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-- is it wrong to start your own label primarily to release your own trax?
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is it wrong to start your own label primarily to release your own trax?

this is something i have been querying in my head recently.

as some will know i have started a label known as 101 recordings that is approaching its first release.

it is focusing on mainly music i personally would buy if i heared it, and if i make a track i generally like it enough that i feel i would buy it on vinyl so would release tracks by myself..

now, my main reason is that none of the labels i want to be signed to are interested in my music. dj's play it out, labels say they like it but never suggest signing it. i belive in my music. it is no way in the same league as some music (production wise). but i feel it is good enough for release. and my ideas are original not standard (imo).

now dont get me wrong, i have a collaberation release coming on vinyl with a much greater producer than myself, but i feel some of my productions that have not aroused label interest should see a release. on my own label if needs be...

am i wrong in taking this approach? should i wait until i get more releases on external labels myself? or when looking at it on a broader scale, is there any point in waiting for this 'lucky break' in 'getting noticed'? if i am getting requests for my unreleased trax from dj's, then should i just say "why the f**k not have an official distribution for the small amount of customers who are willing to buy mine and others' music, maybe itll take off, but itll be fun either way"

lets hear your views guys cos im sure many more are in the same situation as me and are considering similar approaches..

Well, if you think you can manage a recording label, then this is a great thing to do. Many high profile artist have their own labels, as well as many smaller ones which are tired of getting lousy deals or no deals at all with other labels.
If you plan on releasing digital versions of your material only, then running your own label in not so hard. It may get more complex if you're planning to release "hard" material (vinyl and CDs), since that'll require having vinyl cut (or having your own vinyl cutting facility) and mastering the material specifically for vinyl, and then distributing to dozens of retailers (and getting them to accept your product is a lot harder than setting up a record label account on beatport or audiojelly)

But best of luck with you label, however you do things

thats the thing..

i would not release vinyl because the general sound would be less commercial. these days a track has to appeal to huge numbers to be warranted as a vinyl release, or money gets lost.

if i was sent a demo of a track that was really capable of earning big money then obviously it would be worth forking out and risking for a vinyl release.

if the label is run strictly a+r wise, while being on the fun side then i suppose it cant loose.

its something im planning to do in the future as im a web designer so i no how to make the site and secure it etc. although i want to wait until i get a release before i do so, so that i can promote in the right way.

The thing is, nowadays anybody can create his own label and pretend to be a music company, but precisely because anyone can do it, you will have a hard work to actually look serious and gain respect from DJ's, artists and of course the people who will buy the music. If you want that kind of respect, you're better off releasing some music on good labels first, get your name out there, and THEN creating a label and eventually releasing some of your tracks on it.

If your music is good enough and professionnal sounding, whatever style it is you should be able to find a label for it. And if you don't, you can still share it for free I don't see why people should be so desperate to get money from their music.

Before releasing your music on your own label, you want to be sure that people are actually ready to pay for it.

just my opinion

Do it, there's no reason not to. I've been running mine since February and it's doing ok.

quote:

Originally posted by jahnlay Do it, there's no reason not to. I've been running mine since February and it's doing ok.

whats your label? what artists you got signed to it?

I think having your own label in order to release your own tracks, is a smart move. Tons of bands from all styles of music, rock, pop, metal, have been doing this for years. There's no reason why you can't still shop for a major label at the same time.

Only reason I got with a small Indie label, is that I have no clue how to manage a label. It sounds like a headache and a hassle anyway, specially for someone like me that knows nothing about business. I was fine with giving out tracks for free, problem is promoting them. I caused a small buzz with one of my tracks, and several online DJs played it. Besides that, it's hard to get a decent amount of people and DJs to check your tracks out. I end up getting burried on soundclicks under the huge volume of tracks there. I don't feel like spamming music forums and begging people to listen to my stuff. It's much easier to get a small label to promote your music and get it into the mainstream. So if you can cut out the middleman by having your own label, more power to you.

quote:

Originally posted by staticblue I don't see why people should be so desperate to get money from their music.

it doesnt necessarly have to mean that they want money out of it though, personally I would think that it would be a good way of promoting your tracks to DJs, doing so from a label could make the DJs more interested and make it easier to spread your tracks around the globe, just my personal thought

quote:

Originally posted by staticblue The thing is, nowadays anybody can create his own label and pretend to be a music company, but precisely because anyone can do it, you will have a hard work to actually look serious and gain respect from DJ's, artists and of course the people who will buy the music. If you want that kind of respect, you're better off releasing some music on good labels first, get your name out there, and THEN creating a label and eventually releasing some of your tracks on it. If your music is good enough and professionnal sounding, whatever style it is you should be able to find a label for it. And if you don't, you can still share it for free I don't see why people should be so desperate to get money from their music. Before releasing your music on your own label, you want to be sure that people are actually ready to pay for it. just my opinion

i fully understand what you mean.

however, its not a want for money from mine and others' music, i know starting a label is a business route ultimately to make money, but i kind of look at it as a way to see real apprieciation of my work. i love seeing loads of people downloading 320 k feebies when i post them but i much rather be seeing people who like it enough to be speanding their hard earned cash on it. even if it means we only see 25 sales or so...

