places online to order music from that rule

[sonoris]

sad news about this distributor ... but this is why they are now on discogs at very low prices !

[Yii]

http://www.discogs.com (there is a fantastic collection of improv rare stuff there at good prices)

yea, there are some good sellers who have decent items at reasonable prices, just like those guys : nickerskinhead, gentropy, friendlyfireman, EricLanzillotta, pureterror and blah.

[esquilo]

in fact, with where the US$ is right now, i'm surprised people buy elsewhere.

But I guess that's what most people do, in fact.

Judging from my experience with the esquilo website, I've experience a decline in sales almost equal to the decline in the dollar.

Without local (or continental) support - and guessing that currency wise things will be the same for a while - most european distributors for improvised / experimental / etc will surely end.

And there's also another (big) problem. Since the dollar is too low, most european (and other) labels sell the records to US distributors / shops at a mucher lower price than they do to their european counterparts. And since this "market" is a global one and mainly online based, that practice is causing a biased "competion". Very often I see some (above mentioned) US online shops / distributors selling records for less than the actual wholesale price charged to esquilo (or any other european shop / distributor).

So, if the dollar is already way too low, the above mentioned practice is making things even more difficult for european shops / distributors - and that's one of the main reasons contributing to the their end.

Concluding, a warning to any european customers for this kind of music...when deciding where to buy a record from, think about this - you can be contributing to a biased "game" that will ultimately lead to the end of any european distributor / shop for this kind of music.

[jon abbey]

my business has gone down too at times, June was easily the worst month I've had since taking over ErstDist from Chris, so don't be so quick to jump to conclusions.

the end of any european distributor / shop for this kind of music.

again, this isn't anything new, besides Metamkine and sound 323, European distribution for this music has been awful for years and years, even before the dollar decline.

[esquilo]

my business has gone down too at times, June was easily the worst month I've had since taking over ErstDist from Chris, so don't be so quick to jump to conclusions.

Quick??! Those were assertations based on 8 to 12 months or so

the end of any european distributor / shop for this kind of music.

again, this isn't anything new, besides Metamkine and sound 323, European distribution for this music has been awful for years and years, even before the dollar decline.

Maybe their time is coming too...

[jon abbey]

Quick??! Those were assertations based on 8 to 12 months or so

sure, but still a simplistic and inaccurate analysis IMO.

Maybe their time is coming too...

maybe all of our time is coming. but in the meantime, at least some of us will keep on keeping on as best we can.

[jon abbey]

FWIW, I don't keep specific track, but I'd guess that for ErstDist, the percentage of orders coming from Europe is down in the last year and the percentage coming from the US is up, in addition to overall sales constantly trending downwards. I've been expecting more European orders with the dollar's decline, but they really haven't come.

[esquilo]

Quick??! Those were assertations based on 8 to 12 months or so

sure, but still a simplistic and inaccurate analysis IMO.

Not really, IMO.

Maybe their time is coming too...

maybe all of our time is coming. but in the meantime, at least some of us will keep on keeping on as best we can.

Like I will!

[926am]

US

http://www.weirdorecords.com/" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;

Run by a friend of a friend.

Great Folks!

[MRS]

Going on what I think hasn't been mentioned: RRR, mimaroglu, dustygroove, arkivmusic, ominousdrone, staalplaat, cadence, synaesthesia

I realize it's near impossible to keep track of what one has but I find Verge ridiculous, they never have anything they say they do which is again understandable, but a good antipode is Aquarius who always email you right away and try their ass off to get whatever it is back in stock

[Richard Pinnell]

And there's also another (big) problem. Since the dollar is too low, most european (and other) labels sell the records to US distributors / shops at a mucher lower price than they do to their european counterparts.

I can confirm that this happens. I was guilty of it myself for a while, thinking it was the right thing to do, but I corrected this a few months back by lowering all wholesale prices to the same level everywhere.

I personally have almost stopped buying from distributors altogether, not because I see anything much wrong with any of them, but because I prefer to buy directly from the artist or label, whoever put the funds into the release in the first place. Over the past year or so I sense that labels have begun to sell directly more and more as paypal has become the norm for payment and websites have become cheaper and easier to set up.

All of this may just be irrelevant though as bigger forces are having the greatest impact on sales. I've said many times that CD sales are falling as fast as illegal downloads are increasing, but you're all fed up with me harping on about that one...

[Richard Pinnell]

synaesthesia

I'm pretty sure they are no more. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[MRS]

that sucks, really nice folks, where I finally scored Mego 053 before it was reissued + inevitably a ton of Australian noise/improv/electronic

[kp*]

This should be everyplace mentioned so far.

France
http://www.metamkine.com/

Germany
http://a-musik.com/
http://www.dronerecords.de/
http://www.geraeuschwelten.de/catalog/
http://www.nomansland-records.de/

Netherlands
http://www.staalplaat.com/

UK
http://www.secureonlineshopping.biz/sound323/
http://www.secondlayer.co.uk/
http://www.volcanictongue.com/
http://www.lingering.co.uk/
http://www.ears-peeled.com
http://www.apexonline.com/melodybar/

US
http://www.weirdorecords.com/
http://www.indiejazz.com/
http://www.cadencebuilding.com/
http://www.dtmgallery.com/Main/index.htm
http://www.aquariusrecords.org/index.html
http://www.waysidemusic.com/
http://www.othermusic.com/
http://www.and-oar.org/and_oar1.html
http://www.mimaroglumusicsales.com/
http://www.fusetronsound.com/
http://www.squidco.com/
http://www.forcedexposure.com/
http://www.erstwhilerecords.com/distro.html
http://www.aquariusrecords.org/
http://www.jazzloft.com/
http://www.rrrecords.com/
http://www.dustygroove.com/
http://www.arkivmusic.com/
http://www.ominousdrone.com/
http://www.cadencebuilding.com/

Canada
http://www.vergemusic.com/home.cfm

Italy
http://www.soundohm.com/

Korea
http://afterhours.co.kr/main_html/default.asp

Japan
http://www.ftarri.com/cdshop/index.html
http://art-into-life.com

Mexico
http://elnicho.org/

Hong Kong
http://www.whitenoiserecords.org/

Other resources
http://www.discogs.com/
http://www.gemm.com/
http://www.cdconnection.com/
http://play.com/

[esquilo]

I'll add esquilo:

Portugal
http://www.esquilo-records.com" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jesse]

I'll add esquilo:

Portugal
http://www.esquilo-records.com" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;

A really fine label, good add.

[WCrap]

may i add ... Tochnit Aleph (Germany) http://mailorder.tochnit-aleph.com

[jpeatt]

synaesthesia

I'm pretty sure they are no more. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Yeah, Mark's out of the game, at least as far as distro goes.
Time will tell if he's going to stick with the label. I hope so.

He used to say his biggest two hates were routine and talking about music. Never could quite get him yto explain how exactly opening a record shop fit into that, but there you go.

There's another shop just opened in Melbourne called 'Sunshine and Grease' which is aiming to fill the spot, but I don't think they have website up and running yet. I'm sure they'd love to hear from labels looking for Australian distro, but be aware they're just starting out. so would most likely be stocking things on a consignment basis. I'll post an email when I get one.

[david papapostolou]

another one in Germany:

http://www.minimamedia.de/" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;

[jon abbey]

Ernie B's: ebreggae.com