Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Cream Start Your Own Record Label, Part 2
Posted by Steve Haruch on Wed, Mar 18, 2009 at 6:06 AM
I have to agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment that there is no better time to release music but only with two major caveats in tow. One, you must operate under the mindset that profitability is on the back burner, possibly the far back burner that doesn't really work so much anymore. Two, you have to be willing to be somewhat technically savvy and actually use the Internet to promote yourself / your project. The old mechanisms of putting out an album are verging on extinction for smaller bands because the overhead is so high with almost no promise of a successful return.Glenn Peoples, Coolfer:[Snip.]
The whole idea here is that while it is a good time to release music, smaller bands have to rethink what measures "success" with their release. Obviously the old mantra is based on sales and show attendance. The new mindset should remove the focus on sales and opt for tracking the statistics of how many people are experiencing and sharing the music. When CD's were the sole way of hearing a bands music, it made sense to focus on sales - as it was a direct one to one relation to the amount of people listening - but with the proliferation of mp3s, file sharing, bit torrent, etc. etc. that focus becomes a small piece of the overall picture.
On the other hand, musicians face two daunting facts: The marketplace has become more crowded and consumers are spending less on music. The lower barriers to entry do not guarantee a band's music will ever be heard outside of friends and family. Previous barriers to entry were just high enough to keep out the marginally and not-so talented. Now, for better or wose, anyone can do it. There's a lot of noise to rise above.Aaron Hartley, Theory 8 Records:It's like a guy finally gets past the assh*le doorman, past the velvet rope...only to find out the club has become a huge sausage fest. And it's ladies night! After that initial rush of excitement, he realizes his odds of getting laid are no better.
To me the future doesn't really rely on what we used to call a record label, instead I think we will see successful companies that are more music based but offer more than just label services to artists. I started a management arm of theory 8 in 2006 when De Novo Dahl and Forget Cassettes both signed deals. Now when I look at theory 8 as a business I don't see just a record label and I don't see it just an artist management company. It's an equal blend of both. I can provide different services to different artists based on their immediate needs and future goals. Even the artists I'm releasing music for, we still have a more management type relationship where we are sitting down and trying to figure out what they want their career to be like in next few years and how we can start shaping that together. Having worked with more established labels (including one major), you can see that, in general, they aren't always worried about the artist career, they are watching their bottom line and Soundscan numbers each week and if things aren't happening they find something else that looks more promising instead of really digging into an artist's career and seeing where the problem lies and how it can be fixed.Thanks to Aaron, Michael and Glenn for taking time to respond. You do the same.
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My book warns of the pitfalls and how tough it is. But creating a buzz in the music industry has always been tough. And it's always been tough to get a record deal. I wrote this book to give musicians and people who want to release other people's music options. Yes, they can hear the gloom and doom messages, throw their hands in the air and give up on getting their music out. But many don't want to! For people who have great music, a realistic attitude, the perseverance to work VERY hard and a strong desire to succeed, some of them can make a living from marketing their music.
I've completely rewritten and expanded this book, which is not based on my opinion. I'm the enthusiastic messenger for the input from over 100 music industry pros in all avenues of the biz---record labels that are investing in acts, like Daniel Glass at Glassnote, to indie artists like Ingrid Michaelson and Push Play, who took control of their careers and are successfully selling lots of music, top bloggers who drive potential fans to an artist, online distributors, radio, resources like ReverbNation, marketers, etc. With all the new resources available, there really has never been a better time--tough but doable for those with a strong belief and the music to back it up.
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