okay.
here's the deal.
some of you have heard my stuff.
and I've been enough of a nuisance to most of you that you know I have a record coming out in a few weeks.
now here's the issue. It's all well and good for people in the United States to know you, but the kind of music I make has a much larger following over seas. And besides, im not just interested in being an American phenomenon.

"...internationally known to rock the microphone"

here is where those of you who aren't based in the US(europeans especially) come in. I'm trying to pull a reverse Jazzanova. I would like to know, from your perspective, If someone wanted to blow up in your country. What are some of the:

-Djs
-Stores
-Magazines
-Clubs
etc...

That they would have to contact.

for instance, I know that step one is contacting Giles Peterson in the UK. whats step two?

Lets try and be creative with this. This post could serve as a good reference/knowledge base later on.

I would like to hear the internationals OkayPlayer's markets as well.

What will be the quickest and most efficient way to cop the album when it drops? A lot of brothas in my circle are feeling your material.

would prolly be to preorder.
so it appears on your doorstop on may 20th.

otherwise roll to your neighborhood tower and cop it.
I believe best buy and some other major chains will be carrying as well.

and thanks.

unless I clear up the credit card enough to pre-order.

there is a pretty sizable hip-hop fanbase here (all styles)

stores (off the top of my head, these are all indies):

-Sound Record:
6, rue des Precheurs, 75001 Paris
phone: 00 33 1 40 13 09 45

-Urban Music:
22, rue Pierre Lescot, 75001 Paris
phone: 00 33 1 40 13 99 28


-Vibe Station
57, rue du Faubourg St Antoine, 75011 Paris
phone: 00 33 1 44 74 64 18


-DMC Store
24, bd Richard Lenoir, 75011 Paris
phone: 00 33 1 42 47 10 00


-Gibert Joseph
i'll find the info later

radio:

-Generations 88.2 (Paris indie station that has always supported underground hip-hop)
8, bd de Menilmontant, 75020 Paris
phone: 00 33 1 55 25 25 00

-Radio Nova (playing a very eclectic mix of music. I could see your jawns playin on there, freal)
33, rue du Faubourg St Antoine, 75011 Paris
phone: 00 33 1 53 33 33 15

Include website adresses and/or emailadresses and/or other contact info as much as you can



Coming soon to a shiny disc near you...

FOREIGN EXCHANGE (Phonte & Nicolay) - "Connected"
NICOLAY - "City Lights", the "almost instrumental" mixalbum, hosted by LUNCHBOX THA NARCOLEPTIC

Nova is really the first people I'd try to contact. They have much clout, and Sci Fi's music would really fit on their playlist. And when they like something, they push it hard too. They would get him gigs, in particular.

I don't really see Generations play it, on the other hand.

>I don't really see Generations play it, on the other hand.

yea, I haven't listened to it in a while, but i've heard a lot of different styles on their shows, so why not ?

I don't remember them playing too much instrumental stuff...but I might be wrong

Sci Fi might also be interested in magazines...Nova has one, so they might have a little something about him in it. But another magazine that has some influence among the trendy/hipster set is "Les Inrockuptibles". I know they gave a lot of push to RJD2 and before him, Shadow.

Here is the info:

LES INROCKUPTIBLES
144, rue de Rivoli
75001 Paris
Tel. 01 42 44 16 16
Fax 01 42 44 16 00

and two email addresses:

Christian Fevret, directing editor (c.fevret@inrocks.com)
and Jean-Daniel Beauvallet, editor (jd.beauvallet@inrocks.com)

Jean-Daniel Beauvallet is the one that's the most interested in the hip hop/groove/electronica scenes, so I'd send him a copy of the album, with a little note. That could work well.

workin on it

RECORD STORES

the two most important indie record stores:

MUSIC MANIA GHENT
BAGGATTENSTRAAT 197
GENT
+32 9 2256815

MUSIC MANIA BRUSSELS
GREEPSTRAAT 4
BRUSSEL
+32 2 2175369

biggest mainstream cd store:

FNAC BRUSSELS
Brussel City 2
Nieuwstraat
1000 Brussel
+32 2 275 11 11
its a chain store, if you contact this one you should get your info. they got stores in any major city.


but hey since grooveattack handles your distribution i dont think you have to worry, definitely not about the indie stores. grooveattack usually does their job.

