Author Topic: Record label question!!!! please help  (Read 17000 times)

NO LUC

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Record label question!!!! please help
« on: May 25, 2016, 01:12:27 am »
Hey guys, so I was reached out by a record label and its my first time being contacted by one so I am not that knowledgable about how most of them work

They provide:

*Album publication;
*Mastering the tracks;
*Promopool packages;
*Creation of the UPC codes;
*Topple Track Piracy (anti-piracy protection);
*Creation of the covers arts;
*Promotion of EP / Single;
 
And has access to 300 shops including beatport, itunes, spotify, etc.

However, they claim that there is a fee of 68 euros for promotional purposes and I must pay 34 euros (so 50%). Also 50% of the income goes to them for my music (I also access to my account so can see how much I am making and on what)

Is this a good idea? Please leave your thoughts.

Thanks,

NO LUC


ion

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2016, 07:31:18 am »
Tell them no.
If they have faith in your music they should easily make back the 68€ without you chipping in.  And 50% is too much of a cut for what they´re offering. If you have to pay, then you are paying for them to build their reputation, not yours.

Ask them to send you a contract draft with the things that their obligations specified.
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icehunt

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2016, 04:25:18 pm »
Tell them no af. You would basically be paying them to have copyright of your track. If the label isn't big enough to eat that cost then you probably don't want to give them your music.

Wontolla

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2016, 01:47:13 pm »
Publication: any distributor can do that for cheaper
Mastering: you can do that yourself
Promo pool packages: could mean a lot of things, none of which are worth 68€
UPC codes: standard with any type of distribution
Anti-piracy measures: won't do jack shit, believe me
Promotion: could mean anything, most likely they'll just mail your single out to a list of YouTube channels and DJs and forget about it

I'll admit the cover art sounds intriguing, but what do all their other covers look like? If it's just a fixed template with their logo and different colors and titles, run far away. That means they're too lazy to make a good cover that matches the music, and they're only interested in promoting their brand. If their logo is bigger than yours, that's what they're selling. And pulling a picture off Google Images for the background doesn't make it better.

In conclusion: not worth 68€. They probably sent the same email out to thousands of other producers. If they want that much up front for one track, they're in this to make money.
« Last Edit: May 26, 2016, 01:50:16 pm by Wontolla »

Mussar

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2016, 03:26:17 pm »
Real record labels don't ask you to pay for the publication of your music, they just deduct it out of any earnings you would receive from the profits.

They'll bill you later if it doesn't sell.

ion

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #5 on: May 26, 2016, 11:13:55 pm »
They'll bill you later if it doesn't sell.

Who does that?
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Mussar

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #6 on: May 27, 2016, 04:04:56 pm »
Practically everyone, to be quite frank. This is standard operating procedure in the music industry. Every single part of the release that you cannot personally provide, from the songwriting to the mixing/mastering to the cover art, is money that the record label will have to spend on you.

That record label doesn't care about you, or even your music. They just care about your profitability and their own bottom line. Now, they can't just demand the money from you, cause you get situations like this thread. Instead, they tell you that you'll be receiving #% of royalties earned, minus packaging deductions (used to be CDs and packaging, and some asshole labels will charge you for "packaging" a digital download) and other fees.

The money you earn as an artist goes towards those deductions before they go to you. If you were given a cash advance, that counts as well. If your album tanks, or performed worse than expected, you could wind up with almost no earnings or even a negative balance - and you signed a legally binding contract saying that's on your own head. This can explain a lot of the stuff I'd go into, and probably much better than I would.

ion

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #7 on: May 27, 2016, 07:20:07 pm »
Having signed a few deals, I have never seen a contract that has implied that starting cost could be coming back to bite my ass if the release tanked.  If you take out a large advance I would understand it, but never for basic release costs.
*edit: the article is from 2007, so it´s a bit dated.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2016, 07:27:26 pm by ion »
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Mussar

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #8 on: May 27, 2016, 07:31:33 pm »
If you think your personal experience is indicative of the music industry as a whole, you're welcome to that belief.

