CD Pressing/Copyrighting/Label hunting etc

[egan.]

It was from Season of mist Dan.

You can see a clear change is SoM's model in that they are signing exclusively established acts. However, plenty of labels are still signing new talent and others are "bet hedging"-- signing both established and new acts.

 

[Skinny Viking]

I believe Spinefarm only works with Finnish bands and artists ... don't know if thats changed though

 

[HatchetDrummer]

Ok cool, so is the general consensus that you really don't need a label anymore? I guess I should investigate online promotors/distributors more. I had always thought of them as promotional tools, but promotional only, not as the final stop for actually selling and distributing. Hmm, good stuff.

Kinda what I was trying to get at. Ive received my fair share of royalty checks for the better part of a decade, and I can tell you that if I could do it over again I would be very, very, very, (extremely) fucking picky as to who I let release my music. Too many liar's, cheats and swindlers in the fucked industry to trust just anyone.

To put it into perspective, the last record deal I signed, cost the band $6,000 is lawyer fees, waisted 6 months of time negotiating the contract, and then spent the next year fighting with the label to get all the money that we were contractually obliged to receive. We got 50/50 ownership rights of the media with the label and even still just because its out there doest mean that its going to make you money. So you go down 10,000 to the label to get the record out, and if it doesn't sell well enough, you get dropped, or you don't get dropped and you stuck with a -10,000 bank account with the label.

If I could do it all over again it would be done DIY. I am in the process of doing it all over again, with another band. If you manage money correctly it would take a small investment to get things going, but once you have the shit, CD's, t-shirts, stickers, patches, buttons... you will make much more money then if your getting crap supplied to you by a label, and you can fund more media by selling the shit you got.

just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt...

 

[gorath23]

Kinda what I was trying to get at. Ive received my fair share of royalty checks for the better part of a decade, and I can tell you that if I could do it over again I would be very, very, very, (extremely) fucking picky as to who I let release my music. Too many liar's, cheats and swindlers in the fucked industry to trust just anyone.

To put it into perspective, the last record deal I signed, cost the band $6,000 is lawyer fees, waisted 6 months of time negotiating the contract, and then spent the next year fighting with the label to get all the money that we were contractually obliged to receive. We got 50/50 ownership rights of the media with the label and even still just because its out there doest mean that its going to make you money. So you go down 10,000 to the label to get the record out, and if it doesn't sell well enough, you get dropped, or you don't get dropped and you stuck with a -10,000 bank account with the label.

If I could do it all over again it would be done DIY. I am in the process of doing it all over again, with another band. If you manage money correctly it would take a small investment to get things going, but once you have the shit, CD's, t-shirts, stickers, patches, buttons... you will make much more money then if your getting crap supplied to you by a label, and you can fund more media by selling the shit you got.

just my opinion, take it with a grain of salt...

No man, thats really helpful. I'm pretty much set on doing this myself now. It may be more work and time for me to undertake it, but I figure I will get out what I put in. Without sounding crass about it, I'll just have to :Spam: my way through the internet, getting the CD about as much as I can. Considering how little promotion I did for the demo I was really pleased with the response so hopefully I can get it off the ground. I'm actually slightly relieved, in some respects I wasn't looking forward to dealing with the demands of a label, and picking my way through a convoluted contract negotiation.

 

[Russtopher]

I've been doing a lot of research over the last month on the "newer" methods of helping get a band off the ground and exposed over the web. The last time I was in a full band was 2004, pre-social media and high-bandwidth days. Some really helpful blogs and sources I've learned a lot from on DIY methods (everything from marketing, branding, distribution, etc) are:

http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/
http://www.theindielaunchpad.com
http://www.indiemusictech.com
http://www.musicthinktank.com
http://www.newmusicstrategies.com
http://www.musicthinktank.com
http://www.indieguide.com/

 

[Pot]

thumbs up for this thread

 

[DanLights]

I've been doing a lot of research over the last month on the "newer" methods of helping get a band off the ground and exposed over the web. The last time I was in a full band was 2004, pre-social media and high-bandwidth days. Some really helpful blogs and sources I've learned a lot from on DIY methods (everything from marketing, branding, distribution, etc) are:

http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/
http://www.theindielaunchpad.com
http://www.indiemusictech.com
http://www.musicthinktank.com
http://www.newmusicstrategies.com
http://www.musicthinktank.com
http://www.indieguide.com/

I bookmarked this post, thank you very much