Over the years, we've built up quite a reputation in Europe when it comes to importing sheet music from many different foreign music publishers. For some suppliers, we're simply dealers, while for others, we also handle distribution for Europe.
What's the difference between a dealer and a distributor?
If you're a dealer for a certain company, you've agreed with that company to offer their products in your web shop at a certain discount percentage. You can choose to keep some of their assortment (often the best-sellers) in stock and only order the items you sell less frequently when a customer requests them.
As a distributor, you act more as an intermediary for the company you represent and often have a stockholding function. With many of the companies for which we handle European distribution, we have agreements to ship most new pieces immediately upon release, so the company's stock is always up to date in Europe. The advantage of this is that as a customer, you almost never miss out.
We sell these products directly to our customers, but they're also sent to various specialty sheet music stores across Europe, which receive a certain margin of dealer discount on these products.
Which companies are we distributors for and which are we only dealers for?
The companies for which we currently handle European distribution are mainly American music publishers specializing in sheet music for percussion ensembles. Currently, these include:
- Tapspace Publications
- Row-loff Productions
- C. Alan Publications
- Musicon Publications
At the moment, we're dealers for among others:
- Marchingmusic.de
- Hits In Percussion
- Hal Leonard
- Alfred Music
- Griffith Percussion
How is the percussion ensemble sheet music delivered?
It's often unclear what to expect from each supplier and how their products are delivered.
- With Row-loff, you receive everything physically. So, you always get a printed score and printed individual parts.
- Tapspace always provides a printed score with a code inside that allows you to download all the separate parts digitally.
- Similarly, with C. Alan, you always receive a printed score along with sufficient printed copies of each individual part.
- Musicon provides a printed score with an insert containing a QR code for downloading the individual parts.
At the other supplier, everything is still primarily delivered in printed form.
If you're looking for more or different materials, also check out www.percussionbooks.com. You'll find more teaching materials, method books, and other things you need for your drum and/or percussion lessons.
If you're looking for something you can’t find on any of our websites, feel free to contact us. Thanks to our extensive network in Europe and beyond, there are usually ways to supply the method book or percussion ensemble piece you're looking for.
I hope this has helped shed some light on our foreign suppliers and how everything works.
About Dirkjan van Groningen: Professional percussionist, teacher, composer, and musical entrepreneur. Helps percussionists to function more effectively in bands and ensembles by providing valuable additional resources with his method books and sheet music!