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Artists - Does the long term still exist?
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| Storyteller |
Some thoughts on the record label I'm working on:
http://blog.lovingmusic.net/item/4/...till-exist.html
| quote: | Spring is in the air here in Holland. The sun is shining and it's warm outside. Whilst enjoying the weather I'm imagining what the summer might have in store for us. The Loving Music businessplan should be finished by that time and most questions should answered and we can start the lookout for new talent. Question is, what are those talents looking for?
Labels have been around for a long time now, popping out of the ground like mushrooms during fall, they're everywhere. Committed to showing the world the music they love. Most of them are same-old-same-old, selling an average of about 100 copies per month on Beatport and less on any other platform. No financial risk because there are no direct costs but time. No businessplan, no communication or online strategy. No returns because of poor promotion. Reaping the small rewards and passing on a percentage to the artists. Completely focused on the short term gain - no bigger picture at all.
We actively strive to differentiate ourselves from the tons of labels around (this background information blog is an example of that) and I wonder if that is what artists want. Aside from the well known names the house music scene has, is there anyone still working on a bigger picture at all? Is there anybody still interested in such a thing?
We, Loving Music, want to reinvent the long term commitment record labels used to have with their artists, but in a non-exclusive way. Building brands together in an open relationship that goes both ways. We'd like to invest in a shared future with our artists in a way that might go beyond just music alone. Are you in?
What would a perfect relation between artists and a record label be like? Any comments or insights, especially from artists, are very much appreciated! |
There will be more items posted regularly on the blog itself.
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| tehlord |
A lot of the smaller labels you mention are also trying to reinvent the way things are done.
Sadly, it requires far more time and money than most people are a)willing to put in and b) financially capable of putting in. |
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| Storyteller |
| Any examples? I haven't seen any of it honestly. Neither in concrete terms or implicitly. Plus, I'm actively looking for feedback, if you have any. Bad experiences, things you'd rather see happen differently at a record label. Anything. |
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| tehlord |
Well I was, then I realised I was relying on somebody who ran a promo company (exhibitions etc) and also had a web development business to cover the promo side of things. Sadly he turned out to be more interested in fishing and glory hunting for his 50% than actual hard work so I told him to off.
There's also Arcana, which is new. He's doing all the right things as far as communication with artists and the world. He's also getting the 'look' right on FB, YT etc and probably about as good as a new label could hope to be at this stage. Who knows where that'll leave him in a year though?
Most artists seem to want proper communication from a smaller label, realising that most people seem to run it inbetween watching TV and talking bollocks on FB. It requires several hours a day most days, and then they may well you over for one of the big boys as soon as there's a whiff of interest. |
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| Storyteller |
| quote: | Originally posted by tehlord
There's also Arcana, which is new. He's doing all the right things as far as communication with artists and the world. He's also getting the 'look' right on FB, YT etc and probably about as good as a new label could hope to be at this stage. Who knows where that'll leave him in a year though? |
That's what I'm referring to as some-old-same-old. :), I don't believe covering all social platforms and proper communication is the right way at all, just part of it.
One of my (business-wise) unique selling points would be that I'm a developer myself. Any platform I create can be sold/licensed/subscribed to third parties adding to the financial sustainability of the concept and possibility to keep investing in artists. Below the surface this label is tapping into tons of additional revenue sources I think is unheard of and beneficial to the artist's and label's income. I've got plenty of time to work on it as the parttime job offers I have provide plenty of income for the mortgage and living :). |
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| Richard Butler |
People from time to time pop up in all industries and make a difference so anything is possible, but it's worth being mindful of the fact many such people with great intentions find the real world makes thier good intentions impossible to discharge.
In your case this thing about communicating with your artists sounds great, but I must stress this has been tried before in various settings, for example I recall joining forums with such ideas but it just didn't pan out the way they promised.
So I'd say be mindful of not over promising on such things as some artists would interpret your intention as some sort of daily online personal counselling and update service!
It's like those Bank adverts with smiling helpful staff and a promise of exceptional service, but when you one day wander into the Bank you get some grumpy old hag that couldn't care less about service.
WHAT WOULD I WANT FROM A LABEL;
1) Be very fussy about what it signs. A lot make the claim they are discerning, but they just aren't.
2) Do not get too carried away with this notion of signing 'gifted musicians'. There are millions of these musicians /artists busking on subways. Loads of them could play the piano perfectly, but it means nothing in terms of getting people to click a buy button.
Don't ever confuse musical abilty with crowd popularity.
3) Give your artists sales numbers each week. This could be very time consuming. There has to be a reason labels tend not to do this.
