Who Mailed Out Demo Records . .

[Guest MBarrett]

Thinking specifically about the American Record Pressing plant in Owosso and their relationship with Motown Records.

When they had done a regular demo run did they despatch the records direct from there (using an agreed mailing list) or were they sent over to Detroit to be mailed out from there??

I'm not doubting that that demo run of DILY was in fact dumped/destroyed (all bar 6?). But just wondered what would have happened to it in normal circumstances. i.e. mailed out to the end-users or shipped over to Motown?

MB

[Guest Paul]

The specific methods changed with different companies but, in general, promo copies were usually sent out by record companies or by regional promo reps working from home, sometimes via mail but often delivered by hand to radio stations, distributors, onestops, rackjobbers etc.

Sometimes the distributors and wholesalers were given batches of promo copies to be circulated locally by their own regional sales reps.

By the 1980s the trend was for record companies to outsource most of the work to independent promo companies, especially for radio stations. It ended up being very costly (although deductable from artist royalties) and it often resulted in trouble because of their dubious methods.

There are more than 10,000 AM and FM radio stations in the US so you can assume that some companies press many promo copies of each record, and that's not allowing for copies sent to distributors, wholesalers, onestops, rackjobbers, retailers, club DJs, journalists etc. If a record is aimed only at the R&B market, the amount needed is obviously lower. I had a list of R&B stations in the 1980s and there was more than 2,5000 of them. And don't forget that many radio stations were given several copies of each record.

That also explains why you sometimes find that commercial copies of a particular record may be quite hard to find but promo copies of the same record are pretty common - particularly with major labels in the 1970s and beyond. It suggests that the promo campaign didn't work so they didn't bother to press many (or any) commercial copies.

It's worth remembering that artist royalties and mechanical license fees aren't payable on promo copies but the cost of manufacturing and distributing promo records is usually deductable from artist royalty accounts.

Sorry for wandering from your topic but I think it's an interesting subject and it makes you wonder how some record dealers can seriously claim "they only made twenty promo copies of this record" (or whatever). Getting back to your specific question, I think several pressing plants offered mailing services for their clients. It would be nice to get some input from some former promo men.

Best regards,

Paul

[Premium Stuff]

Nice one Paul - really enjoyed reading your post Interesting angles I hadn't really thought of much before.

Cheers

Richard

[Ady Pountain]

Just to add to the forum on mailing out promos. I have been to a few Radio Stations that were selling off their libraries when they were taken over in the early 90's to be turned into 'tape' stations with no more live DJ's. It's quite a site to see 10 tape machines running in former studios, each one a separate Radio Station based in one building. At one hit in North Carolina the new owner, who had bought out numerous stations, told me that different companies had different policies. RCA / MGM would send every record to every station, but Decca / Coral only sent black music to black stations, C&W to country stations and Pop to pop stations. It made sense if you think how much rarer are Decca / Coral promo copies than MGM /RCA. This was born out in the former Pop station library which had every Dean Courtney but no Patti Austins! Cheers, Ady

[Guest Paul]

Just to add to the forum on mailing out promos. I have been to a few Radio Stations that were selling off their libraries when they were taken over in the early 90's to be turned into 'tape' stations with no more live DJ's. It's quite a site to see 10 tape machines running in former studios, each one a separate Radio Station based in one building. At one hit in North Carolina the new owner, who had bought out numerous stations, told me that different companies had different policies. RCA / MGM would send every record to every station, but Decca / Coral only sent black music to black stations, C&W to country stations and Pop to pop stations. It made sense if you think how much rarer are Decca / Coral promo copies than MGM /RCA. This was born out in the former Pop station library which had every Dean Courtney but no Patti Austins! Cheers, Ady

Interesting points, Ady.

It shows that in some cases an obscure soul record may be found in the vaults of a pop station or a disco record may be found in the vaults of a rock station.

But I still don't understand how so many records by artists such as New Kids On The Block seemed to end up in Oxfam stores. Maybe they sent them straight to charity shops from the pressing plant?

[Dennisoul]

Interesting points, Ady.

It shows that in some cases an obscure soul record may be found in the vaults of a pop station or a disco record may be found in the vaults of a rock station.

But I still don't understand how so many records by artists such as New Kids On The Block seemed to end up in Oxfam stores. Maybe they sent them straight to charity shops from the pressing plant?

New Kids On The Block, brilliant Paul

Great posts lads, very enjoyable reading.

Andy