This habit of pre-orders definitely got out of hand and control for all of us, vendors and customers. I see that for some labels it is now normal to put on pre-sale an album that will be released in four months or more, and it seems just as normal for fans to pay for a vinyl four months in advance without getting anything in return.
Do you find it normal? Do you find it healthy? As far as I’m concerned we’ve shortened the pre-order time to no more than three weeks and honestly I’d like to get to a point where they won’t be run at all. The most annoying thing is to see that nothing is given back to the fans for this blind devotion and support towards the artist and, above all, trust towards the label.
Our intentions are to come up with a system that rewards fans who pay for a product in advance of its actual availability, in terms of a discount or a postage waiver. We will do our best to find a mechanism that allows you to feel rewarded and not privileged to make a pre-order.
Don’t forget: any bank or any finance company charges interest for lending you money, for giving you money with which to buy something… and the fans are nothing more than a bank for the record companies, but the only bank in the world that does not receive interest and economic recognition for lending money with which the record company has in fact paid the manufacturing of the product in question; not only, fans have to feel privileged to have lent the money!
I’ve asked myself many times: “why are you ashamed to do a kickstarter or crowdfunding, but not ashamed to put a product on pre-order for one month?”
Here comes a time to file away the shame and be a little more practical about it all. Any suggestion – fans side – will be welcome.