In my opinion, it's better to be aware of the possible pitfalls and never have to avoid them than it is to just assume everything will be hunky dory and sign away all your rights and earnings.

ion

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #9 on: May 27, 2016, 07:49:47 pm »
If you think your personal experience is indicative of the music industry as a whole, you're welcome to that belief.
You are the one who stated that practically everybody does this, and when I say that I have never seen this on my own behalf you come off like a know-it-all.  Well lucky me who have not encountered "practically everybody".
My experience is that the labels gamble the release cost against a percentage of rights and royalties, not lending the artist the basic cost for reimbursement later.
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Marrow Machines

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #10 on: May 27, 2016, 08:06:58 pm »
If you think your personal experience is indicative of the music industry as a whole, you're welcome to that belief.
You are the one who stated that practically everybody does this, and when I say that I have never seen this on my own behalf you come off like a know-it-all.  Well lucky me who have not encountered "practically everybody".
My experience is that the labels gamble the release cost against a percentage of rights and royalties, not lending the artist the basic cost for reimbursement later.

I'll defend mussar's perspective in sharing the knowledge that comes with understanding.

He's not a know it all, other wise his attitude might be a little different (plus you have the consider the body language context that's taken out during text)

Mussar is also studying music(and probably the business of it to some degree; either on his own in depth and at the very least in his classes), so what was given was a time and monetary investment on his part, for free.

Besides, what you're saying is true, as you may not have experienced it, but what mussar is saying is also also true (in the sense of the majority of people practicing/being in the music business).

Just trying to pass on the info, nothing persnickety about that.
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Curioustín

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #11 on: June 02, 2016, 09:53:25 pm »
Personally I have used spinnup.com up till now (think I'm going to switch to indigoboom.com though) to release my own music on Spotify, iTunes etc. And Bandcamp. And Soundcloud... I don't get any promotion or cover art, I have to do all this myself of course, but I also get most of the money, the little there is to earn. Maybe I will reconsider the whole record label thing whenever I decide to make physical copies, but as for now, I am totally able to do all of this my self. And I like it a bit, having full control over what product I am selling. :)

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Babasmas

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #12 on: June 10, 2016, 09:07:30 am »
If you think your personal experience is indicative of the music industry as a whole, you're welcome to that belief.
You are the one who stated that practically everybody does this, and when I say that I have never seen this on my own behalf you come off like a know-it-all.  Well lucky me who have not encountered "practically everybody".
My experience is that the labels gamble the release cost against a percentage of rights and royalties, not lending the artist the basic cost for reimbursement later.

I'll defend mussar's perspective in sharing the knowledge that comes with understanding.

He's not a know it all, other wise his attitude might be a little different (plus you have the consider the body language context that's taken out during text)

Mussar is also studying music(and probably the business of it to some degree; either on his own in depth and at the very least in his classes), so what was given was a time and monetary investment on his part, for free.
The fact that he's studying music (and the business of it) don't prove that he's right.

i'll defend ion here. Why would a label ask for reimbursement ? I mean, it's the same a paying up-front. If you do good, everything is ok, and if you don't, it still cost you money...

i'm just sayin'. that's stupid, and it's the same. Don't signed contracts involving paying and having to pay for reimbursement. Read the small details of the contracts.

Mussar

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #13 on: June 10, 2016, 01:39:26 pm »
I never said reimbursement - I said debt. Thre are plenty of articles about this, as well as documentaries.

If you assume a record label is NOT trying to take advantage of you at every opportunity, you're doomed to repeat the same mistakes other artists have made.
« Last Edit: June 10, 2016, 01:44:05 pm by Mussar »

Babasmas

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Re: Record label question!!!! please help
« Reply #14 on: June 11, 2016, 10:19:07 pm »
I never said reimbursement - I said debt. Thre are plenty of articles about this, as well as documentaries.

If you assume a record label is NOT trying to take advantage of you at every opportunity, you're doomed to repeat the same mistakes other artists have made.
Alright, I can't disagree with what you're saying. i'll watch the documentary about the music industry. It seems interesting.

Although, that documentary is quite out of context here. If I understand what the video was saying, it's talking about actual recording of music. Which in the case of EDM (Few artists does records pianos, guitars, etc... but mostly in private environnement and not in expensive studios. Just look at how Sizzlebird records his violin), does not apply anymore. The only thing that cost money could be paying the distributor. (Distrokids, etc...)

But I totally understand. We just need to be carefull. We have the internet on our side. read every details of the contracts, be aware of what it says, etc...