Somebody correct me if i'm wrong here but the way I understand it is :-
The label has a list of DJs and stores that it sends the promos to.
These DJs etc play the promo and pass comment back to the label.
If the feedback is good the label goes for general release.
The artist gets nothing for promo copies so you should agree exactly how many are produced before signing. Also ask who they are being sent to.

EveR

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Right im in the perfect position to describe this as im on many promo lists and have an inside knowledge of record companys.

1. Artist submit track to label
2. If label like track, sign it. pay artist a agreed fee for track.
3. label give's promo's to promotion's companys (or ask them to make them)
people like positiva make their own, while nebula have promotions take care of it alot of the time (dependant)
4. promotions compay distribute them to mailing list
5. dj's give feedback
6. record is released when appropriate


note that the artist may get a cut of the record sales dependant on contract. also note even if the track is signed and promo'd it may not be released. note labels will give out white labels and cdrs to top jocks prior to promo's going out (like a promotion of promotion)

anything else you want me to explain more spcifically.. i can tell you anything you want to know in this area.

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Alongside the info Nell posted here is some info John '00' Fleming wrote on his website:

quote:

Originally taken from www.john00fleming.com So how does it all happen (In layman's terms)?? There are many producers out there who aren't signed to any record labels. They work hard in their studios for hours churning out many tracks. Then they have to find a home for their music, so they (or their managers) send out copies of their new material to record labels that fit their musical styles. These tracks get sent to the A&R (Artist & Relations) people at the record labels (people like me who are looking for new material). Every A&R person has his or her own musical taste or business direction. That's why certain labels have their own individual sound, because it's the same person sourcing the new material. They guide the label in the direction that they want, as I do with mine. Some A&R guys love their music and will stay true to their musical love whilst others are looking for the big sell. They are all clever in their own fields. Even if they want to sell-out and sign a big tunes to sell to the masses, it takes a bloody talented man to find that commercial track that will appeal to the public; they have got very special ears. Once the track is signed we have to prepare the track to sell. In some cases we will get remixes done in another musical style to make the track appeal to a wider audience. This can sometimes take weeks as you rely on the artist/producer involved, as they may have their studio booked for other projects. We may have to wait, up to 6 - 8 weeks in some cases?? When the track is ready to go we will get a limited run of promos pressed. This is where the Glenn's (My label manager) of the record world come into play. He will organize the pressing of the promos. Promos do exactly what they say..promote!! These get sent (By Glenn!) to all the main DJ's. We want them to play them in clubs, play them on their radio shows and review them in magazines. We're also looking to get feedback from them. If it's bad and knowones playing the tune, we need to sit back at the table and either trash it or get more remixes done!! Off course this has never happened to us!! He he!! Loads of you get frustrated when you hear big DJ's playing music that you can't buy yet. Though you don't know it, you're also involved in this promotion. We see you're feedback too from messages boards across the world, we can see that you love it too! Once we get our reaction from the DJ's and dancefloor we report this to the distributor. The distributors job is to sell the records to all the record shops across the world. We will report our reactions. i.e. Armin van Burren played it at Global gathering, Paul Oakenfold played it on his radio show and Tiesto wouldn't stop texting John 00 about it (I can't reply Tijs cos you're on Vodaphone!!!). The distributor will then relay this information onto the record shop manager/buyer and he'll say wooow, we'll order 25 copies of that cos Tiesto is a texting other DJ's about it….well not quite like that!! We will get feedback from the distributor and will get an idea of how many records we have pre-sold. We'll then know how many to press to start off with. This is all worked to a set release date, which is obviously flexible, as we may have to wait for remixes etc. In all it can take 2-3 months to get a track released, perhaps longer if you have other tracks in a que waiting to get released. The bigger releases on major labels can take a lot longer, due to press campaigns, extra mastering and engineering in the studios, they can take a lot longer to prepare for release. Then eventually the record arrives in your local record shop after all that hard work….phew!!! I hope this explains to you why there is that gap between the promo and the actual release hitting the shops

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OK... and if you send out demo CDs to labels, can you hope for feedback of any kind, or will there be dead silence afterwards..?

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quote:

Originally posted by Eugene OK... and if you send out demo CDs to labels, can you hope for feedback of any kind, or will there be dead silence afterwards..?

depends on the records company. most of the time you'll get a dead silence. It's not because they are arseholes, thye jsut get so much stuff to filter through. If its a credible track but not for them, they may well advise you to take it to a specific label, just depends really. i would not expect feedback however.

i would advise you to spam mail the track to every record company you know, because you never know!!

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quote:

Originally posted by Nell It's not because they are arseholes, thye jsut get so much stuff to filter through.

I actually find that hard to believe, that there are so many wannabe producers (let alone Trance fans in general) who inundate the record companies with their stuff. And besides, not every label is "world-famous" if u know what I mean...

If they get even a few CD's a week I'd be surprised, but maybe I'm "out of the loop"

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diggers says if he does one gig, he goes with a seperate suitcase to fill with all the promo cds he is given.

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I've found the best way to get a label interested is to get DJ's playing the tracks anyway....
Ferry Corsten was given a CD of the aspiration stuff at godskitchen, and Ed from purple eye trawled the message boards looking for the guys to get contact info...
if you give the CD's to the right people, theres no need to get a label involved at such an early stage, as they tend to try and control the producers freedom....

quote:

Originally posted by Eugene I actually find that hard to believe, that there are so many wannabe producers (let alone Trance fans in general) who inundate the record companies with their stuff. And besides, not every label is "world-famous" if u know what I mean... If they get even a few CD's a week I'd be surprised, but maybe I'm "out of the loop"

well your totally wrong. the top 30 dance labels in the uk get hundreds everyweek. there are billions of unsigned producers, look at mp3.com

if you really believe they only get a few a week i do believe your a bit naive, email them via their websites and ask them how many they get, you'll soon see.

as for smaller labels, they get the same. hell, everytime ive doen something ive sent it to every single uk dance label. And so would anyone else they have any sense.

look at ferry corsten, he sent 50 whites to al lthe uk labels of out of the blue with his mobile numebr on it. and because it was such a good track, almost all contacted him back, and he got to pick whoever offered the best deal. (that being london records at the time)

there are hundreds of unsigned artists out there believe me

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