A record company's only purpose is to make money, mostly by selling music. Put any other explanation on the existence of a record company that you want, but it always comes down to money. Perhaps the business plan of the record company is specialization. Perhaps it hopes to achieve success through diversity. But whether the plan is to release raw black heavy metal exclusively or diversify the roster with a wide range of musical acts, the idea is always to increase sales of what is on offer. Make a profit on the current release so the next one can be better financed and publicized so it will sell more, etc. Nobody starts a record company with the notion of just signing bands so they can have a thousand copies of the same album stacked in their garage. Forming a business always comes down to money. If these people simply wanted to help musicians then they'd loan money to the band to get in the studio and maybe get out on the road. The financier would get a mention in the thanks list, and that would be it for involvement.
If you're a musician, a record company is seemingly an opportunity to not worry about money. Your recording is paid for (hopefully). Your manufacturing is paid for (hopefully). Your distribution is settled (hopefully). Your publicity is taken care of (hopefully). There's a small problem though. The commitment required for a record company to do all of this for you is immense. The greater the capacity of a record company to take care of all these things for you, the more they want to own you. Small record companies don't demand much in the way of commitment and control, but gee, they can't do very much in return, can they?
You never hear about a tiny record company run out of somebody's bedroom vetoing new demo tracks, shelving albums, and tying their musicians up in court. Funny how that works.
If you're a fan, a record company is a brand name. If the record company is small enough, it might even tell you what genre of music might be found on a recording with the record company's logo on it. If you're an experienced enough consumer, you might know that certain companies' CDs cost more than other companies' CDs. You might know that certain stores carry or don't carry a specific record company's releases.
Oh so useful.
Why do record companies have separate websites for their separate territories?
What is the purpose of a heavy metal record company with worldwide rights to an album that will release that album in some territories and not others?
Why is it that the record company merely handles the creations made by other people, yet the record company is not the side of the partnership that receives the tiny royalty percentage?
Why is it that every release is neatly divided into singles, EPs, and full-length albums? Why are there no standards as to how those are defined, with overlapping running lengths being extremely common even within one record company's catalog?
Why are releases strictly priced according to this defined type of album without regard to the cost of recording, packaging, manufacturing, and promoting an album? Rookie musicians signed to a record company get less money to record their album than veteran superstars, their booklets are far smaller and more simply designed, fewer copies are physically made, and the advertising budget is infinitesimal in comparison. Yet the record company will charge the same amount for a full-length album in standard packaging for both of them. Seriously, what the fuck?
It's a great scheme to prevent the price of albums from ever going down. Record companies can honestly say they can't slash prices without consumers feeling they are getting a lesser product. If the standard retail pricing scheme is $19 for a full length album, $12 for an EP, and $4 for a single, a record company can't suddenly decide that their full length albums were going to be $12. Everyone is going to assume it's a bargain bin failure of an album, or that it's only fifteen minutes long. They've got us by the balls.
Have no doubt, the record company is the enemy of the heavy metal musician and it is the enemy of the heavy metal fan. They do not alleviate the business worries of a musician, they become the business worries of a musician. Record companies do not encourage independence of the musician and their creativity. The attitude of "I can do this myself" and the marshalling of creativity and resources disappears from the musician when the thoughts stray from "making music" to "can I go on tour," "can I get a good producer," and the big concerns of getting listeners: "How many magazines will review our work, how many people will know about us, will anybody be listening?"
The concept of the record company is not wrong. The reality has twisted and corrupted the integrity of heavy metal.
If you're a musician, a record company is seemingly an opportunity to not worry about money. Your recording is paid for (hopefully). Your manufacturing is paid for (hopefully). Your distribution is settled (hopefully). Your publicity is taken care of (hopefully). There's a small problem though. The commitment required for a record company to do all of this for you is immense. The greater the capacity of a record company to take care of all these things for you, the more they want to own you. Small record companies don't demand much in the way of commitment and control, but gee, they can't do very much in return, can they?
You never hear about a tiny record company run out of somebody's bedroom vetoing new demo tracks, shelving albums, and tying their musicians up in court. Funny how that works.
If you're a fan, a record company is a brand name. If the record company is small enough, it might even tell you what genre of music might be found on a recording with the record company's logo on it. If you're an experienced enough consumer, you might know that certain companies' CDs cost more than other companies' CDs. You might know that certain stores carry or don't carry a specific record company's releases.
Oh so useful.
Why do record companies have separate websites for their separate territories?
What is the purpose of a heavy metal record company with worldwide rights to an album that will release that album in some territories and not others?
Why is it that the record company merely handles the creations made by other people, yet the record company is not the side of the partnership that receives the tiny royalty percentage?
Why is it that every release is neatly divided into singles, EPs, and full-length albums? Why are there no standards as to how those are defined, with overlapping running lengths being extremely common even within one record company's catalog?
Why are releases strictly priced according to this defined type of album without regard to the cost of recording, packaging, manufacturing, and promoting an album? Rookie musicians signed to a record company get less money to record their album than veteran superstars, their booklets are far smaller and more simply designed, fewer copies are physically made, and the advertising budget is infinitesimal in comparison. Yet the record company will charge the same amount for a full-length album in standard packaging for both of them. Seriously, what the fuck?
It's a great scheme to prevent the price of albums from ever going down. Record companies can honestly say they can't slash prices without consumers feeling they are getting a lesser product. If the standard retail pricing scheme is $19 for a full length album, $12 for an EP, and $4 for a single, a record company can't suddenly decide that their full length albums were going to be $12. Everyone is going to assume it's a bargain bin failure of an album, or that it's only fifteen minutes long. They've got us by the balls.
Have no doubt, the record company is the enemy of the heavy metal musician and it is the enemy of the heavy metal fan. They do not alleviate the business worries of a musician, they become the business worries of a musician. Record companies do not encourage independence of the musician and their creativity. The attitude of "I can do this myself" and the marshalling of creativity and resources disappears from the musician when the thoughts stray from "making music" to "can I go on tour," "can I get a good producer," and the big concerns of getting listeners: "How many magazines will review our work, how many people will know about us, will anybody be listening?"
The concept of the record company is not wrong. The reality has twisted and corrupted the integrity of heavy metal.
