How much would it cost to start an indie record label?

  • Thread starter Thread starter guitarguy101
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Oops, stuffed up the edit and somehow double posted...

I was attempting to add some detail about a guy who did something very similar, and made it work.


Back in the early 70s, here in Australia, a young fellow did pretty much what is being talked about. Initially he was legally 'underage' and was rumoured to have got away with a few errors and had some narrow escapes because of that. I can't vouch for the details or the truth of that, but he did build a very successful label and signed some of the country's top acts. Mike Gudinski of Mushroom Records

He began by promoting bands and then set up a label. I was part owner of a graphic design and photography business at the time and we did some album covers and publicity photos for them. The whole music scene was a touch dodgy and wobbly back then.... but geez it was fun... :D

Lots fail, but some do succeed. So good luck with it.

Chris
 
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This really seems like a meaningless thread.
I am the Carl's Junior Hamburger God, have a Ph.D. in Astrogation from M.I.T., and have built your own nuclear fusion powered interstellar spaceship from neodymium magnets, toothpicks, and chocolate covered ants. Not bragging though!
 
wheelema said:
Calm down child, this is the internet. You can claim to be the Carl's Junior Hamburger God, have a Ph.D. in Astrogation from M.I.T., and have built your own nuclear fusion powered interstellar spaceship from neodymium magnets, toothpicks, and chocolate covered ants for all I care.

Luck.
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Blue Jinn said:
Come on, we all know chocolate covered ants can't stand the gravitational forces of hyper-space acceleration. They're the wrong shape. Chocolate covered beetles however are spheroid
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wheelema said:
;)
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He has found us out!!! Quickly delete this thread and I meet you all on Europa.
 
Come on - what's the matter guys? Can't bear the thought that he might actually succeed? ;)

We don't know the original poster, so he might be a complete fantasist or 100% genuine. Either way, some young people do take on ambitious dreams and succeed. There has been some very good information posted here, in amongst the expected snippy comments.

It's worth remembering that your reactions here say nothing about the OP, who you don't know, but they do say a lot about you. If you are a success yourself then you are much more likely to believe in the potential success of others. If you're basically a battler or loser yourself then that becomes built in to your life view and you'll see the potential loser in everybody else - indeed you may actually want to. Can't have some keen young lad doing something we didn't manage, eh? Must be just a cocky kid then.... Well, not necessarily. :)

Give the guy a fair go. In ten years he might be offering you a job. ;)

Chris
 
guitarguy101 said:
I wanted to start a small indie record label (5-6 bands.) I already have the bands that want to sign (and a sweet little recording studio.) How much would it cost just to get it off the ground, and what work would this entail?
We're all in high school. My dad has an MBA and a degree in law, I preemptively took (and passed) the bar exam, so technically I am allowed to practice law. Between my dad and myself, we are capable of writing any contract or legal document necessary.
I'm getting better and better at making clean recordings. I'd also be willing to fund any recording studio trips if the bands were unsatisfied with my recordings, and I could see a profit in what I was doing.
Also, should I make it an LLC, or a non-profit? The LLC would mean I keep whatever I have left over at the end of the day, the non-profit would be giving dividends to the bands, with whatever profit I have.
I have a few basic contracts drawn up, and if anybody feels like reading them, I'll post them.
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Thanks you for the post.
 
Hakea said:
Come on - what's the matter guys? Can't bear the thought that he might actually succeed? ;)

We don't know the original poster, so he might be a complete fantasist or 100% genuine. Either way, some young people do take on ambitious dreams and succeed. There has been some very good information posted here, in amongst the expected snippy comments.

It's worth remembering that your reactions here say nothing about the OP, who you don't know, but they do say a lot about you. If you are a success yourself then you are much more likely to believe in the potential success of others. If you're basically a battler or loser yourself then that becomes built in to your life view and you'll see the potential loser in everybody else - indeed you may actually want to. Can't have some keen young lad doing something we didn't manage, eh? Must be just a cocky kid then.... Well, not necessarily. :)

Give the guy a fair go. In ten years he might be offering you a job. ;)

Chris
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New favorite guy on this thread. If you feel like going "Oh, you're a teenager, what you're saying isn't possible," then go ahead. The fact that a bunch of 30-40 year old guys have nothing better to do with their time than troll a kid is kind of sad, and says a lot about you, not me.
 
And even if what I'm saying isn't genuine, it really doesn't matter. I'm sure that as a 16 year old running a home studio AND starting a label, I'm ahead of where the people insulting me were as teenagers. But if you seriously are dead set on analyzing every word I say for authenticity, then I pity you. I really don't feel a need to screw with fellow studio-owners, or troll them, or whatever noble connotation you assign your action to.
If you feel like not believing me, fine, I honestly could care less. Even if you don't believe took the bar, you should at least be satisfied with the fact that a teenager has shown enough interest in recording and music production to start his own studio.
 
guitarguy101,
When you put something into the public domain, any control you might desire is out of your hands. People look, people comment. Some will be positively encouraging, some will just be sarcastic, some will be non commital, some will tell you it's a bad idea, some will hope it fails. That's just part of the jaggedness of humanity. People will have all kinds of different reasons for the things they say. Some might be negative because they've tried and failed or seen others do so or perhaps are trying and coming up against brick walls. Not every negative answer implies negativity towards you or what you're planning.
Bear in mind also that for the most part, you've been offered opinions from which you can deduce a few things, primarilly the fact that no one has actually told you how much it would cost to start a label though Cap'n Hair and Ms Hilarious put you on the right direction there. Most of us here can help you in terms of recording and it's related activities but obviously not what you need in this particular venture so take the jibes with a pinch of salt, look further into your idea, make it work and in the future, come back, referencing this thread and tell us how you did it.
Don't be put off by some of the realities people point out. But don't ignore them either.
Now, go west young sir !
 
Broadly speaking the average IQ is 87 to 90 but a random sampling of strangers on a street would lead one to believe that the average IQ is 135+. I've interacted in one form or another with dozens of 'producers', 'artists', etc., met 'accountants' who couldn't tell a credit from a debit, 'lawyers' who couldn't tell you what is meant by 'the bar' if their life depended on it, etc. etc. etc. I appreciate that it is very human to want to be taken seriously... notably by youth... but it is very easy to claim accomplishments on the internet that are wholly false. Another name for the internet is Cynicism. But having said that I hope that the OP accomplishes his goals.

I'd go on but I have to complete this policy paper on Strategic Avenues of Critical Supplies in the Straights of Hormuz for President Obama and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. What a pain. :facepalm:
 
That article just backs up what i said, but i could care less....

wait, i couldn't care a bit more....ah sh1t, i forget.
 
I could care less, but I don't care enough to bother caring any less than I already do.
 
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