{{Short description|American music distributor}} '''CD One Stop''' was a distributor of pre-recorded music in the late 1980s through the 90s. It was started in 1985 by Alan Meltzer, owner of the Titus Oaks Records music chain in Long Island. Meltzer moved to Connecticut and launched the company, which was the first of its kind to distribute only compact discs, out of his house in Ridgefield.<ref name="roll_Wind">{{Cite web| title = Wind-Up Records Founder Dead at 67| author = Matthew Perpetua| work = Rolling Stone| date = 2011-11-01| accessdate = 2014-12-18| url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/wind-up-records-founder-dead-at-67-20111101| archive-date = 2015-01-14| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150114221307/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/wind-up-records-founder-dead-at-67-20111101| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref name="bill_Alan">{{Cite web| title = Alan Meltzer -- Late Wind-Up Records Founder, Three-Time Industry Success Story -- Remembered by Friends & Family| author = Ed Christman| work = Billboard| date = 2011-11-02| accessdate = 2014-12-18| url = http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/1162149/alan-meltzer-late-wind-up-records-founder-three-time-industry-success| archive-date = 2015-03-20| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150320074748/http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/1162149/alan-meltzer-late-wind-up-records-founder-three-time-industry-success| url-status = dead}}</ref>
Meltzer later rented an office and warehouse in neighboring Bethel.<ref name="Inc.1996">{{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgcEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA86|date=7 September 1996|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=86–|issn=0006-2510}}</ref> But the company's growth was enormous. By 1989, its {{convert|28000|sqft|m2}} of office space and warehouse were barely enough. It moved to a {{convert|90000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} facility in Bethel's Francis J. Clarke Industrial park. By 1992, the company had knocked down the northeast wall and doubled the warehouse to {{convert|180000|sqft|m2}}. By this time, it was also distributing cassettes and had taken over some exclusive distribution lines owned by Schwartz Bros. CD One Stop also opened a West Coast office at this time outside of Sacramento, California to compete with Valley Distributors.
In 1993, the company was sold to Alliance Entertainment Corp., a holding company buying up distributors such as Encore (Denver), Bassin (Miami), and Abbey Road (Los Angeles). Meltzer, and his key management staff, became the odd men out. But Meltzer was rumored to have invested heavily in a startup called CD Now, an early online music store, which later sold to Amazon becoming its music arm.<ref name="bill_Supe">{{Cite web| title = Super D's Acquisition of Alliance Entertainment In Context| author = Ed Christman| work = Billboard| date = 2013-09-05| accessdate = 2014-12-18| url = http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/5687047/super-ds-acquisition-of-alliance-entertainment-in| archive-date = 2015-02-04| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150204082446/http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/5687047/super-ds-acquisition-of-alliance-entertainment-in| url-status = dead}}</ref>
Meltzer's first attempt at a record label was in 1996 with Grass Records, which morphed into Wind Up Entertainment, which gave us the likes of Creed, Evanescence, and Seether. Steven Lerner, Marketing Director at CD One Stop, became the president of Wind Up.
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Record label distributors