RADIO

these two are a must, both national radio

Studio Brussel
1043 Brussel
+32 2 741 37 79
info@stubru.be

Radio 21
deb@rtbf.be
hel@rtbf.be
contact those for promo
bdo@rtbf.be
this is the dj at the station you might wanna get to

MUSIC MAGS

most important dance/hip hop mag. i hear you can buy it outside belgium as well.

www.plastiks.be
plastiks@pandora.be
be sure to contact Groove Merchant on that email. he's also a dj. the mag also has compilation cds,so that might get the word out there.

THIS is what we're talking about here! Very nice work!



Coming soon to a shiny disc near you...

FOREIGN EXCHANGE (Phonte & Nicolay) - "Connected"
NICOLAY - "City Lights", the "almost instrumental" mixalbum, hosted by LUNCHBOX THA NARCOLEPTIC

>RECORD STORES
>
>the two most important indie record stores:
>
>MUSIC MANIA GHENT
>BAGGATTENSTRAAT 197
>GENT
>+32 9 2256815

website: http://musicmaniarecords.com


>MUSIC MANIA BRUSSELS
>GREEPSTRAAT 4
>BRUSSEL
>+32 2 2175369

also:

Doctor Vinyl
braambergstraat, 20 8000 Brugge
doctor.vinyl@pandora.be
+32 50 33.53.64

Caroline Music
Passage St. Honore 20 1000 Brussel
+32 2 217.07.31

BCM music import
Address: Plattesteen 6 - 1000 Brussels
Specialised in: Techno
Manager: Zzino
Open on: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat: 11:00 - 18:30
Tel: +32 (0)2 502 09 72
Fax: +32 (0)15 206 234
e-mail: bcm.import@pandora.be

Metrophone
Kammenstraat 47 2000 Antwerpen
+32 3 231.18.65

USA import
Address: St Jacobmarkt 75 - 2000 Antwerpen
Specialised in: Hardcore, House
Manager: José Pascual
Label: USA import Records
Open on: Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat: 10:00 - 18:30 and Thu: 10:00 - 21:00
Tel: +32 (0)3 232 38 38 or +32 (0)3 232 04 29
Fax: +32 (0)3 226 20 30
Website: www.usaimportmusic.be

WGW Shop
Address: Sint Jacobsmarkt 75, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium.
Opening hours: Wednesday from 13.00 till 21.00h, Thursday, Friday from 12.00 till 20.00 and Saturday from 14.00 till 18.30.
Take the small alley next to the USA Import store, the WGW shop is located in the basement of USA Import.
...About Wally's Groove World
Wally's Groove World is both the name of the shop in Antwerp City, and the name of the succesful deep house label. Founded by Koenie Van Immerseel, both the shop and the label have become a tremendous success over the last years.
WGW e-Shop
...If you have questions about your ONLINE order...
Phone: +32(0)3 295 51 31
(from Monday till Friday between 15.00 and 18.00)
Email: info@wallysgrooveworld.com
.... www.wallysgrooveworld.com





FRIED CHICKEN
NEDERKOUTER 47 9000 Gent
T +32 (0)9 223 16 27 F: +32 (0)9 223 16 27
www.friedchicken.be
info@friedchicken.be
Open from monday to saturday from 11am to 7pm
WHAT
100% drum and bass and hip hop and almost completely vinyl oriented. No problem listening to the records before buying. This is not the cheapest record store in Ghent but it is a specialised dance music record shop.
VIBES
Fried Chicken is a small shop where mostly dj's and local kids from the scene come. The proprietor himself is a dj and passionate music lover.
BROWSABILITY
High, discover albums you will find nowhere else. Some white labels and bootlegs and a good section of re-issued classics by grandmasters as Marvin Gaye, Coltrane etc..

