Which label would you send your music to?

[...] or Nuclear Blast.

As a fan, I don't really like the release politics or the roster of NB, but AFAIK they treat the artists quite well. Whereas Roadrunner (especially Roadrunner US) treats some bands like slave whores... Spitfire ain't that good either.
 
Claudio was nervous as shit. He told me that he was afraid because they were the only band with screaming vocals as well as clean. He was afraid he'd get booed offstage. I almost slapped him.

Nah, he's probably getting laid right now. All the chicks go fuckin' ga-ga over him because he's so sweet and innocent-looking.
 
I'd really like to get on Spinefarm, actually. If they sign you, they pay for your trip to Finland, set you up in the recording studio for two weeks and take care of you. A friend of a friend in Rome did that with his skank-ass, shitty goth band. They dropped him afterwards, but he still got a two week vacation to Finland.
 
There's always Naplam Records too. All you need is either some goth chick wailing on one of your songs or a folk interlude, and you should be golden.
 
Claudio was nervous as shit. He told me that he was afraid because they were the only band with screaming vocals as well as clean. He was afraid he'd get booed offstage. I almost slapped him.

Nah, he's probably getting laid right now. All the chicks go fuckin' ga-ga over him because he's so sweet and innocent-looking.

Dude, if he's getting laid right now instead of enjoying an incredible friday night line up (Communic, Virgin Steele, Redemption, PAGAN'S FUCKING MIND, and Sonata Arctica), then shame on him.

Aside from Firewind, wasn't too impressed with Saturday's line up. Though, Primal Fear is probably a really awesome band.
 
There's always Naplam Records too. All you need is either some goth chick wailing on one of your songs or a folk interlude, and you should be golden.

Fuck, that's right. Every time I go to a show in Salzburg, they're handing out free Napalm samplers.

Don't have the goth chick or folk interludes, but there are some really nice sounding "Aaaaahhhh"s from the keyboard here and there. Electronic samples, too, kinda like older Mnemic. Shit, there's even a trance-y track with just the drums pounding along with the samples. It could've been gay, but it was done really well. He's an excellent drummer.

It's a weird album, but it all fits.
 
this isn't on the topic but if you've recorded your album why are you sending the whole album to labels? i was under the impression that most labels don't want your entire album and won't even listen to it if its that long and that they prefer just a list of what shows you've played, what you've done and a 4 or so song demo so they can listen to it and decide. at least whats what i've heard from the stuff i've read and seminars and stuff i've attended at music camps/info from musicians/people that run labels.
 
this isn't on the topic but if you've recorded your album why are you sending the whole album to labels? i was under the impression that most labels don't want your entire album and won't even listen to it if its that long and that they prefer just a list of what shows you've played, what you've done and a 4 or so song demo so they can listen to it and decide. at least whats what i've heard from the stuff i've read and seminars and stuff i've attended at music camps/info from musicians/people that run labels.

It's actually quite the opposite. If you've done an album really well and the production is quite good, they'd prefer that because that means they don't have to spend tons of money on studio time, instruments and equipment, layout artists, etc. Maybe bigger labels like Nuclear Blast, Century Media, Roadrunner, etc. would prefer a demo so they can change the aesthetic of your album to meet what's popular, but a lot of underground labels prefer a completed album. It's just math.

Raintime spent two weeks in Denmark on their own dime recording Flies n' Lies, and I remember the day I met Claudio for a beer as soon as he returned. We were hanging out at a pub when he let me listen to the master copy, which he then burned for me. That thing was burning a hole in my pocket for a solid year because I wanted to show everyone how awesome it was but I couldn't. They had lost the deal with their last album, and were then picked right back up with this one...they now have distribution all over the world: Japan, US, Europe, South America, etc. It was much easier for them to get a deal instead of sending a demo to a label because the label already had the final product. They just had to promote it. I've got the demos they made YEARS ago...they never left his house.

Maybe in the states it's different, but here they want to cut corners as much as possible to save money. If they like the album, they'll sign you. It's not as difficult to get a deal these days as it used to be, in the sense that we're all connected. The hard part of getting a deal is separating yourself from the rest of the crowd due to overpopulation.
 
ah ok, i was just under the impression that labels would prefer a few songs to decide if they like your band's sound and if you've played enough to be ready and they don't want to listen to a full album because they get so much other stuff, but your idea makes a bit more sense.
 
ah ok, i was just under the impression that labels would prefer a few songs to decide if they like your band's sound and if you've played enough to be ready and they don't want to listen to a full album because they get so much other stuff, but your idea makes a bit more sense.

Well, I could still be wrong...I'm just going off of the experiences of others and what I've heard. I can see how a big label that receives thousands of demos each month could have a short attention span when it comes to the material. If it doesn't grab them right away, they trash it.

I'm glad you posted that because that is something I've never heard before and definitely worth thinking about when presenting it to a label.
 
As a fan, I don't really like the release politics or the roster of NB, but AFAIK they treat the artists quite well. Whereas Roadrunner (especially Roadrunner US) treats some bands like slave whores... Spitfire ain't that good either.

Heard of anyone except Grave Digger quitting Nuclear Blast?
And Grave Digger signs for one album only, and then for the next goes shopping labels to see who will pay them the most.

Then again, as many have said, I would send to every label I know of. Also remember: a distribution deal might be better than an actuall signing, as the recording will go out of your royality payment if you get signed. Promo and such is allways deducted from what you sell, so you gett fucked there by all labels and all deals.

It's actually quite the opposite. If you've done an album really well and the production is quite good, they'd prefer that because that means they don't have to spend tons of money on studio time, instruments and equipment, layout artists, etc. Maybe bigger labels like Nuclear Blast, Century Media, Roadrunner, etc. would prefer a demo so they can change the aesthetic of your album to meet what's popular, but a lot of underground labels prefer a completed album. It's just math.

All labels, except those who have their office and their moms house in the same place, prefer to get a demo with your best song first, and then the next best song 2nd. If they like these 2 songs, they wan't the whole package, so you could just as well send both a demo and the whole album. You should also make a promo-package (ehm: a press kit), with reviews of your band, some live photos and photos of the band, some cool packaging and links to your myspace / facebook / whatever where you can show them that you allready have a fanbase and that people like your stuff.
 
I've always thought that if you tried something remotely trend-oriented like Ferret and marketed yourself as something really weird and new that they'd pick you up and promote the hell out of you. Probably not, but just a thought.
 
Who the hell wants to watch teenage porn? This is really creepy, especially with the teddy bears on one of the pics.
One of the girls could also use a shave.