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getting signed (to a label)
 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2007-02-07 15:10 [#02046702]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



i know that maybe someone up here will now anything about
it, maybe has been already signed (sorry for obciously
having missed it) or heard about someone wo got signed.

actually my question would be - how does the situation with
money for a release look like?

i can imagine that every label has it's own law but - is
there any standard?

i mean if i would be asked to release something on a label
would they ask me to sell them the rights to my tracks one
time, i would get a check and then fuck off or do i get some
percent of the selled releases?

i can imagine this sounds quite pathetic because better
people (impakt?) have tried to send demos and got nothing
but i'm just asking if the effort of making a demo, sending
and finally waiting for an answer not sleeping at night is
worth it...


 

offline room from Sheffield (United Kingdom) on 2007-02-07 15:33 [#02046710]
Points: 484 Status: Regular



usually you are looking at smaller amounts for a new
artist....

a pressing od 500 - 1000

so the copyright for the CD goes to the label and they split
net profit (profit obtained over and above the cost of
making the CD, postage and promotion etc) 50/50

so as you can see even if you sell out you will not make
loads.... but then there is also digital download sales ....
you can make the most money by playing live - organising
gigs yourself and keeping what you can from the door....

The bottom line is that the label is helping to promote your
music and it is usually done more for love than money....

Bigger artists can expect an adance of 200-1000 before the
album goes out because the label knows they can sell 1000
quite quickly with the following sales dripping in over a
year or two....

Of course its a diff ball game if you are signed to a major

Thing is artists from planet mu & type sell 1000-3000
Bigger warp artists will sell 3000-10 000 with the aphexs of
this world selling 30 000-50 000 worldwide in their
heyday... thats my best guess mind you based on figures i've
seen in the past but cannot verify how accurate they were


 

offline room from Sheffield (United Kingdom) on 2007-02-07 15:36 [#02046711]
Points: 484 Status: Regular



1000 CDs costs £1000-1200 to press and promote

If all of them sell then that is about 4000-5000 banked

But it is rare for new artists to sell that much in the
electronic/idm genre



 

offline room from Sheffield (United Kingdom) on 2007-02-07 15:36 [#02046712]
Points: 484 Status: Regular



Basically - keep the day job ;)


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2007-02-07 15:41 [#02046713]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



thanks for that great post !

my expectations for money are rather low - every sum would
satisfy me actually.

i'm a bit afraid of actually completely selling away the
rights to my tracks but i can imagine that for a start they
wouldn't even want to talk with me about this.

the thing with promotion would be great - i'm more afraid of
that live-gigging thing as i have quite difficult studies
here and i guess i wouldn't be able to travel a lot.


 

offline room from Sheffield (United Kingdom) on 2007-02-07 15:44 [#02046714]
Points: 484 Status: Regular



well unless you are playing live

+ have a great web-site

+ have a fanbase

why/how would you sell more than 50 copies anyhow?

its a joint venture between label and artist to build your
fanbase - and good music alone is not enough to sell 1000
CDs. It has to be exceptional music + great promo and
marketing + live gigs + magazine interviews + radio play....


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2007-02-07 15:44 [#02046715]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker | Followup to room: #02046712



no day job here so a few bucks into the pocket would be very
nice :>


 

offline swears from junk sleep on 2007-02-07 15:46 [#02046716]
Points: 6474 Status: Lurker



Press stuff up yourself. Vinyl is better because it looks
like you're more serious about it, anyone can make CDs now.
Of course, the actual music has to be good in the first
place...
and what sounds great to you might bore everybody else to
death, it's hard to get perspective. Most musicians start
out very optimistically, then gradually realise nobody gives
a flying fuck. A lad I knew from school has just quit his
band after five years and £10,000 worth of debt promoting
it to almost total indifference. He can play the guitar
well, his mate can sing, they have some nice tunes, they
just didn't factor in the thousands of other bands that are
doing exactly the same thing as them.


 

offline mortsto-x from Trondheim/Bodø (Norway) on 2007-02-07 15:48 [#02046717]
Points: 8062 Status: Lurker | Followup to sadist: #02046702



Global Goon posted here some years ago. I asked him about
"the economy", and he told me he sold 7000 copies of Vatican
Nitez and that Rephlex paid him £6000 for it. That was one
of the reasons for making his own label. He actually earned
more money on the first-press of Family Glue (1000 copies).
So it seems hard to make aliving out of making electronic
music. Better get signed to Warp now!


 

offline swears from junk sleep on 2007-02-07 15:49 [#02046718]
Points: 6474 Status: Lurker



Of course, if you're just doing for a bit of fun, the love
the music, etc, then fair enough.


 

offline room from Sheffield (United Kingdom) on 2007-02-07 15:54 [#02046721]
Points: 484 Status: Regular



I'm glad goon did well - But a few years ago - you could
sell CDs for £10+ per CD

Now its nearer £7, 6 or less


 

offline room from Sheffield (United Kingdom) on 2007-02-07 15:55 [#02046723]
Points: 484 Status: Regular



That why its more important than ever (if you respect an
artist) to go out and pick up their music legit rather than
soulseek.... if they don't get some money towards food or
equipment - they'll just give up....