Music Man Dance Store
Address: Steendam 72 - 9000 Gent
Specialised in: Techno, Trance
Manager: Jim Seynaeve
Label: Music Man Records
Open on: Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri: 11:00 - 19:00, Thu: 11:00 - 20:00 and Sat: 11:00 - 18:00
Tel: +32 (0)9 225 11 65
Fax: +32 (0)9 225 45 07
www.musicman.be
musicman@musicman.be
WHAT
Marketleader for dance, house, techno and trance albums. There is also a small but interesting cd section for pop and best of cd's. Weekly, sometimes daily arrival of import records. Dance floor charts albums available.
VIBES
This flashy joint is beef for experts and dj's. From all over Belgium dj's come and get their gear here.
EXTRA
Very good listening facilities and they sell heaps of white labels and bootlegs. They deliver the music goods for renowned festivals such as Kozzmozz and I love Techno.
BROWSABILITY
High. Here you will find albums nowhere else to be found. Music man can withstand the test with any English or American dance music store any day.




>biggest mainstream cd store:
>
>FNAC BRUSSELS
>Brussel City 2
>Nieuwstraat
>1000 Brussel
>+32 2 275 11 11
>its a chain store, if you contact this one you should get
>your info. they got stores in any major city.
>
>
>but hey since grooveattack handles your distribution i dont
>think you have to worry, definitely not about the indie
>stores. grooveattack usually does their job.

also:

Virgin
Anspachlaan 30 1000 Brussel
De Keyserlei 58 2000 Antwerpen

Free Record Shop
Elsenesteenweg 42 1000 Brussel
Wapper 7 Antwerpen

Fnac
Veldstraat 88 9000 Gent



>RADIO
>
>these two are a must, both national radio
>
>Studio Brussel
>1043 Brussel
>+32 2 741 37 79
>info@stubru.be
>
>Radio 21
>deb@rtbf.be
>hel@rtbf.be
>contact those for promo
>bdo@rtbf.be
>this is the dj at the station you might wanna get to
>
>MUSIC MAGS
>
>most important dance/hip hop mag. i hear you can buy it
>outside belgium as well.
>
>www.plastiks.be
>plastiks@pandora.be
>be sure to contact Groove Merchant on that email. he's also
>a dj. the mag also has compilation cds,so that might get the
>word out there.


cosign on plastiks!!

also:

rifraf

www.rifraf.com

you can find it in a lot of record stores, trendy places... in fact it's hard to miss and free! it covers all genres and the quality's pretty high if you ask me. even dj groove merchant of plastiks started writing here.


out soon

Antwerpse Laan, 40 1000 Brussel
tel: +32 2 290 38 90
fax: +32 2 290 38 99
e-mail: info@outsoon.be

^ also free and in a lot of record stores

TOUR.

Tour your ASS off. Let the music speak for itself.

Coming soon to a shiny disc near you...

FOREIGN EXCHANGE (Phonte & Nicolay) - "Connected"
NICOLAY - "City Lights", the "almost instrumental" mixalbum, hosted by LUNCHBOX THA NARCOLEPTIC

____?____
No donut, no cry© Medina Marley

revolution
is only
an idea
away.© LexM

you should get a PR company to do it for you/help you.

then all the magazines, djs, stations etc are covered.

with the amount of indie stuff out there, this route beats trying to do it dolo.

For the UK you should really try Hip Hop Connection, they'll push you to the UK Hip Hop audience if they dig you that is, I've only heard good things about you so I wouldn't see that being a problem. I'll check through it at some point to see if I can get you any contact addresses, also I'll check for stores that may be of some use to you. You could always try Westwood I'm sure he'd love your stuff, tell him Flex loves it and he'll probably wank over it live on air, now THAT'S the kind of exposure you're looking for.

that's one thing I've learned from two years of trying to sell myself. You never know where you will find yourself. I remember last year I was standing on stage looking into an audience of rich, old, white people. Most people on the bill were either Opera, Jazz or Theatre Arts. Me and my drummer improvised on the spot and recieved a standing ovation. Ever since that day, I've decided to not assume anything. At an early stage of your career, you can't be picky. You will eventually find a core audience but in the meantime, you just gotta get your face out there.

I don't know man, you what they're like, as long as his beats are tight he might do okay.

Giles, of course.

If you need someone to step to him live, maybe we can work that out too.

Uphill struggle, tho'. Folk ain' tryna make nuthin' easy.

Let me think.

Hold tight.

Coming soon to a shiny disc near you...

FOREIGN EXCHANGE (Phonte & Nicolay) - "Connected"
NICOLAY - "City Lights", the "almost instrumental" mixalbum, hosted by LUNCHBOX THA NARCOLEPTIC

but i didn't want to blow up somebody's spot

Coming soon to a shiny disc near you...

