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Originally posted by 19503 anyone have a clue who the OP is? or the label? lets make a poll.

+1, this could be fun haha.

I am Spartacus!

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my old stuff, not quite up to snuff - but I still dig it - UPDATED 9/23/2012

I'm surprised by this label requiring you to handle the mastering, especially being that it is apparently a good one. On top of this they ask you to add in another part. If you are happy with your track I would take your talent elsewhere.

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quote:

Originally posted by Magnus I'm surprised by this label requiring you to handle the mastering, especially being that it is apparently a good one. On top of this they ask you to add in another part. If you are happy with your track I would take your talent elsewhere.

Yeah, me having to do my own mastering is what really caught me first, but I do my own mastering anyways if I have to so it wasn't to big of a deal. I've sent the track out to a couple other bigger labels, along with the other track. Ill wait a couple weeks and see what happens.

what is your mastering setup?

I master my tracks temporarily, but Ive seen what good masters can do(done on one of my own tracks), and its something im not capable of. Im not talking about mixing. I rather leave the mastering to the mastering professionals.

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Originally posted by msz what is your mastering setup? I master my tracks temporarily, but Ive seen what good masters can do, and its something im not capable of.(one of my own tracks) Im not talking about mixing. I rather leave the mastering to the mastering professionals.

I'm def not a pro, ill admit that haha, but I'm comfortable with what I put out as far as the final product.

I master using Logic, my chain usually is some slight compression to tighten the mix together(depends on what it needs), EQ, BBE Sonic Maximizer followed by UAD Precision Limiter.

Also I use 24bit WAV's un-dithered for the final mastering process then bring it down to 16bit with a dither for the final product.

Nothing to fancy, most of the work is done by the EQ and the limiter to be honest. Ill only use the maximizer a bit to give some tone and crispness high end depending on what it needs.

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Originally posted by 19503 man u talk about this as if it where the 90s and u still made money on music. pointless discussion. make the track exactly how u want it and release it wherever you want (where the label is cool people) or just give it away for free everywhere. or release it yourself.

Those are my exact thoughts. Alter a track at the label's prompting, then make $10,000, that's somewhat forgivable. Alter a track for $0, pointless. It's all about pure art at this point, since no one is getting paid. Selling out is not even an option anymore. So why would anyone alter a track to please a label, to get more illegal downloads?

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Yeah i agree with you, its pointless if your in it for the money.

For me it's about the promotion. I know damn well that I wont get my music out there anywhere near as much if i did it myself, as if i went through a decent label.

Think about it, lets just say...for example, it gets signed to Armada.

It will get tons of airplay, exposure, and it will be easier to get future tracks signed and get remix work.

on the other hand, if i release the track on my own, or on a very small digital label...no-one is going to know about it. Therefore my efforts wont really matter.

In my opinion, its either..

A. Release on a decent label or
B. Dont release at all

quote:

Originally posted by Number2 I'm def not a pro, ill admit that haha, but I'm comfortable with what I put out as far as the final product. I master using Logic, my chain usually is some slight compression to tighten the mix together(depends on what it needs), EQ, BBE Sonic Maximizer followed by UAD Precision Limiter. Also I use 24bit WAV's un-dithered for the final mastering process then bring it down to 16bit with a dither for the final product. Nothing to fancy, most of the work is done by the EQ and the limiter to be honest. Ill only use the maximizer a bit to give some tone and crispness high end depending on what it needs.

im sure it sounds nice, which monitors?

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Originally posted by Number2 Yeah i agree with you, its pointless if your in it for the money. For me it's about the promotion. I know damn well that I wont get my music out there anywhere near as much if i did it myself, as if i went through a decent label. Think about it, lets just say...for example, it gets signed to Armada. It will get tons of airplay, exposure, and it will be easier to get future tracks signed and get remix work.

This is precisely why getting a track signed to a known label is important and why labels in general are still very much relevant in the digital age.

When you are starting out, no one knows who you are, but they DO know which labels consistently put out music they like. So getting a track onto a solid label puts your name in front of those consumers, simply because they are more likely listen to your track because it is on a label that they like.

Then, if your track does decently enough, the label is more likely to consider your future work for release AND consider you when they are shopping a track for remixes. If you release a few more tracks with them, original or remixes, and those do well too, then you start building up a reputation among consumers and the label A&R. This also leads to connections from other labels, and the entire process begins to snowball. This is how people blow up and there are countless examples of this process at work, in every genre.

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Originally posted by Number2 on the other hand, if i release the track on my own, or on a very small digital label...no-one is going to know about it. Therefore my efforts wont really matter.

That is precisely what will happen. I speak from experience. I have released music on bigger, well established labels and I have released music on smaller, less established labels. The tracks on the more established labels always did better than the tracks on the smaller ones. Always. I got more exposure, more return work and more kudos from the tracks on the bigger labels.

This is also in spite of the fact that I feel like that some of the tracks I released on the smaller labels were actually better than the tracks released on the bigger labels. However, it did not matter because the smaller labels did not have the name recognition or the presence, so less people heard my music on those labels.

Make no mistake, this business is still very much about who you know and who knows you. If you have the opportunity to release music on a well known, well established label, you should do everything you can to get your music on those labels. With thousands of labels out there, you need a way to rise above all that noise. Unless you are already an established DJ or producer, its very hard to release music on your own and get anyone to notice.

You need to establish your name and reputation as a quality producer and/or DJ first, build an audience, then you can start to exert some control over how, when and where your music gets released.

quote:

Originally posted by msz im sure it sounds nice, which monitors?

KRK VXT 6

@Eric J

Exactly! Couldn't have said it better.