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2007-02-07 15:55 [#02046724]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



i'm actually a bit afraid of releasing i guess...

first because i still think that my music is insufficiently
good
second because i somehow dislike this whole getting excited
feeling when you think that you will be the great
breakthrough and suddenly you realise that this was just a
big bubble
third because i'm afraid that a lable might direct me into a
musical directory far away from my own and i will bitch
myself for them


 

offline room from Sheffield (United Kingdom) on 2007-02-07 15:57 [#02046725]
Points: 484 Status: Regular



well if it ain't fun - why do it at all?

release music because you love making it and have to do it
because it feels good.... making music is the buzz - getting
it released is just a bonus a positive "side effect"


 

offline mortsto-x from Trondheim/Bodø (Norway) on 2007-02-07 15:59 [#02046726]
Points: 8062 Status: Lurker | Followup to sadist: #02046724



Try to send out some demo's. Small chance that you'll get
signed, and if you actually do, THEN you can worry about
loosing the rights to your tracks and becoming a sell-out
:)
Good luck, anyway


 

offline room from Sheffield (United Kingdom) on 2007-02-07 15:59 [#02046727]
Points: 484 Status: Regular



and labels don't have to direct you

they just look for the cream of the crop through the 100s of
demos they get and support those people by getting their
music out....

i've listened to +1500 demos for audiobulb

and signed 2 artists from demos (calika & ultre)


 

offline room from Sheffield (United Kingdom) on 2007-02-07 16:00 [#02046728]
Points: 484 Status: Regular



yes good luck :) and stop worrying!


 

offline swears from junk sleep on 2007-02-07 16:11 [#02046737]
Points: 6474 Status: Lurker | Followup to room: #02046727



I've heard the worst problem with listenening to demos is
that 99% of them are really cliched. Did you find that this
was the case?


 

offline room from Sheffield (United Kingdom) on 2007-02-07 16:13 [#02046738]
Points: 484 Status: Regular



80% are really cliched > bad electro/dance/trance/pop

10% are good

5% are very good

the remainder are excellent to amazing.....


 

offline HmND from your mom (Israel) on 2007-02-07 16:15 [#02046740]
Points: 660 Status: Regular



Well this thread is quite upsetting.


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2007-02-07 16:16 [#02046744]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



whatcha mean ?


 

offline HmND from your mom (Israel) on 2007-02-07 16:19 [#02046745]
Points: 660 Status: Regular



The general "no one gives a shit about you nor your music"
attitude of the music industry basically.
But then again, battles have to be fought in life. Proving
yourself worthy in the eyes (ears) of others.

I'm too tired. Good night.


 

offline swears from junk sleep on 2007-02-07 16:34 [#02046754]
Points: 6474 Status: Lurker | Followup to HmND: #02046745



Problem is, faced with a huge deluge of unsigned music, it
would be impossible to give a shit about every single
artist.


 

offline edgey from New York (United States) on 2007-02-07 17:32 [#02046794]
Points: 408 Status: Regular



Couple pointers... if I may...

Legally, a record laebl will require you to release the
rights to your music for them to reproduce and distribute
your music, but they do not need exclusive rights. If a
contract is involved, read it very carefully. There are
many stipulations you can clarify with a label in regards to
this; Exclusive rights for X years, Shared rights with the
label intent to promote the artist, Shared rights up to X
reproductions, Shared rigth for X time period, etc etc.
Know exactly what rights you are giving them.

You should probably never ever give a label exclusive rights
to your name. This will prohibit you from releasing music
under that name on other labels without their consent.

Sometimes pay comes in the form of merchandise rather than
cash; which can be nice if you perform live often, you'll
have CDs, records, etc to sell at events.

Ignore the math that seems to make sense in your head. Just
because you produce 1,000 records, doesn't instantly mean
1,000*$10ea.=$10,000. Distributors pay significantly less
than individuals ($1.50 even), plus you have to count in for
promotional giveaways; DJs, magazines, radio, etc etc.

I'm half asleep right now.. Maybe I'll think of something
important later...



 

offline dog_belch from Netherlands, The on 2007-02-07 17:35 [#02046796]
Points: 15098 Status: Addict | Show recordbag



Nothing like the blind leading the blind.


 

offline edgey from New York (United States) on 2007-02-07 18:09 [#02046827]
Points: 408 Status: Regular | Followup to dog_belch: #02046796



Or the creaminess of the Peanut Gallery.


 

offline dog_belch from Netherlands, The on 2007-02-07 18:16 [#02046832]
Points: 15098 Status: Addict | Followup to edgey: #02046827 | Show recordbag



True, true enough.


 

offline Ceri JC from Jefferson City (United States) on 2007-02-08 04:26 [#02046961]
Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



As room says, a lot of smaller IDM labels do it for love
rather than money, but obviously still need to pretty much
break even, in order to continue putting stuff out.

If you were serious about making money doing it, I'd
recommend become a supermarket's own brand version of the
neptunes, work with a few rap artists and start cashing in
on the current fad for electro-tinged hiphop whilst it
lasts.


 

offline unabomber from Palma de Mallorca (Spain) on 2007-02-08 04:47 [#02046968]
Points: 3756 Status: Regular



I wish I could find a decent MC... Quite hard here in
Mallorca!


 

offline CS2x from London (United Kingdom) on 2007-02-08 05:01 [#02046976]
Points: 5079 Status: Lurker | Followup to sadist: #02046702



You could try getting into doing music for other fields,
like library music, documentaries, things on tv, flash
sequences on websites...sound design for various little
tibbets here and there, to bring some money in (and you can
make a surprisingly large amount if your pieces are played
over and over again) while doing the music you love and also
trying to promote that. If you're own proper music does get
somewhere, nobody needs to know about the rest.


 

offline CS2x from London (United Kingdom) on 2007-02-08 05:02 [#02046978]
Points: 5079 Status: Lurker | Followup to CS2x: #02046976



*your


 

offline sadist from the dark side of the moon on 2007-02-08 05:16 [#02046981]
Points: 8670 Status: Lurker



i actually had 3 conversations with companies making
internet sites about making the small jingles for flash
sites.

nothing worked yet.


 


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