FOREIGN EXCHANGE (Phonte & Nicolay) - "Connected"
NICOLAY - "City Lights", the "almost instrumental" mixalbum, hosted by LUNCHBOX THA NARCOLEPTIC

*** RECORDSTORES ***

Fat Beats Amsterdam
Singel 10 1013GA Amsterdam
+31 20 4230886

Soul Food
Nieuwe Nieuwstraat 27 C 1012NG Amsterdam
+31 20-4286130

Dance Tracks
Nieuwe Nieuwstraat 69 HS 1012NG Amsterdam
+31 20-6390853

Killa Cutz
Nieuwe Nieuwstraat 19 D 1012NG Amsterdam
+31 20-4284040

Boudisque
Haringpakkerssteeg 10 18 1012LR Amsterdam
+31 20-6232603

Plato Compact Discs
Meent 116 3011JS Rotterdam
+31 10-4139175

Demonfuzz
Nieuwe Binnenweg 86 3015BC Rotterdam
+31 10-4365999

Crucial Sounds
http://www.crucialsounds.nl
tel: +31(0)40 245 65 87, +31(0)6 242 13 026
Fax: +31(0)842 11 28 75

Rhythm Import
specialized in dance & hiphop/r&b music
got 4 stores in holland in the big cities

Rhythm Import BV
Dukdalfweg 44 1041BE Amsterdam
+31 20-6111330

i think that address isnt correct tho
so i'd suggest you to contact one of their other stores:

Rhythm Import Recordshop BV
Mariaplaats 5 3511LH Utrecht
+31 30-2315583

Rhythm Import
Torenstraat 96 2513BV 's-Gravenhage
+31 70-3642378

Rhythm Import Recordshop BV
Binnenwegplein 20 C 3012KA Rotterdam
+31 10-4142203

Free Record Shop
(large chain of record stores throughout europe)
http://www.freerecordshop.com/shop/holding/jaarverslag/annualreport.asp

Van Leest Music & Videos
(also a large chain of stores)
vanLeest Platenspeciaalzaken BV
Pisanostraat 57
5623 CB Eindhoven
+31 40 - 2698888
Fax: +31 40 - 2698899
shop@vanleest.nl

Music Store
(another large chain of stores)
can't find a address or number of the headquarters
right now so i suggest you'd either
call +31 20-4942222 (random music store in amsterdam) and ask
or go to www.musicstore.nl and go to contact and send a message

MusicHouse
(another one yeah)
Stephensonstraat 3-b
3846 AK HARDERWIJK
tel : 00 31(0)341- 434206
fax : 00 31(0)341- 430774
info@musichouse.nl

*** RADIO/TV ***

VPRO tv&radiostation that has nationwide broadcasting
also does music programs on tv.. think your music would fit
the stuff they play

email: 3voor12@vpro.nl
www: http://pages.vpro.nl/3voor12/zapcentral.shtml (dutch tho)


KinkFM
kinda alternative radiostation
has a weekly fat beats radio show too

Kink FM The Alternative
Postbus 22300
1202 CE Hilversum
http://www.kinkfm.com
radio@kinkfm.com

Veronica (television & radio station)
Postbus 22700 1202CP Hilversum
+31 35-6463535

im not really down with the radio shit so i dont really know any others that would be REALLY interesting to contact

MTV HOLLAND & THE MUSIC FACTORY (dutch mtv)
Music Factory (MTV Networks BV)
Postbus 999 1400AZ Bussum
+31 35-6996666

The Box Holland
Frans Halslaan 57 1213BK Hilversum
tel. +31 35-6255100
Fax: +31 35- 625 51 55


*** MAGAZINES ***

OOR
holland's most respected (?) music magazine
Jan Rebelstraat 20, 1006 EB Amsterdam
Postbus 96089, 1006 EB Amsterdam
info@oor.nl

Touch (they err... suck but u could check it out)
redactie@touchonline.nl
http://www.touchonline.nl

LiveXS Popmagazine
Nachtwachtlaan 352
1058 EM Amsterdam
tel. +31 20 – 777 06 08
Fax: +31 20 – 772 72 62
www.livexs.nl
e-mail: redactie@livexs.nl



