07/07/2024
** MUSIC INDUSTRY NOTES **
Bottom line...If you are an independent artist, regardless of Genre, and you are looking to be signed...it comes down to one thing and one thing only. The label wants to assure ROI. That's all it is. If you can manage to sit down with an executive or an A&R, you must be able to prove ROI.
Record labels have the power to push an unknown artist into the spotlight seemingly overnight, so it's no wonder that many artists today dream of releasing music on a major label. Promoting music released on a record label will offer a few significant advantages though, such as a larger budget, "experienced" team members, rock-solid distribution networks, and long-standing relationships with publicity outlets and influencers (very important). After all, record labels are in the business of promoting records and music on ALL platforms. However, working with a label can also impose some negatives, such as not having as much creative or legal control over your music, brand and image, as well as significantly less revenue for sync deals, record sales, licensing, and streaming royalties. Because of this, many artists choose not to work with record labels at all, preferring instead to build out their own independent teams to further their music careers.
So, to begin, ask yourself...are your followers, streams, likes, plays, subscribers...are they all real? If you have 50K followers on FB and or YouTube, how many of them are actual consumers and are actual participants of your brand? How many of them engage in your movement? If a label invests in your music as an artist, they want to know that you have the real deal behind you. Labels no longer accept talent. The days of singing for somebody and they like what they here are over. You can absolutely be horrible but have a following on social media and get signed immediately. You have created your brand and solidified your numbers all on your own. The label will tag on to that and provide distribution and marketing and take from your publishing, royalties, merchandising, performances, etc. You do ALL the work and the label, A&R take the large percentages. You write, produce and perform your own material and get the shorter end of the profits.
It is a different world today with digital media, social media, YouTube, Spotify, Apple, Google, verification, web sites, local festivals, large festivals, catapult, tune core, CD Baby, etc. Everyone has their way of making money from what you have created. Nowadays everybody is a song writer, producer, has a studio, creates logos and has photoshop. It is a saturated world with all the digital platforms. Buying plays, streams, views...it's all a setup to give more than you make.
Bottom line...invest in authenticity. Your numbers must be real. Nobody has a song that has over 1 Million streams and the rest of your song have
