wargasms said:
im not trying to throw salt, im just a realistic dude who is doing the independant thing...and ive seen alot of people with unrealistic expectations take advantage of other artists with even more unrealistic expectations
But what can you do for these unknown artists? Really. other than take a cut from all of them. I know some of the dudes you listed, most of them dont use a studio, they home record. They are in various locations, do you have the capital to oversee the project of people on the east and west coast at the same time, plus pay these costs? Manufacturing costs should not be 2$ per cd unless you are manufacturing less than 1000, if you signing 20,000 dollar deals, manufacturing 10000 cd's should cost you like 80 cents or less per unit maximum.. . . And im just curious as to how any label, much less and independant, can successfully market that many artists who dont already have a built in national or international fanbase.. Have you met these artists in person? Do you have distribution channels in place?
And video's are like a major waste of money unless you get regular radio airplay, or there are heavilly viewed outlets for you video's to get regular airtime. Def jam didnt even do a video for method mans last album since meth didnt have a radio single.
Just the costs of maintaining a roster that thick and not digging yourself in a deep hole would need a million in upfront capital.
if you doing 20,000 plus deals for each person, thats 300,000 already invested before a dollar is made back.
Im just saying, i've learned alot by observing, and im putting myself out there now as an artist. We did everything from top to bottom on our project, and built ourselves a large fanbase, and accomplished alot of things., but its still a struggle to get the ball rolling. And i think we did things as efficiently as possible.
I just saw a dude who is on our album and has an already established fanbase sign a deal with a small upstart independant who i guess underestimated the capital it takes to run a label. They pushed him to the front, promoted him as their flagship artist. They built a relationship with Duck Down & Boot Camp Click, did a compilation featuring their artists and the boot camp artists, did a large scale tour....
the compilation sold, but they were still so deep in the hole, they now havent been able to release an album for the artist, which has been completed for 2 years now.
im just concerned for both you and the artists..numbers sound right, but its alot you arent accounting for. Especially if you seriously are trying to handle that deep of a roster at once as an upstart.
There is a lot that I did leave out, but I wasn't going to write a book so to speak on the subject, just helping someone else out.
Anyways, CD's costs are high on some projects, because of what we are manufacturing. I can get the 80 cents a CD without full color printing all around, without the 12-16 page booklets, or the reply cards, or the poster/booklet printings, etc. The more I add onto a CD, the more it costs. When I signed a couple of them a while back, they didn't have anything but a decent setup at the house, but now they are recording in studios. Also, I dont' understand why I wouldn't have met my own artists lol. Beyond just $$ there's a LOT more. I play smart. I know some of my artists are not the greatest as of yet. When I signed Vyrous, we was labeled Shotup Records, and he sucked ass. Now winner of various tourny's, and a name on the streets, more CD's can be manufactured. IF I had an artist like, The Game, I wouldn't be manufacturing less than 10K cd's, but for some of these artists, any more, and they'll be selling for a long while before inventory was up. For my own CD, I don't expect to manufacture any more than 5K copies at a time. For my own CD, I know I don't got the resources to sell a million copies. So why be big headed, and manufacture a million CD's? At the end, I'll have like 800,000 sitting around that I payed money for lol. We do have a fan base that could get rid of XX # of CD's depending on artist. I don't expect to sell 50K of my own CD, BUT that doesn't mean I think so low of myself, or anything, I'm just being realistic.
Beyond That.
3rd Infantry & Xover are the only 2 that don't record in full fledge multi-million dollar studios, they record in project studios. I do pay for the studio recording, but we have contracts & contacts with studios in each respected areas. Artists like High Society record in big facilities, music is usually done before we hit the studios, and they usually either drive or fly from NY to Dallas, and stay a month or so, hitting Harbor House studios up.
Beyond That
The artists that mean a big deal to me, are concentrating on releasing a great CD that I can start manufacturing in full production with world/national type distribution & hit em big. Also I do walk a thin wire, but I'm a business man willing to take risks
coming up with $$ isn't THAT hard.. it's keeping it flowing that's the hard part. Vyrous's Arch Enemy CD from start to right before press line cost me next to nothing. So did PGT's Playa City, bearly any $$ was out of pocket. My own CD, will cost just about nothing until it hits press lines. PGT, Vyrous, Xover, Lindi Heart & Neurotron 606 are good friends of mine, we all released albums so far that costs damn near nothing, but pulls in a decent amount of total $$ that keeps everything going. Neurotron 606, Lindi Heart, Vyrous, High Society, have had quite a few radio spots. And I, Myself, Lindi Heart, PGT, Vyrous, Neurtron 606 have performed live etc. I myself, opened up with Mo-World in 1996-97 @ Do Or Die/Twista concert before they went huge & platinum. So, anyways, bearly any $$ to put an album together = more $$ to keep moving forward. Some of these artists are binded to contract that's different than the other artists we have. Some of our artists dont' get $50K in the year, but they get XX$$ per CD sold, and are willing to move ahead with me. Anyways 2007 is the year of the Mind
BTW. the lowest for a decent printed CD i got for over 10K was $1.09 per CD. When your talking about manufacturing 50,000 to 100,000 CD's, is when costs go down to .80c. If your a manufacturer, and it costs YOU $.30c to inject & mold the CD, print in full color, wrap everything, add UPC codes, advertise for the client, blah blah blah blah, no matter how much cd's are being asked to be manufactured (like 1,000,000) there would be no way to make a profit really, by doing .25c because they manufacturing a 'large' quanity if you get what i mean. Anyways I see your point, but I'm not manufacturing so many CD's lol, plus all the little extras' I get from manufacturing, like Radio (major & college) promotions, a thousand or so posters along with an order, brick & mortar promotions (in buildings type sales, not internet), along with internet promotions. For the cost of distribution/manufacturing, it's really not that bad of a deal. It's how you play your money & contacts right. You do make a valid point though. I'm not in the RED, but I am taking a lot less in for more artists under the belt. If I was to sign 3-4 new people, I'll probably go bankrupt, so i am running risks. but I'm willing to take it because I KNOW there's a brighter future.... Maybe it's my ignorance lol but I'm pretty sure there WILL be a tomorrow.....
Im trying to get with a label to just produce beats, for startup i wouldnt even charge 
Anyways i like dteh firts songa lot it was hott, beat reminded me of some JMT song cant rem whihc, seocnd one was ok, not feelin it that much but still good job on the signings.