*** VENUES ***

VNP
an organisation which basically controls all the venues in holland and most (big) music festivals in holland and iono what else lol

Johannes Vermeerstraat 55 , 1071 DM AMSTERDAM
tel. +31 20-421 50 05
fax. +31 20-421 49 37


De Effenaar
Dommelstraat 2
5611 CK Eindhoven
+31 40-2448861 (business)
Fax:
+31 40-2436769
info@effenaar.nl
www.effenaar.nl

Melkweg
Lijnbaansgracht 234a
1017 PH Amsterdam
The Netherlands
telephone: +31-(0)20-531 81 81
fax:
music departement: +31-(0)20- 531 81 88
theatre / gallery / cinema: +31-(0)20- 531 81 18
management: +31-(0)20- 531 81 99
administration / publicity: +31-(0)20- 531 81 18
email:
general: receptie@melkweg.nl
ticket-info: receptie@melkweg.nl
music info: music_info@melkweg.nl

Paradiso
Weteringschans 6-8
1017 SG Amsterdam
Nederland / The Netherlands
Tel. +31 20 - 626 45 21
Fax +31 20 - 622 27 21
info@paradiso.nl

Nighttown
Postbus 25080
3001 HB Rotterdam

Westkruiskade 26-28
3014 AS Rotterdam

Tel. +31 10 - 436 12 10
Fax. +31 10 - 436 35 32
live@nighttown.nl


Simplon
Boterdiep 69
9712 LL Groningen

Postbus 1513
9701 BM Groningen
Tel: +31 50-3184150
Fax: +31 50-3133027
info@simplon.nl
i think pr@simplon.nl works too

Patronaat
Zijlsingel 2
2013 DN Haarlem
T: +31 23 - 5326010 (info) or +31 23 - 5324103 (office)
Fax: +31 23 - 5322550
info@patronaat.nl
www.patronaat.nl

013
Veemarktstraat 44, 5038 CV Tilburg

Postbus 9022, 5000 HA Tilburg
tel. +31 13 460 95 00
fax: +31 13 460 95 01
e-mail: popcentrum@013web.nl

Tivoli
Oudegracht 245, 3511 NL Utrecht
Postbus 766, 3500 AT Utrecht
+31 30 - 231 14 91
Fax: +31 30 - 231 88 40
E-mail: info@tivoli.nl

Waterfront (small spot had Def Jux shows tho)
Boompjeskade 15
3011 XE Rotterdam
Office +31 10 - 20.10.980
Fax +31 10 - 213.21.37


*** PROMO, BOOKINGS OTHER ***
not in Holland but very usefull if you try to get shows and stuff in Europe contact Subotage

http://www.subotage.com

they do a lot of big artists/tours throughout europe


websites (forums) you could use to promote shit:

www.theboombap.nl
www.theblazz.com
www.pp2g.com
www.wasteland.be
http://www.musicview.nl/


i'll post some more when i have time

....in some info on Polish shops/mags/media?


-----
"nowadays they still cant fix my broken english" Lee Majors
-------------------------

Check my music:

Dizkret&Praktik
"IQ"
Konkret/Dilpak/Sony Poland
------
Stare Miasto
"Minuty"
Universal Music Poland
------
www.dizkret.com
--

Coming soon to a shiny disc near you...

FOREIGN EXCHANGE (Phonte & Nicolay) - "Connected"
NICOLAY - "City Lights", the "almost instrumental" mixalbum, hosted by LUNCHBOX THA NARCOLEPTIC

This is exactly what I had in mind.

.

i know there a lot more countries repping on these boards.

some of the spots in Leeds.

there are 2 main indy record stores you should get your product into:

Jumbo Records
5/6 St. Johns Centre
Leeds
LS2 8LQ
Tel: 0113 245 5570
http://www.jumborecords.co.uk


Crash Records
35, The Headrow
Leeds
Tel:0113 243 6743
http://www.crashrecords.co.uk this is their website but it isn't up yet. you should def try

and get in touch with crash though.


venues:
The Wardrobe
St. Peters Square
Leeds
LS9 8AH
Tel:0113 383 8800
http://www.the-wardrobe.co.uk


The HiFi Club
2 Central Road
Leeds
LS1 6DE
Tel:0113 242 7353
http://www.thehificlub.co.uk


The Atrium
6-9 Grand Arcade
Leeds
LS1 6PG
tel: 0113 242 6116
http://www.theatrium.org


some promoters you might want to get in contact with, lubi jovanovic. organises some good events up here and a writer for straigh no chaser. djlubi@tiscali.co.uk

the drum major, done some very good hip hop nights. their website is http://www.thedrummajor.com but theres nothing on it at the moment. i think the email address was info@thedrummajor.com



and this site has some good contacts and details for northern england. http://www.nwuku.co.uk/recordshops.html

listening to...

