How do you make sure you are not getting fooled by a label?

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-- How do you make sure you are not getting fooled by a label?

Posted by Microlab on Aug-04-2012 13:04:

How do you make sure you are not getting fooled by a label?

Posted by Zak McKracken on Aug-04-2012 13:08:

by not signing anything.

Posted by Microlab on Aug-04-2012 13:10:

well i wanna take a risk

Posted by Zak McKracken on Aug-04-2012 13:13:

then put your money in stockshares.

Posted by meriter on Aug-04-2012 13:51:

don't sign on unless they're willing to send you an advance

Posted by Zombie0729 on Aug-04-2012 14:03:

without any real terms there's nothing to discuss. spell out the terms and we'll tell you if it's appropriate

Posted by zodiac9 on Aug-04-2012 23:14:

quote:
Originally posted by Zombie0729
without any real terms there's nothing to discuss. spell out the terms and we'll tell you if it's appropriate

Just go with a label you know you can trust. Get referrals from other producers you trust. If they were happy with the label you probably will be too. Avoid small fly by night labels and one or two page contracts.

It's all in the contracts, which aren't always easy to make sense of if you aren't a music lawyer. Even if the contract is good they might not honor it.

Posted by Storyteller on Aug-05-2012 11:19:

quote:
Originally posted by zodiac9
Even if the contract is good they might not honor it.

This. Get recommendations from your network, or seek feedback on record labels somewhere online. TA for instance.

Posted by DJconsidine on Aug-05-2012 14:20:

I see your in Russia but I'm guessing it's similar in that you should think about hiring an Intellectual Property lawyer or have a thorough legal review of the contract. Good luck!

Posted by MSZ on Aug-05-2012 19:38:

Be careful there are a ton of labels run by punks. No business sense, nothing to really offer than a handful of digital sales. Storyteller give best advice. Also, even a lot of producers can be very unhelpful in this, sometimes they are looking out for their friend's interests. Its best to ask questions.

Posted by J.L. on Aug-05-2012 19:55:

What "level" of a producer are you?

Are you looking to get a first release? Most of the time people looking to get a first release are not ready to be in the music industry.

However, if you are fine with sitting in your bedroom and making beats, and not taking this too seriously, then I wouldn't bother with getting too many things signed, since chances are you won't see a penny off of it.

My best advice, is to network locally, and online. Work with different people and get to know people. Make a website, and get some followers and establish some sort of presence. Get involved in local and online music scenes.

Once you have some sort of presence, go and establish some links to some more reputable trustworthy places and work off of that. Sending demos to XYZ label run by some punk is an exercise in futility and a waste of time.

Decent trustworthy labels tend to be either owned or operated, or heavily supported by a somewhat major artist.

Posted by Microlab on Aug-06-2012 06:42:

quote:
Originally posted by J.L.
What "level" of a producer are you?

Are you looking to get a first release? Most of the time people looking to get a first release are not ready to be in the music industry.

However, if you are fine with sitting in your bedroom and making beats, and not taking this too seriously, then I wouldn't bother with getting too many things signed, since chances are you won't see a penny off of it.

Im taking this seriously, really seriously

Posted by Looney4Clooney on Aug-06-2012 13:45:

Then develop your online presence. Work on many tracks. Being signed as a noob has a lot of downsides. It restricts where you can promote your stuff, they don't really help spread your music and it is only really useful in getting some sort of bio quip if you want to dj.

If you are serious, then as people have mentioned, wait till people are offering you money. if you are not getting an advance, you are not good enough to be signed. ANd everyone here will say wait, i never got any advances, which i think proves my point. Being signed to any label means absolutely nothing.

So be patient, network and if you are good enough, things will happen. Don't bother sending it to labels. And never just plan on releasing 1 track. You need a consistent flow of tracks. The best way is an EP. And if that does well , you will get remix offers, then you do a few of those with name artists, then your next EP will sell. And then you can start touring.

From 0 to hero , in the dance scene if you are good takes 2-3 years.

Posted by Woony on Aug-06-2012 14:45:

quote:
Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
From 0 to hero , in the dance scene if you are good takes 2-3 years.