4) Don't employ A&R's who are too fixed on thier own personal taste. So many unicorn trance A&R's just couldn't see the bigger picture.
5) Most labels are crap when it comes to public interaction. I see all sorts of flash gimmicks but they are annoying (log in codes etc) or never monitored. You know like those damned TV and radio presenters who claim they want your emails, but of course read only 1% of them. Don't build hype and then not do your side of the deal. If you say you want to hear from fans, mean it, and diarise to address the contacts every hour.
6) BAD WEBSITES. You know I've met a few guys who claim, "oh don't worry I'm a very able web designer, I'm not like others". They are all pretty bad.
What happens is they forget the customer experience. Now you might say 'oh not me, I'm not like them', but honestly I find 99% of them are not good at understanding thier customers use needs.
PRIME EXAMPLE - a lot of labels forget the main thing peoiple want to do with ONE CLICK is see all the tracks WITH PLAY BUTTONS - BIG ONES YOU CANT MISS, right there on the home page. A lot of people dont know what 'disogs' even means.
Dont use insider words like 'disogs'. Everyone does is, so you must be differnet.
Instead have a simple tab 'TRACKS WE'VE SIGNED' > but I would maybe put all the tracks on the home page in boxes with individual play bittons.
DON'T MISTAKE LOADS OF WORDS FOR A GOOD WEBSITE. Lots of boring wordy history and intention is nothing like as important as simplicity, ease of use, top notch images the right overall image.
That should keep you busy a while mate
And good luck, I have faith in you in fact |
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| Richard Butler |
Oh, and in each track box with the large play button, include the date of signing, otherwise how does the user know what is an up to the minute represenation of your works.
Make uploading demos easy too. Although this will mean a lot of work for you to wade through.
Here's not a bad looking site, but still nowhere near great;
http://www.axtone.com/ |
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| Storyteller |
Thank you Richard, that is some extremely helpfull info. I'm not sure but I believe most distributors only hand out sales information on a monthly basis making it impossible to do so weekly. I can only solve that by finding a way to live without a distributor and automating the track submission and royalty reporting process. You do mention an important issue though which I'd wish to adress even before you mentioned it. I was aiming for quarterly statements but research might show it is doable to do so more frequently.
I find 3/4/5/6 very important myself. 6 especially. I've been doing websites and management systems for quite some years already and the last big project was pretty much an eye opener. Visitor count increased about 30% after doing a more userfriendly redesign, increasing the visitor count by several 1000s monthly. |
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| tehlord |
| quote: | Originally posted by Storyteller
That's what I'm referring to as some-old-same-old. :), I don't believe covering all social platforms and proper communication is the right way at all, just part of it.
One of my (business-wise) unique selling points would be that I'm a developer myself. Any platform I create can be sold/licensed/subscribed to third parties adding to the financial sustainability of the concept and possibility to keep investing in artists. Below the surface this label is tapping into tons of additional revenue sources I think is unheard of and beneficial to the artist's and label's income. I've got plenty of time to work on it as the parttime job offers I have provide plenty of income for the mortgage and living :). |
Your unique selling point really needs to be that you can shift some track sales, this is what everybody is in it for after all.
Although I agree that getting those basics down is same old same old, it still amazed me that so many small labels get it so wrong. If you build it, they probably will not come.
Richard brought up some valid points, although it's difficult to get live sales reports on anything but Beatport and iTunes afaik. |
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| Storyteller |
| quote: | Originally posted by tehlord
Your unique selling point really needs to be that you can shift some track sales, this is what everybody is in it for after all. |
Agreed and I think I've got that covered. That's the one subject I won't elaborate on :). Still loads of research to do, 20 weeks should be sufficient to get things sorted out backed up with some facts and figures :). |
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| tehlord |
| quote: | Originally posted by Storyteller
Agreed and I think I've got that covered. That's the one subject I won't elaborate on :). Still loads of research to do, 20 weeks should be sufficient to get things sorted out backed up with some facts and figures :). |
Well it'd certainly be good to see something new that actually generates some sales that are worth releasing for. The only reason I don't release stuff myself is a) i'm still never happy with anything :D and b) unless I can pull in a few hundred quid at least from each one it's just not worth it. |
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| Looney4Clooney |
| more people should take your cue. Almost everyone on here that has a beatport release should just keep their stuff to themselves. IT is pure ego feeding. It means nothing, you clutter the internet. make it harder for people to find stuff. I wish a skill people would learn is the ability to know when you suck. The world would be a much crisper shade of green. |
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