i want to start my own record label

Interesting read here about labels and the complications with
getting your creations to go where you would like them to go.

Personally, I write and record, copyright, and then give it away
to whoever cares to listen. If someone downstream gets their
hands on it and cares to do something with it, sobeit.

Music is like the air we all breathe. No one charges you for it.

I'm not being sarcastic here at all! The only interest I have is
sharing what I do with everyone.

Life is so complicated. If you want to truly cover yourself, get
an agent and sign with a label.

60's
 
Personally, all I want to do is play and record music.

However, my business aspirations are to have studio-recording venue, live-room venue, practice rooms, storage, Eqp rental and live-mobile recording, all under one roof. That's all. That's not a "label", either.;)
 
Balderdash!

C7, Regebro et al are correct.

You don't need anything except for a copyright and some $$. In some cases, you dont even have to have the copyright.

I have played on 55 CDs, some on big labels like Warner Bros. and Deutsche Grammophone. I have NEVER been in a studio that was owned by a record label.

Think about classical music. It is recorded all over the world in Concert halls. If the NY Phil records with DG, they don't go to Berlin, they record at their hall. The label hires a free-lance producer and engineer, then they send it to a mastering suite.

I have friends who on their own labels that dont even own a microphone. They rent a studio, Get some CDs printed, and sell them on their own.
 
Another case in point: Folkways. In business for over 40 years, something like over 1000 albums released, which are now a national treasure.

And it was run out of a two room office - INCLUDING the recording studio (with less equipment than many people around here own). For many years the extensive liner notes were typed up and mimeographed and inserted into the record jackets.

If I were to pursue my fantasy of starting a label, Moe Asch would be my model.
 
I'm jumping in, but in the interest of not discouraging anyone from starting a label, it really should be pointed out that, despite taking such an authoratative tone, AudioWebs doesn't seem to know jack shit about how record labels work in the year 2003 -- especially not independent labels.

The first three things on your list are completely laughable. Label don't own studios or mastering houses or manufacturing plants for that matter. I suppose you might be able to find some proof that one of the majors has those things, but it certainly isn't as cut and dry as you make it seem, and creating a business model based on that of the few major labels is a terrible idea.

Here's a more realistic plan:

Recording -- In the world of independent music, it's not always necessary for the label to pay for recording. A lot of times they split it with the bands, and sometimes they don't chip in at all.

Mastering -- For a ten song record, let's say $600.

CD Pressing -- Deals can be foud everywhere. For 1000 discs, which is what most labels start with, you can expect to pay about $1200.

Promotion -- Includes everything from traditional print advertising (in small zines) to sending out copies to writers and magazines for possible coverage. If you handle mailings on your own (which, again, most labels starting out do), you'll only be paying the cost of packaging and postage. As far as advertising goes, there's an ad for every budget. It's possible to design a fairly effective ad campaign for $500 if you look in the right places. For that, you'll get web banners on online magazines, 1/4 page ads in certain smaller music zines, etc.

If you do all those, things, and you slap a logo on the spine, you have a record label -- and you've spent just over $2000 to get it off the ground. Sure, that can increase over time, but don't let any of these folks tell you you need anything more than that when you're starting out. I don't know what kind of music you're into, but for proof that this stripped down business model can work, check out the legendary indie labels out there: Sub Pop (Nirvana, Soundgarden), Touch and Go, Dischord, etc. This is how every single one of them started out, and in all honesty, it's not all that different from how they work today.

Good luck.
 
Oh, and you cant copywright a name. You register it as a trademark, or a servicemark, but not a copywrite.
 
trim said:
hah. in answer to regebro regarding my intentions...i think it would be great if, after i produce and perfect my first album, i could release it on my own label. i've always wanted to be my own boss and run my own show, etc. so yeah, it would really be the whole ball of yarn as the cats say :D
Click to expand...

Isn't that the position you are in already? Are you being pressured by the big labels to change your music?

The whole point of getting signed by a label is that somebody with more money, experience and contacts is pushing your music and getting you airplay and shelf space in big retail stores. If those things aren't important to you then by all means start your own 'label'.

All you need is a CD, business license and the funds to duplicate your CD's.
 
I'll agree completely w/ Regiebro.

1. Recording studio - done w/ label money, but not part of a label. artists can use thier advance to record anywhere they want to w/ label aproval.
2. Mastering Stuies - same as above. usually an independant contractor will do the mastering wherever they feel most comfortable.
3. Cd Production machines - sometimes done through label, but often an independent duplication service is hired to copy the glass master and manufacture the cases
4. Advertising System - a label hires independant promoters on a band to band basis. true the label does general advertising, but most of this is done out of house.
5. Sales locales - not sure what you mean here :)

in short, a label can be run out of an office or garage, as long as you have cash to spend. surround yourself w/ people who know what they're doing. go to shows and look for talent. don't expect bands to come knocking on your door in the begining. go out and find bands that are amazing live, have great personalities and who write good, solid, creative music.

best of luck.
 
Mike BL said:
I'm jumping in, but in the interest of not discouraging anyone from starting a label, it really should be pointed out that, despite taking such an authoratative tone, AudioWebs doesn't seem to know jack shit about how record labels work in the year 2003 -- especially not independent labels.
Click to expand...

Amen! What's all this crap about labels having to own studios?! It's amazing to me how many people just talk out their ass on this forum.
 
Basically, and I know this from experience, to run a label you need the following, and nothing else:

1. Capital. A few grand is an excellent start.
2. Drive. You need to want your label to be successful more than Ghandi wanted Indian independence.
3. Marketing smarts. You need to know your audience/customers better than you know your wife. You also need to know how to get the word out about your bands. It also helps to be able to write snappy marketing copy for press releases, websites, etc.
4. Salesmanship skills. You need to be able to convice those radio and press people that your bands are worth space on a page or time on their playlist. Hopefully the music is good enough where you can effectively convince them.
5. Time. You need to spend every waking moment you can on the phone with the press and radio, on the computer creating promotional materials, with the bands discussing deadlines, at shows and the internet scouting new talent, etc. This either needs to be your full time job or nearly so to really take off.
6. A working knowledge of intellectual property law. You need to know who owes you cash and why they owe it to you.
7. Organizational/Accounting/Business skills

If you have enough capital, you do not need a studio, and most labels are not outgrowths from studios. The overwhelming majority of labels do not own their own studio, despite the uniformed drivel dripping from AudioWebs's keyboard. I know the above because I ran/run a label myself, and I was less than successful, mostly from lack of 1, 3, 4, and 5. :)
 
labels do not need all or any of those things in house. i mean im not the most knowledgable person in the world about this, but i know that most of the indie labels around here take the finished product(which they payed for, payed for part of, or payed for none of cus the band sent it to them hoping to get it released), send it away to get pressed, helps promote the bands by setting up shows and getting it the local record stores. i mean... i would just say i agree alot more with the guy who said 2000 dollars to get started then the guy who said .25,000
 
thanks mike.


well then. it appears audiowebs is perhaps wrong about a few things. but i think he was just shooting for the top? like what you need to be a totally contained, self-reliant label?

anyway. this is all good to know for the future (and anyone reading this who is looking to do this for real today)

i just wanted to own (copyright, trademark) my label name and have it on my first cd. that would be pretty nifty.


ps. hey 60s guy, you wrote:

'Personally, I write and record, copyright, and then give it away
to whoever cares to listen. If someone downstream gets their
hands on it and cares to do something with it, sobeit.

Music is like the air we all breathe. No one charges you for it.

I'm not being sarcastic here at all! The only interest I have is
sharing what I do with everyone.

Life is so complicated. If you want to truly cover yourself, get
an agent and sign with a label.

60's'



wouldn't the copyright you get on your material be considered 'covering yourself'??

:)
 
trim said:


well then. it appears audiowebs is perhaps wrong about a few things. but i think he was just shooting for the top? like what you need to be a totally contained, self-reliant label?

:)
Click to expand...

I think Audiowebs is a she, and has no clue what she is talking about.

Shooting for the top? Balderdash. It simply does not work like that. Trust me, I have been there.
 
So, in the analysis, a record label is, at minimum, no more than a DBA,..

since every function can be subbed out, if you get down to it.;)
 
Have fun trim. I was a music studio with 3 studios - and then became a label.

Slapping labels onto CDs of a pretty hack-job label if you ask me. And besides you aren't gonna be dealing with the actual playing and recording music.

You might as well sell BBQs or cars for that matter. But if you want in on the musical process you might try a partnership with a studio in your area - someone running a home-based studio perhaps.

People here can yell back and forth about "I've got the experience" and "No, I've got the experience."

Why don't you go to the library or bookstore and read some of the books on music business. You won't find one that does not urge you to either partner with a studio (if you can't afford it) or build your own. See for yourself whose coincides with authors in the major music business.

Have fun....
 
AudioWebs said:
Why don't you go to the library or bookstore and read some of the books on music business. You won't find one that does not urge you to either partner with a studio (if you can't afford it) or build your own. See for yourself whose coincides with authors in the major music business.

Have fun....
Click to expand...

Even if this were true, which I doubt, why would you choose to do what a library book told you to do over what nearly every successful label out there already does. A thirty second search on the internet would reveal that 95 percent of the studios that do work for major labels are not owned by those labels. Who owns the studio is irrelevant from the label’s point of view, since they give artists advances and they can go wherever they want with that advance money.
 
AudioWebs said:
Have fun trim. I was a music studio with 3 studios - and then became a label.

Slapping labels onto CDs of a pretty hack-job label if you ask me. And besides you aren't gonna be dealing with the actual playing and recording music.

You might as well sell BBQs or cars for that matter. But if you want in on the musical process you might try a partnership with a studio in your area - someone running a home-based studio perhaps.

People here can yell back and forth about "I've got the experience" and "No, I've got the experience."

Why don't you go to the library or bookstore and read some of the books on music business. You won't find one that does not urge you to either partner with a studio (if you can't afford it) or build your own. See for yourself whose coincides with authors in the major music business.

Have fun....
Click to expand...

I hereby appoint you as leader of this forum. You know everything, and we are just mindless dweebs.
 
DISCLAIMER: I have no experience from working in the buisness, my experience is just from listening to everything I can get my hands on, or feet on.

This whole starting your own label thing is largely dependent on what you want do do with this label. Do you want to have fun alongside of your day job? Do you want to support yourself and others on this endeavor in a constant struggle that will be totally worth it? Or do you want to take the industry by storm?

There is also the whole idea of a music genre. I'm sure you all know a lot more than I do about how recording/mastering/producing techniques differ from genre to genre. The advertising, selling, booking, and production also differ's greatly. I heard mention of indie rock, which is just a balloon term of a lot of genres.
Labels "making it" seems to be largely about filling a niche.

Also, everyone dissing audiowebs idea's of in-house studios:
yeah that's definitely not an ultimatum, but it's not a bad idea. A lot of record labels focus on creating a "sound" unique to their label.
Look at "K" records. Everything is recorded at one or both of two studios. There are a few exceptions of home recordings, but they work heavily on the in-house "dub narcotic" They book shows at people's house's and old restaurants. A recent lp release was sewn together at several relative's houses. And they have a small following, (big enough to pack every label show i've been to) around the world.

I haven't heard anyone else give an example of a label, so I don't know if that was allowed. Sorry, this was way too long.

If anyone is interested, I have a question. It feels to make like starting your own label now is vastly different than it was ten, or even five years ago. The whole indie-rock wave created labels that are now well-established, but who knows of a "good" label that was started less than five years ago?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top