i think that making ur own label is a good thing. but before doing that i think that you as an artist must have a professional level in ur music and proper mastering. i think its better that u have some tracks released on another label before starting ur own, so it adds more objetivity to the whole idea. maybe if u have sent tracks to labels and been rejected, has been for some reason. maybe ur tracks are not ready yet in terms of production and quality. i dont want to rain on your parade, but there are many labels (really good ones), who are strugling really hard just to stay alive, cause of mp3, few people buy music nowadays. creating a label is a very good thing to do for the trance community, so it must go beyond the idea of being able to release ur own tracks, but to put toguether a whole concept, maybe in a particular music style u like to promote, get toguether with other artists who share ur vision. u must decide wether ur gonna be a "real" label with cd distribution ( i dont think u wanna get into vynil) or start as a web based label. but remember there are thousand other people who just have the same idea, try to offer something original, fresh and professional in al aspects (web design,music,etc... well i wish u all the luck in the world man.
bye

quote:

Originally posted by >>FK it doesnt necessarly have to mean that they want money out of it though, personally I would think that it would be a good way of promoting your tracks to DJs, doing so from a label could make the DJs more interested and make it easier to spread your tracks around the globe, just my personal thought

Send a good track to a DJ and he will play it if he likes it enough, he won't care if it's unsigned or if it's being released on "The new leet digital records label"

Im actually really surprised you havnt got any of your stuff signed yet Rich...i thought maybe someone from one of the deep labels might be interested that MIKE sometimes gets his deeper,darker sounding tracks to....I say keep sending your stuff out and searching for more labels...

Good luck with your label btw...hope it goes well

Im in exactly the same boat!

My tracks get heavily downloaded, people say they are class and "im going to go far", i've been told by Bentley Rhythm Ace im good, Guy Ornadel has played one of my tracks. Ive got a load of finished tracks (across a load of genres) that i have been told by my Music Tech tutor to get out there now instead of waiting til after uni, but the only way thats happening is by starting my own label...

as someone else stated, when you're unknown in the business and you start a label, you will still be unknown. IMO you need some basis that will make people recognise something about you or your label without having to listen to it (which is what they must do before the whole "I'd buy it if I listened in the record store" thing applies). What crates will people dig in, unknown labels with unknown artists? How will yours stand out from the other unknowns? There's so many out there that selection is gonna be pretty much random.

It really isnt hard

A printer, a phone line, an email account and a postal address.
A P&D (thats pressing & distribution deal to those who don't know) deals are not too hard to get- if the music is half way decent and MOST IMPORTANTLY the distributor thinks they can shift it.
Distribution only is even easier to get, and there are pressing plants-a-plenty to press stuff yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by Pjotr G as someone else stated, when you're unknown in the business and you start a label, you will still be unknown. IMO you need some basis that will make people recognise something about you or your label without having to listen to it (which is what they must do before the whole "I'd buy it if I listened in the record store" thing applies). What crates will people dig in, unknown labels with unknown artists? How will yours stand out from the other unknowns? There's so many out there that selection is gonna be pretty much random.

Exactly. By creating your own label rather than getting signed to an already established one, you're missing the main attraction; publicity. If you want people to buy your tracks, you have to get them known. That should be your priority. And the best way to get them known is to get them signed to a label that people know.

yeah, i think is bad...try to get into some known labels first. if you get signed and your stuff gets support than i think is ok to start your own label and release your work.

imo that is.

i think that's one of the best reasons to start your own label. personally if i had talent enough to make actually good tracks haha...it'd be something i'd think about. i mean i like the idea of owning my own work.

the only problem with that though...is that you actually have to be a great producer to do your own label like that. you need to have your tracks being canned by top jocks if your tunes aren't on big labels otherwise you are going to have a very hard time making a name for yourself. but really if you have the talent...i think it's a great way to go.

There are plenty of ways to promote yourself which don't cost that much time and/or money. It's easy running a label. However running one properly and gaining respect of a lot of dj's is another story.

I personally think you should try gaining some feedback on why they're actually not signing your material. It might be smart considering contacting a mastering company as well before putting out your stuff. That could cost you

I said it once and I'll say it once more.
TA needs a serious label.
Swamper doesn't have to manage it. But TA Recordings is the way to go.
It won't be unknown since TA is one of the most important trance sites.

Omer.

quote:

Originally posted by The Drow I said it once and I'll say it once more. TA needs a serious label. Swamper doesn't have to manage it. But TA Recordings is the way to go. It won't be unknown since TA is one of the most important trance sites. Omer.

That's a good idea actually.

quote:

Originally posted by TOR That's a good idea actually.

+1 - problem is i cant think of anyone who would run it. the label would be great but the a+r would have to be very strict.

im imagining a big trance label with a handful of subgeners like prog, psy, hard, tech etc..

wonder if there ever will be a ta recordings????

+1
Maybe it could start out as a digital-only label, and when a track reaches a certain level of sales, it's pressed on vinyl because it has proven it's commercial success ...

im sure a couple of us could run it. say someone runs the uplifting section, one the progressive etc.

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