more $$$ but customer service is top notch.

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

They moved it to East Williamsburg (Which is in the Northwest corner of Brooklyn) I think because it was in close proximity to the Lower East Side and Alphabet City in Manhattan (Which is one stop away on the L Line), and they could be in the epicenter of the NYC Metal scene. Also, I believe they wanted to take advantage of the area when it is on a serious upswing. Williamsburg has long been one of Brooklyn's toughest neighborhood's. Only 10-12 years ago, Williamsburg was a crime-ridden neighborhood. Now, it has become the area where the Artsy community comes to avoid the insanity of Manhattan.

That said, I think they saw it as cheaper to scout and sign acts operating from NYC. However, what might be cheaper in one area, you will get with costs in the other.

Peace,
Ray C.

Okay, I can understand that being in NYC might be advantageous from the label side of things, but the warehouse move still makes no sense to me. Why not just rent some tiny office space there for the label part of the biz, and keep the warehouse someplace more affordable? I'm sure square footage in that area is at a premium and a warehouse can't be cheap rent.

 

[Pellaz]

I can't figure out the move to NYC, either. TER lives and dies by its mail-order operations (as mentioned in the article) and you'd think they could find a cheaper place that's just as close to major distribution centers.....oh, like Atlanta, which has a primary UPS and FedEx hub. (UPS is headquartered here, too.)

Still, my last order with TER, a few weeks ago, was timestamped at 2am Tuesday morning...and the CDs were in my PO Box in Atlanta on Friday morning, in time for my stint on WREKage later that night. I'm not even sure the credit card transaction had posted by then. I get worse service from places that actually charge for shipping.

 

[Greykiller]

I did not read the whole article. Did part of the business plan involve telling Lordi that he was totally insane to more operations to the third most expensive place on the planet to do business?

This guy ships out records, for chrissakes. He should be in a central location, with very low rent, low overhead, and his internet presence enables him to reach all the customers he could in NYC.

Did the article also talk about how much his payroll will increase because it costs a bazillion dollars to live anywhere near NYC?

 

[Stingray11214]

That area, especially the North Side and the area West of Manhattan Avenue is heavy industrial, with an emphasis on warehouse space. I do believe Andreas long term strt may be to turn the warehouse to a developer and make a killing. That is if he actually OWNS said warehouse. If he does not, I have to agree with the rest of you and why he did not move his warehouse ops to Elizabeth or Bayonne, NJ, where it would be cheaper.

While I was playing gin in Yahoo, I thought of something else: Quality control. What do I mean? If Andreas does not have oversight, some titles may grow legs and walk out of the warehouse, if you know what I mean.

Peace,
Ray C.

 

[nailz]

there's no way people moved to NYC with him to steal cds.

 

[Stingray11214]

No, but if your warehouse is 2,000 miles away from where you are, you would have some concerns unless you have someone over there overseeing the warehouse with your life.

 

[nailz]

ahh, i see what your saying. I missed that part.

 

[CD INZANE]

Not many know what it takes to run a business like this. Basically, try taking out $500,000 and investing in your marketing Idea's and thoughts, then having to roll the funds over and over for years. Try staying competative, keeping pricing low while someone is bitching about a dollar and that they can get it elsewhere, and getting the latest and greatest in bulk of 200 + copies payment due in 30 days is a task and feeling different than many might experience, unless they are in business for themselves. Luckily, metal is not perishable like pizza ingredients. Then there is rent of your facility. In Minneapolis: $3500 plus CAM (Common Area Maintainence) for monthly rent, does not include carpet, walls built or lighting, but only the footprint or shell of your structure. Heat, water etc are all valid parts of the industry and 3 years of commitment is normal by lease. Better make sure you sell 100,000 cds each year and develope your own nitch market to maintain. Websites run $15,000 + and about $1000 per update. Upgrades to newer flash, cold fusion and shopping carts that automate tax, shipping etc will go for $30,000 plus. It is a great article full of facts and the reality of needing full financial backing to stay metal!!! I am glad that Deron found this...