That's not true. You can release a single, well received EP and you'll get bookings in some of the best clubs in the world. Happens all the time nowadays.

Posted by Microlab on Aug-06-2012 15:09:

quote:
Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
Then develop your online presence. Work on many tracks. Being signed as a noob has a lot of downsides. It restricts where you can promote your stuff, they don't really help spread your music and it is only really useful in getting some sort of bio quip if you want to dj.

If you are serious, then as people have mentioned, wait till people are offering you money. if you are not getting an advance, you are not good enough to be signed. ANd everyone here will say wait, i never got any advances, which i think proves my point. Being signed to any label means absolutely nothing.

So be patient, network and if you are good enough, things will happen. Don't bother sending it to labels. And never just plan on releasing 1 track. You need a consistent flow of tracks. The best way is an EP. And if that does well , you will get remix offers, then you do a few of those with name artists, then your next EP will sell. And then you can start touring.

From 0 to hero , in the dance scene if you are good takes 2-3 years.

Thanks, decent post!

Posted by Microlab on Aug-06-2012 15:11:

quote:
Originally posted by Woony
That's not true. You can release a single, well received EP and you'll get bookings in some of the best clubs in the world. Happens all the time nowadays.

Agree, though, great work finds appreciation

Posted by Looney4Clooney on Aug-06-2012 15:12:

a single is not an EP. the point is that being successful in the music industry requires momentum. 1 track will only get you so far. And that aint going to happen with just 1 track. If it does, that one track will take at least a few months to get around because you are nobody. If you were established, that track would be big right away, not the case if you are nobody. So 1 year to get some bookings, another year to solidify that reputation. I didn't say 0 to mediocre producer who can now dj. I said hero.

Posted by Looney4Clooney on Aug-06-2012 15:13:

quote:
Originally posted by Microlab
Agree, though, great work finds appreciation

great tracks have a shelf life of 1 month. Which is why even a great track by a nobody will risk never being big when it was released and by the time people know about it, yesterday's news. Which is why you need followups.

this is 101 shit

Posted by Woony on Aug-06-2012 15:45:

quote:
Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
a single is not an EP. the point is that being successful in the music industry requires momentum. 1 track will only get you so far. And that aint going to happen with just 1 track. If it does, that one track will take at least a few months to get around because you are nobody. If you were established, that track would be big right away, not the case if you are nobody. So 1 year to get some bookings, another year to solidify that reputation. I didn't say 0 to mediocre producer who can now dj. I said hero.

I meant single as an adjective, as in in a single EP. And you absolutely can be a nobody as long as your stuff is good enough to get hyped by the right channels. I've seen it so many times. Some guy drops a whitelabel, it get's hyped by the right people and a month later he's flying all over the globe DJing at the biggest clubs.

quote:
Originally posted by Looney4Clooney
great tracks have a shelf life of 1 month. Which is why even a great track by a nobody will risk never being big when it was released and by the time people know about it, yesterday's news. Which is why you need followups.

this is 101 shit

That's not true either. There are Dubstep producers that haven't made Dubstep in 2-3 years that still get bookings for Dubstep nights all over the globe off 1-2 EP's.

I think we are just coming from very different scenes/perspective. Different scenes work different.

Posted by Looney4Clooney on Aug-06-2012 16:09:

i think you are focusing on the exception.

Posted by Woony on Aug-06-2012 19:48:

Well, aren't we talking if you are good (exceptional)? Shure, if you make average, run off the mill stuff that sounds like everything else, signed to small, average labels it'll take you a while.

Posted by Looney4Clooney on Aug-07-2012 00:14:

All those breakout artists took about 2 years from the time they released the stuff that made their name. Thats just how long it takes. Anyways, this is sort of tiresome. Do as you will.

Posted by TyeDynamite on Aug-10-2012 19:27:

quote:
Originally posted by Woony
Well, aren't we talking if you are good (exceptional)? Shure, if you make average, run off the mill stuff that sounds like everything else, signed to small, average labels it'll take you a while.

You can see people all over with exceptional talent that still get unnoticed. It takes multiple releases, connections, and lots of momentum to set yourself apart.

Posted by topoftheworld on Aug-14-2012 05:29: