The internet has changed the recording industry forever.

[Simmons]

Never in the history of modern music have there been so many resources available to the independent artist. I’ve been writing, recording and performing music for the last 15 years, so I’ve grown up with the idea that if you’re not signed to a label then you’re nothing. I have numerous friends who have been signed to labels…both extremely successful like Hootie and the Blowfish and extremely unsuccessful (people you DON’T know). Being signed to a label, no matter how bad your deal is, validates you in some way as an artist.

For ninety-nine percent of “acts” that get signed to labels, the band gets a sizeable advance, then studio and video costs, management, promotion, touring, etc. - all against the band's advance and future royalties. The band makes pennies on a sale, the label makes the rest. I’m sure for some people it’s all about the hype, fame and prestige, but for many thousands and thousands of music lovers in hundreds of countries around the world it’s about the music and the songs. I believe the elusive “next big thing” in music will come when a few more barriers are broken down in this industry and the hype is reduced. Billboards like this are proof that those walls are coming down. This billboard (and a few others like it) are helping me to produce my own record and hopefully I will sell enough records through the internet to make the next one. That’s my goal. I will take whatever “next step” is available for me to take. If the record sells enough to support a tour (I wish), I will do that with great pleasure. If the record sells enough to buy some new equipment, I do that. You get the picture. The point is, there are thousands of people just like me doing exactly the same thing. I think THIS is the future of music and THIS is where we will see real creative advances in modern music and song writing. Have you listened to the radio lately? How many times have you thought. “Does anyone WRITE music anymore?” I said it at least a hundred times. The answer is YES. People like us write music and it needs to be heard on our terms. So my question to you is : Why would a unsigned/unknown artist want a record label in today’s world of global internet access? I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

[bdbdbuck]

Just ask Hootie how much they made in concerts last year. Having a label has the advantage of propelling you into that tax bracket. If you write a few HIT songs for Hootie you'll see another advantage of having a label. Those performance royalties are small, but they add up over time and you never even have to see the inside of a bus.
I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but it's really a matter of how long you're willing to bang your head against the wall. This is a great BBS, with even a few big dogs spreading their knowledge around. For old farts like me, I still have the knots on my head.


bd

[Simmons]

You don't need a label for a major artist to record one of your songs or to receive royalties.

[bdbdbuck]

That's exactly the point I was making. Example Hootie doin your hit, as opposed to someone without a label releasing it. Like I said, you'd never even have to see the inside of a bus.

bd

[bdbdbuck]

OK, after re-reading these posts, I probably wasn't being very clear, I have a tendency to ramble sometimes. You're absolutely right about not NEEDING a label for a major artist to release your stuff or to receive royalties. My point is, unless the label is behind it pushing and investing, the chance of you receiving those royalties is very slim. Most major artists, as you know HAVE labels and that distribution and promotion thing they have a lock on propells the artist to those high paying concerts, etc. If your tune happens to be part of that success, you're shining! I dunno...am I rambling again?


bd

[lucaskerper]

i am a independant artist as well. for the last few years i have been stuck in my small ass town (salem oregon)playing the same venues in a two hour radius of here...

anyway a new label just offered me a 2 album contract deal... they are from portland, and it is tempting...
but honestly i think i am gonna pass it up. what are they gonna do for me that i can't do myself? they don't even have a distrobution company... my home recordings are getting better and better, and i just think that this company would screw me...

if a person wasn't very motivated, maybe they should sign because the record company would push then to play and do more, but i have motivation and i think i could make a lot more by retaining 100% of the profits.

any suggestions?

[bdbdbuck]

Yes, my suggestion is to just keep right on doin what you're doin! Right now, just like you said you have just as much goin for you as that "label". I put that in quotations because if you're doing your own CD's, you're a label too (for all intents and purposes).



bd

[Lt. Bob]

Actually......one of the biggest things the 'net is gonna do for the big labels is to drive them out of biz'ness.....whoo-hoo!

Doonesbury did a bit where they talked about the coming collapse of the majors, 'cause no one will pay their inflated prices because file-swapping makes it free. So when that happens, music will once again be driven by live performing. The musician will be a traveling minstral like in days of old.....and quality will go up 'cause in live performances, you can't play all the studio tricks...so if you're not good, no one will come to see you.

I hope, I hope that's exactly how it goes.

[tanlith]

Originally posted by Lt. Bob
Actually......one of the biggest things the 'net is gonna do for the big labels is to drive them out of biz'ness.....whoo-hoo!

Doonesbury did a bit where they talked about the coming collapse of the majors, 'cause no one will pay their inflated prices because file-swapping makes it free. So when that happens, music will once again be driven by live performing. The musician will be a traveling minstral like in days of old.....and quality will go up 'cause in live performances, you can't play all the studio tricks...so if you're not good, no one will come to see you.

I hope, I hope that's exactly how it goes.

Yep yep yep! I think the real big turning point was the introduction of MP3 compression... that was where the Big Labels really died... they just don't know it yet... course, I'm sure they'll find some other way to rape poor unsuspecting artists... it's only a matter of time!

The glass is half empty dammit!!!

hehehe



- Tanlith -
Webmaster: Super Loop Library

[dobro]

Mmmm... there are guys who spend their time making music and thinking of ways to make better music, and there are guys who spend their time making money and thinking of ways to make more money. Example - the Beatles and Brian Epstein. One reason the Beatles were so successful was their music, of course, but another and very important reason was Brian Epstein, who concentrated his considerable talent on the question of how to convert the Beatles, their image, their music, their icon into cold, hard cash. He did it really well.

Everybody knows that, but the point I want to make out of that example is that the music biz is good at making money, and once it realizes that old approaches don't work anymore (and they're realizing it as we speak), they will concentrate their numerous minds and considerable resources on the question of how to MAKE MONEY out of what's happening in music now - mp3s, the internet, you name it. And when they finally learn how to take their collective finger out of their arse and do something new, they'll do it better than you or me. The money-making bit, I mean. This refrain about the internet and file-swapping driving the music biz to its knees is dumb. It won't happen, unless the entire western economy goes down in flames.

And that bit about "I can make music in my studio that sounds almost as good as pro" isn't gonna make any difference to the majors. They'll just factor it into the next generation of contracts when they finally figure it out. "Okay dobro, you make your next album at home, and if it sounds good enough, we'll distribute it, and if it doesn't, we won't. Of course, if you opt to do your album in our studio with our engineers and our budget, your contract will have to be rather different (read 'unattractive')."

Musicians don't get rich. Face it. Not unless they're very lucky or very, very talented. They certainly don't get rich just because a label signs them.

Okay, to return to the original question. Would I sign with a label if a label was dumb enough to take me on? At this point, sure, if they had any kind of distribution system AT ALL. I could get my music to way more people than I can now. Also, I could get access to better mics and more musicians that I can now. For example, I've had three of my songs shipped out to different people on this board for a collaboration for months now, and they haven't got back to me yet. That's cool - I know how to wait, and I know how to do other things in the meantime. But if I was paying them, I'd've had the product months ago. Simple. A label could do that for me. Very useful.