This Week in Music presents Mike Davis, President of Alliance Entertainment, the largest wholesale distributor of physical home entertainment audio and video software in the United States. Ian asks Mike what it’s like to be selling CDs when the platform is "dying." But Mike’s answers might surprise and inform you. Hear an industry leader’s perspective on the myths and facts of distribution.
Listen to Ian’s favorite tracks exclusively on MOG at http://bit.ly/ianplaylist
0:00 – Intro
0:25 – What Alliance does, wholesale retailer
1:30 – Mike’s background:
2:30 – Mike’s time at Universal Music Group
3:30 – Role of Alliance and its clients
4:50 – The surge of LPs
5:30 – The Alliance warehouse
5:50 – The process of the Catalog Division at Universal
7:10 – Reissues and repackaging and their relevance in the digital market
8:45 – The streaming business model
10:10 – Thank you Sonos for sponsoring TWiM!
11:30 – Ian’s Sonos set-up
12:40 – Upgrading your home audio with Sonos
13:15 – Why Mike switched to Alliance
14:50 – How Alliance helps indy artists
15:50 – Ian’s involvement in physical distribution
17:00 – The cost of physical distribution
17:50 – Why Alliance bought Audio Life
20:20 – Distributing Amanda Palmer
22:30 – The profitability of physical music sales
24:15 – Alliance as a centralized hub for music sales
24:50 – Diversifying with new products
25:45 – Thank you MOG for sponsoring TWiM!
27:10 – How Alliance manages so many relationships
30:15 – What’s next for Alliance?
30:40 – How smaller artists can work with Alliance
31:45 – Competitors of Alliance
33:35 – What Alliance is and is not
34:15 – Mike’s perspective on the "death" of the C.D.
35:25 – When will the C.D. no longer be in the mass market?
36:45 – Mike’s plan for the possible decline of physical retail
38:45 – How physical retail benefits from online distribution
39:55 – Outro
via - Music – - Music – Mike Davis, Pres. of Alliance Ent. – TWiMusic #43 – YouTube.