Moodymann - Silence In The Secret Garden
Spacek - Vintage Hi-Tech
Thicke - A Beautiful World
Madlib - Shades of Blue
Micatone - Is You Is
Quite Sane - The Child of Troubled Times


<--new site, check it

Record Shops:

Rough Trade
130 Talbot Road, W11 1JA, Tel: 020 7229 8541 - all genres, vinyl + cd. supposedly highly influential in breaking new bands in the indie rock scene.

Selectadisc
34-35 Berwick Street, W1F 8RP, Tel: 020 7734 3297 - all genres, mostly cd. probably London's most visited indie record store.

Rhythm Records
281 Camden High Street, London, NW1 7BX |Tel: 0207 267 0123 - all genres, vinyl + cd

Disque
11 Chapel Street, London, N1 9EZ | 0207 833 1104 | INFO@DISQUE.CO.UK - small, all genres, mostly cd

Release the Groove
20 Denman Street, W1V 7RJ, Tel: 020 7734 7712 - dance music, electronica, jazz, funk, soul, vinyl only. a lot of famous dj's get their shit here.

Mr Bongo
44 Poland Street, W1V 3DA, Tel: 020 7287 1821 - London's premiere hip hop record shop, vinyl only

Wyld Pytch
51 Lexington Street, W1F 9HL, Tel: 020 7434 3472 - specialises in hip hop, r'nb, breakbeats, vinyl only

Deal Real Records
3 Marlborough Court, London W1F 7EF Tel: 0207 287 7245 - A lot of indie hip hop cats do in-stores here; in the past few months Kool Keith, El P, Blackalicious have all come through. vinyl only

HMV
150 Oxford Street (HMV "Oxford Circus"), W1D 1DJ, Tel: 020 7631 3423 - Of all the chain stores, HMV seems to be the only one willing to put "underground" artists on their listening stations - in the past year, I've seen TTC, Count Bass D, RJD2, Lewis Parker etc. all with extremely positive write-ups.

Clubs/Venues:

PLASTIC PEOPLE
147-149 CURTAIN ROAD, OLD STREET, LONDON, EC2 No. 020 7739 6471 - seems to be the venue of choice for "avant-garde" hip hop artists.

Jazz Café
5 Parkway, Camden Town, London NW1 7PG Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7916 6060

The Social
Little Portland Street, W1 Tel: 020 7636 4992 - A DJ Bar, their bi-weekly free hip hop night "Spread Love" usually features up-and-coming underground MCs/DJs.

I'm not a promoter, so I have no idea how people go about getting booked, but honestly I think you're best bet would be to come down here as part of a Third Earth night. My guess is a lot of venues would be more interested in that than just Science Fiction (but then again, airfare for one is a lot cheaper than bringing a whole crew down).

Magazines:

The Wire http://www.thewire.co.uk/ for contact details. Ultra-hip music mag.

Straight No Chaser
17d Ellingfort Road London E8 3PA (+44) 020 8533 9999 info@straightnochaser.co.uk - Also ultra-hip, more focused on black music

Untold Magazine - Don't have contact details, but UK's main "black lifestyle" magazine, good music coverage.

Grand Slam Magazine editorial@gsmag.net - The reincarnation of Big Daddy Magazine. One of the best hip hop magazines in the world.

Jockey Slut http://www.jockeyslut.com for contact details - Of all the DJ mags, the most open to non-house/techno/garage electronic music.

all the robots in the house when u angry say hoooooooooo

[]

like that robot on buck rogers
beedeebeedee

[]

right then, here's what I found 4 u last night for HHC in the UK, e-mail hhc@hiphop.com, DJ Dan Greenpeace may be worth dropping something to allcity@xfm.co.uk, he writes for HHC and he has a radio show, also try Pete Yak piacovou@ukonline.co.uk. The only distributor I could find was units distribution mail them units@fasfwd.com.

