Don VanCleave

Don VanCleave left the industrial engineering business in Dallas in 1988 to open Magic Platter CD in Birmingham, AL. For 14 years, Magic Platter (and Birmingham) became known as a national starting point for many acts. Magic Platter received NARM's Small Retailer of the Year in 1998 and 1999. In 1995, VanCleave met with about 30 other independent music retailers at a hotel in San Francisco where it was decided to form a support group. The Coalition of Independent Music Stores (CIMS) grew out of that meeting and VanCleave was appointed President. For the past 9 nine years, CIMS has acted as a marketing liaison between many record labels and the stores who are members. The members get behind nationally coordinated efforts to develop new artists. In the past 18 months, CIMS helped coordinate the release of 45 unique recordings by artists central to the stores core customer. CIMS launched a new distribution business last year to help established artists get their Web/Tour items into independent stores.