'1000 cd's a week from venues?.Find that figure hard to believe.Most "promoters" can't be bothered to do it on a regular basis in my limited experience.'
Kev,
That's because you are unaware of the type of people doing it. Your bag is the Rarer Lifeline type .
As a promoter, I see venues springing up everywhere. It's the Oldies types(and yes that's my customer) that are subjected to the Free CD, Anniversary, DVD Copies etc, simply because they do not have your experience or knowledge.
Seriously, when you get a spare hour, trawl the net and just count up the Boot cd's from venues,Ebay and Web sites. You will be staggered at the epidemic.
Pete S talked about the golden days of the late 90's early Noughties, trust me, the sales have shifted from the high street to 'other areas'
As I said before, if a carver outfit is exposed, they attract a lot of venom from vinyl enthusiasts of which Soul Source has many. CD's are below the radar to most Soul fans and that my friend is music to the ears of
the Ala Carte's of this world.