Record pools...ever heard of them? The chance is that you
have not. And, there is an equal reason that you have not.
And, even though major record labels have used them for
years, and continue to use record pools extensively, record
pools are one of the most secretive elements within the
Music industry.

Yet, although record pools can literally make you and your
music project an overnight success, they can also make
you filthy rich. And, if you utilize enough of them often
enough, you can get filthy rich!

But, let's answer the foremost question first...what are
record pools?

Record pools are music organizations that distribute the
music from labels and artists to deejays who are pool
members for the express purpose of obtaining music for
the nightclubs in which they play/spin records. The pool
is overseen by an individual referred to as a pool director.

Record labels and artists send music to record pools in
order to test market their music at the least expensive
cost, as well as a fast way of getting paid. Likewise, labels
and artists do not charge pools for copies that they send
them. Additionally, record pools are probably the fastest
way to get exposure for a new release.

Okay, the pools win by getting music from labels and
artists, which attracts deejays as members. Accordingly,
deejays win by eliminating the need to purchase music for
their nightclubs.

But! How do labels and artists win? What's in it for them?

What is in the deal for labels and artists is:

* Quick exposure directly to music listeners
* Quick exposure directly to music buyers

But, how does the process really work? Glad you asked,
because now, I have a chance to give you a step-by-step
approach:

1. First, you need to have a very strong single (or singles)
if you desire to release more than one single release. My
advice is, regardless of your genre, if your music falls
within a "commercial" aspect, i.e., Pop, Rock, Dance,
Urban, Country, or any hybrid or sub genre thereof, your
preference, first and foremost, should be either:

a.) A hot dance single or...
b.) A very strong tear-jerk, heart-wrenching ballad

Anything in between will simply not suffice because club
goers are in clubs for (primarily) one thing...to dance,
whether that is shaking their gluteus maximi to an
uptempo beat, or "slow-dragging" <=(old school term for
grinding ever so closely while not necessarily being in love).

2. Take your selected single(s) and enhance it/them to
some degree that will make the song(s) slightly different
from your radio version. Ways to do that include:

* Extending the song(s) from the radio versions' 3-4 minutes
in length to 5-6 minutes in length for the nightclub versions',
since people prefer longer versions in clubs.

* Adding or modifying sound effects.

* Dropping out or fading certain instruments, or incorporating
new instruments not heard in the radio version.

I believe you get the point...

3. Place your club version on vinyl, as most nightclub deejays
still prefer vinyl (wax), although there are now a number of
deejays that will also accept your enhanced version on CD.
To cover all bases, consider placing your club versions on
both vinyl and CD, if it is affordable to do so.

4. Contact record pools to learn if they have member
deejays who play your genre of music in their nightclubs and,
if so, the number of such deejays they have. This number
from each pool will allow you to determine the number of
pieces you will need for the pool(s).

Note: One such pool that actually distributes on a worldwide
level is Dixie Dance Kings at http://www.dancekings.com
DDK also holds the honor of being both the 2002 and 2003
International Dance Music Association pool of the year.
DDK's service areas include: United States, Alaska, Japan,
Europe, South America, the Caribbean, Saipan and Guam.

Even so, there are a number of additional record pools,
however, DDK is an excellent one to begin with.

5. Once you have the number of pieces for the pool(s), and
after the pool receives them, it will usually take 1-2 weeks
before your music begins getting club play. Then, the
response is almost instantaneous.

Note: Prior to sending out to pools, you should also ensure
that you have your offline retail distribution covered so that
you can get sales as a result of the club play. A good place
to begin for offline retail sales is with The Orchard, with its
website at http://www.theorchard.com and New Artist
Direct, with its website at http://www.newartistdirect.com

The Orchard currently pays for sales on a quarterly basis,
while New Artist Direct currently pays on a monthly basis.
Combined with CD Baby paying weekly, you can realize
income on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. Such a
setup is unheard of with traditional distributors, and you
will now have money in your pocket a lot sooner and more
consistently.

There was a time that, when an independent artist was
fortunate enough to get airplay outside of his local or
regional area a couple of thousand miles away, equally
unfortunate was that there wasn't a thing he could do
about it, in terms of sales. He could only weep at his
potential sales losses

These two organizations eliminate that loss, of which
they have a 90%-95% concentration into offline retail
stores, both major chain stores as well as independent
music stores.

6. The point of making sure that your music is set up with
these particular organizations is that, when club goers
hear a "hot" record that they like, naturally, they want it,
and they want it NOW!

And, while these two distributors do not take hundreds
of your CD at a time (which is a great thing for you, as it
does not tie up your product and make it difficult to get
back, as with traditional distributors), these particular
distributors make your music available through a national
retail database so that stores can place orders instantly
for their customers.

They operate much like online music sales sites CD Baby
and Amazon.com do, again, with accepting only a few
copies at any given time, but they are the offline versions,
reaching music retailers while giving you the best of both
online and offline sales worlds.

Now, you have already seen the wide distribution area of
the Dixie Dance Kings record pool and, if you have not, I
encourage you to review it. And, again, there are quite a
number of additional record pools that, in general, serve
as specialty pools to particular genres, or serve virtually
all commercially viable music releases, regardless of
genre.

In fact, I now encourage my radio promotion and publicity
clients to try to make record pools the very first aspect of
their promotion and publicity campaigns.

7. Nightclub deejays must report their club responses to
your music to the pool director, generally, between 2-4
weeks. Each deejay compiles his own club response
report, which he then turns in to the pool director.

The pool director then compiles a final report from each
deejays report, and provides you with a copy. This report
generally includes each club's listing, address, the
response rating to your music, along with an overall
average score. You can then use your report as influence
to obtain; more radio airplay, press coverage, distribution
deals, and more.

8. Now, in addition to having a completely different version
of your song(s), you also have another version of the song(s)
that you can sell at retail if you wish and, as the saying goes,
"getting two bangs for your buck," or as I like to put a twist on
it, "getting two bucks for your bang," as a certain number of
people will also be interested in your enhanced club version.

9. An added and peripheral benefit of having a club version
of your music is that a number of record pool deejays also
have specialty/mix shows on stations in their area or, they
may even be a part of the main staff on their area stations.

Thus, should a nightclub deejay really like your music, and
is not simply fulfilling the obligation to play your music in his
club, it is very likely that you will begin receiving airplay on
his area station as well.

One final note is that radio and retail work very closely
within their own local and regional areas, with each
apprising each other of what is getting response from
listeners, and what is being asked for at retail, respectively.
This is why it is vitally important that you are set up with the
two aforementioned offline retail distribution services and
others like them.

Now, when you begin the radio promotion and press
publicity aspects of your marketing campaign, they can
merely serve as "icing on the cake," so to speak, as
opposed to being the only driving factors you have to
make the public aware of your music.

In fact, with now including record pools within your
marketing, and being able to provide proof to both radio
and press of your music's club response, you are likely
to experience much easier access to the media. And,
wouldn't that be a good thing?

Kenny Love is president of MuBiz.com, a multi-service music firm providing radio promotion, media publicity, gig publicity and business services for musicians. Get complete details at MySpace.com.