2 important record stores

Free Record Shop Ky
Mannerheimintie 4
00100 Helsinki
Finland
Fax: +358 (0)9-6841 6822
email: info@frs.fi

the FUNKIEST (the 1 and only hip hop store in helsinki so the store is a must)
Lapinlahdenkatu 8, 00180 HELSINKI
tel: 09-6856077
email: fjuha@yahoo.com

DJs
dj k2 (he has a show on the radio and plays at clubs)
email: info@djk2.com

dj alimo (he is more of a drum and bass dj but he has a tv and radio show and could assist)
email: info@beatsandstyles.com

thats all for now

Stores
Selectadisc
34-35 Berwick Street, W1F 8RP, Tel: 020 7734 3297 . Indie store that will give your stuff a good chance.

Fopp
1 earlham Street London,WC 2h 9ll,tel:02073790883
These cats really rep new artists.They run a scheme with London Xfm whereby they will display your shit instore.They will also market and distribute your shit across all their stores.from "aberdeen to london" check out www.fopp.co.uk for details.

Personalities
Giles is good,but also get with a cat called Trevor Nelson.He works with BBc and MTV and looks out for quality shit

Peace and blessings

The truth about London is that it's fucking hard. In general the weak link is the stores. Gone are the days where as a customer you knew you could go see "JP" or whoever and get hooked up because he knew you, knew what you liked, and paid attention himself. Most ain't payin attention to anything other than DJ Mag buzz charts, and they can't tell the good from the bad themselves. London is FULL of specialist shops, but most of them ain't on it, so you need to be distributed by one of the companies that these shops take almost blind because the distributor tells them they need it.

London is so hard that most london labels would rather sell a bulkload to Groove distribution for the US, somebody else for Japan, and fuck Europe.

But if you really want to do it. Then send to the magazines now. For the real music lovers, send to Straight no Chaser. For the soul people get Echoes and Blues and Soul and Touch. For the dance and electronic Muzik and DJ.

Make sure that Patrick Forge has it as well as Gilles. Also Nik Weston. Norman Jay. Benji B on 1xtra.

Speak directly to the cats at Vinyl Junkies, Release the Groove, and Soulbrother. Soulbrother is singularly the most on it shop in London, but more for nu soul, nu jazz, and to an extent broken beat, not so much for the leftfield biz.

If you have spoken directly to and formed a relationship with the journalists for the magazines, the radio shows (producers and/or djs themselves), the shops, the distribution companies, and the club djs, then you have a chance.

Because you can't have a weak link in the chain or it falls apart. If radio plays it, then cats will go and ask for it, but if the guy in the shop doesn't know about it, they'll leave emptyhanded. But ok, so the guy in the shop does know about it, but he keeps asking the distributors but they can't recall having seen it, maybe they had a few but they think they sold em all on to a company in Germany. So the distributor has to be on your side,, some of the distributors handle way too many labels to be able to personally push each small labels product. They turn up at the shop with the van and the list, the list goes on for pages and pages, most shops play it safe and pick up 20 of the new thing on Ubiquity, 20 of that new bootleg pairing Donna Summer with Busta Rhymes, 20 of the new JCR thing, and so on and so forth, they spend 30 seconds trying to get their head round whether they can sell some of other things that the guy brought in for them to check out and most of the time they can't make a decent judgement call and they just say no or they take 1, sell that to one of their big spending customers and forget about it.

It's madness. Good luck.

thank you.

[]

This is a great resource and I truly hope it gets archived for future reference. My question is about organizing a cross-continental tour of sorts. It's one thing to have the contact information at all of these European venues, but it's another thing altogether to be able to string together a run of shows. So I guess what I'm asking is, can one of you (especially you cats in the UK) offer a contact at a booking agency over on that side of the pond? The kind of agency that looks to book U.S. groups for tours overseas?

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Want something archived? thats what an inbox is for

.

I think that the internet is the best marketing tool.
People are constantly downloading music...
You posting on this site and keeping in touch with your fanbase helps a lot I think.

So yea, the internet is your friend!

P.S. I caught a couple of people downloading that mix CD i made of the mp3's from your site off of SoulSeek.

peace

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