San Diego, California, USA
| StoreTags: release, label, diy, download
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Just thinking out loud here...
With the changing landscape of music distribution and promotion (myspace, cdbaby, tunecore, itunes, snocap), it strikes me that most artists will start having a hard time justifying releasing their music on a label in the near future (though possibly not for major labels as the sheer exposure given by a major can launch a career overnight). But while a label gives exposure, it seems that individual acts/bands can adequately do for themselves what a smaller label might offer (recording, promotion, etc.), especially as the music industry as we know it looks to be heading for a collapse as fewer and fewer acts are actively promoted to ensure profit margins and the recycling of past successes wears on listeners.
As Dick Dale says: Do it yourself.
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02/04/08
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Raaphorst
DIY
this is the internet age. be smart, start a blog and publish your music under Creative Commons. and sell Cd's, USB sticks, t-shirts and performing live.
take the business out of it and drop some fun and freedom into it.
bottom line: when you have fans, you have money.
02/04/08
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mlbot
Yes, you should "DIY Label" if you can.
For your first several releases... I say forget earning $$$, even ask yourself "how much of my hard earned money am I willing to spend to release this album".
But I also suggest finding a group of like-minded musicians to help promote yourself... there are many small lables out there that might be 100% Free, or really cheap... and maybe they wont buy you adds in big glossy magazines... but they can offer you a community, contacts, and lots else that a pure di-it-YOURSELF release wouldn't get you.
02/04/08
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laskfar
the DIY route can riddled with doubt and dismay, but ultimately I believe that it is the right way...in order to protect and cultivate the sanctity of your creative output. be in kontrol my selectors!
02/04/08
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Bantam
I recently watched an interesting documentary about the Manchester indie label, Factory Records (still available on the BBC iPlayer for those in the UK).
They had a very DIY ethic, especially in the early days of the label. They did very little promotion or marketing, but each release was like a piece of art. Joy Division's first album cover was innovative in that it had no album or artist information on it, completely contrary to popular practices at the time. The cover of the Duratti Column's first album was covered in sandpaper (with the aim to destroy the other albums in your collection) and the label lost money on every copy of Blue Monday by New Order sold, because the single's sleeve cost so much to produce.
Despite this, it seemed that by giving people something interesting and unique, as well as putting out good music they created a buzz without the huge marketing budgets of the major labels.
How easy do people think it is to make something original and stand out in a world with where MySpace and iTunes reigns supreme?
02/04/08
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hardvoltnine
yeah I basically will wait until I have enough exposure one way or another that I get lots of requests that I can't fulfill with out having to charge, then I know my stuff is sought enough to be bought.
02/04/08
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em978
j_chot said: " em978 said: " j_chot said: " em978 said: "i think musicians have a tough time justify charging people for their music since, very few people buy music anymore."
I haven't had that much trouble selling demos.
it's all about the hustle, homie."
are you making enough money to support yourself?"
that's sort of an unreasonable expectation, unless your music is totally fucking awesome/you are willing to tour all the time/your merch is hot.
if you live in oakland, you're doing something wrong...."
I think you took this the wrong way .. I was more suggesting why sell cds and music if you can't make a living at it.. For me I would rather give it away for free since, more people will listen to it that way.
I'm not sure what kind of crack you where making about oakland or me. I think people have this impression that there are tons of electronic music shows out here and there is a really big scene. I'm here to tell you that isn't the truth at all we are not Portland.
02/04/08
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j_chot
but tigerbeat6 is in sanfrancisco?
02/04/08
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em978
actually they are in oakland and they have a show once or twice a year. not really much of a scene.
02/05/08
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antfactor
Perhaps I'm mistaken, but it seems to me some people are naturally better equipped and more comfortable at promoting themselves effectively. It takes a lot of time, effort, $$$, and drive to do so, and not everyone has the energies to throw in those directions. Being a musician and producer is one thing - being a label / promoter / pr person / graphic artist / web-techy is something a bit different. I realize we probably need to be all of the above to some degree, but where does one draw the line? This is a 'problem' I've dealt with for years. Maybe I'm just lazy. I will admit, though, that I was often not as prepared as I should have been when I did play out. No CDs, T-Shirts, etc. Too busy just thinking about the music, perhaps. I just don't know.
02/05/08
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j_chot
well huh, that sucks
I bet you could start a scene, just find a few venues
02/05/08
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madeofoak
i think there's definitely a distinction to be made between people who are expecting/trying to make a living solely through music and those who aren't. if you aren't, then definitely, absolutely DIY. if you are, there's much more grey area. for example: i want to be on tour quite a bit, and i can assure you that being on a (at least somewhat) recognized label has helped my touring income substantially. i also have been a promoter for a few years, and i know i look at requests from bands who are on labels i know first, and often skim over or skip entirely the countless requests from myspace nobodies. there's a lot of terrible stuff about it too, but i just thought i'd mention that there are many other pros to being signed that haven't been mentioned here, especially if you're not a fan of your day job.
02/05/08
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mlbot
antfactor said: "Perhaps I'm mistaken, but it seems to me some people are naturally better equipped and more comfortable at promoting themselves effectively. It takes a lot of time, effort, $$$, and drive to do so, and not everyone has the energies to throw in those directions. ."
i agree 100%
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