majors/indies/DIY

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dobro

dobro

Well-known member
There's a good article in the June edition of 'Performing Songwriter' by Janis Ian (remember Janis Ian?) about the pros and cons of moving your music via a major label, an indie lable, or doing it all yourself.

I used to think I'd go the major label route if I ever had the chance, but after reading the article, I'm thinking an Indie label would light the candles better. Yeah, sure. DIY in the meantime...
 
dobro:

DIY is the way to go, I mean look at it this way, after you've sold x amount of copies the majors come looking for you to give your support via funds. So might as well make a pretty penny before the middle man cometh

Also, Indies are perfect, you get paid better, still you get exposure, your song is heard, though your marketing/promotions staff is short you get the same effect, plus the money isnt diveed up as much as with the majors. I mean the majors get all the recoupable up front then the musician, managers, etc.. Indie, it's you and the label as 1.

D.I.YINDIE --- hey that's a name for a record company (running to fill out a COPYWRITE FORM)ha ha ah ahah
 
Hey Bliss,where you at in N.Y.? I used to live on 1st Ave.and 65th street.I mean,I don't want your address or anything,just curious about what neighborhood you're in.Cheers!
 
Please don't hit me, but can anyone go into a little depth here and explain to me the exact working of an Indie label, what it means, what it is. (What I mean is where do I get mine, hehe)
 
In the States at least, the majors are the big five companies (or is it just four now?). Any other record company is an independent. The majors are huge and in it for the money, meaning you don't get much attention, money or TLC, although you get their massive distribution and marketing engines to work for you if it all works out. Yet some people who get contracts with the majors actually find themselves either broke or losing money, or worse, their music gets unreleased or frozen by the company.

Indies are smaller and tend to treat their people better - more money, better treatment, the indie actually tries to move your music, and some indies, believe it or not, are into the music and care about it. Although more trustworthy and pleasant to deal with, their distribution systems are much less extensive, of course. Swings and roundabouts.

The entire June edition of 'Performing Sosngrwriter' which I mentioned above is devoted to covering the indie scene in the States.
 
Dobro,

I'm not sure that I would say that indies aren't in it for the money. In fact, there are many indie labels that have MOre restrictive contracts than major labels. I suppose that's because they have less cash flow and want/need to collect income from all channels (sales, publishing, merchandising, etc). The simple take home message to anyone signing a contract with an outside company is to look out for yourself and get a good attorney!

I for one am going the DIY/independent route. Our company Supernatural Music Group, LLC (a.k.a. "Supernatural Records") will be launching our first artist, me, in the fall. In everything that I've studied or been involved in, music business-wise, an artist has the best chance of negotiating a semi-fair deal once they can prove that they have a following. Basically, if you can prove that you can make money yourself selling your own record(s), you can often get a respectable deal that doesn't require selling you soul or giving up your first-born. I encourage all home/project recordists to either attempt to do it yourself or find local or semi-local indie labels to take on your product.

I'll go on the record to say that the only reason that you should ever sign with an outside business/label is when the label can do MOre for you than you can do for yourself. Many folks haven't even tried to sell their own record before aspiring to a signing a label contract... seeds for destruction.

Rev E
 
Rev E - you're right, and I was making sweeping generalizations, and ignoring DIY in answering Helmut's question. The only reservation I've got about the DIY route is that it takes so much *time*. You know, my involvement on this site alone is a danger to my songwriting, recording and mixing. And if I had to keep books, package CDs, shop around for CD duplication, hustle outlets for distribution etc etc etc, I'd be much less of a musician and more of a businessman. And although it would be a blast seeing if I could make a go of it, I'm in it for the music, basically. But if showing the labels (big or small) that you are *already* in demand by going DIY is the way to go, then maybe that's the way to go. It's just that I'd rather write and play, that's all. :)
 
A-ha, so Indie is actually short for independent label. Thanks ppl. Dobro, I don't think you know how much this site is worth to alot of ppl, keep up the good work.
 
Sure! I know how much it's worth! I reckon about 75% of what I know about recording (and that ain't much) I got from this site. The reason I have this many posts to my name is because:

a) I know so little
b) I keep asking questions

It's something like the guy who has shelves and shelves of books in his home. At first, you're impressed, and then you think 'well, if he's so fucking smart, why does he need all these books?'
 
Dobro,

Your wrote: "And if I had to keep books, package CDs, shop around for CD duplication, hustle outlets for distribution etc etc etc, I'd be much less of a musician and more of a businessman. ...It's just that I'd rather write and play, that's all."


You're exactly right about that! That is exactly what I'm finding with being the artist/engineer/producer/label owner. Wearing so many hats takes away from each of your abilities in each area. I just expect that things will take more time that usual and it works for me. Since I have more time than money, that's the way it's got to be. Fortunately, I like "dealing" and business, plus I have to make use of this MBA. So the D.I.Y. route is definetely what gets me going! For someone like yourself, the best bet may be to surround yourself with people who are really capable and gravitate to doing the things that you would not like to do (like the business, marketing, promotion, etc...). In that case an independent label may the quick ticket on your way to a major label deal.

Rev E
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Helmut:
Please don't hit me, but can anyone go into a little depth here and explain to me the exact working of an Indie label, what it means, what it is. (What I mean is where do I get mine, hehe)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

There are as many ways to run an indie label as there are people to run them.

Most indies I know (including my own) are flexible about trying to meet the needs of the musicians they work with, so it's a better deal that working with a big machine like a major label on that end.

Of course, major labels have a lot of resources that most indies don't have. That helps when you really want to go for something huge. Something huge costs a lot of money though and you're going to pay for it one way or another.

dave @ kathode ray
www.indiebiz.com

Email biz101@kathoderaymusic.com for a free music promotion course.
 
Apparently The Offspring left Epitaph for Atlantic because, among other things, they said the people who ran Epitaph were worse "money grabbing scum" than anyone they ever met at a major. Also, doesn't "independent" just mean self-owned? And wouldn't that make Virgin an indie even though they have Janet Jackson/Stones/Pumpkins/Spice Girls/Kravitz/etc?
 
Never heard anything that bad about the Epitaph people, but it's possible.

"Indie" is technically without major label distribution, but it has come to mean several different things over the last few years.

dave @ kathode ray
www.indiebiz.com

Email biz101@kathoderaymusic.com for a free music promotion course.
 
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