How to start and run a Record label?
Apr 30, 2010 Record Label
Posted by
Admin
Me and my friend are curious about starting a record label, I was hoping anyone hear would have some knowledge on this.
On estimate, how much would it cost to start?
What type of staff do we need? A&R’s, Managers, etc…
Distribution deals, manafacturing, publicists
Can anyone help?
April 30th, 2010 at 3:33 am
Joe,
My band, the LezBnRocker Chicks, started our own record company and it doesn’t take a lot of money. Basically, just the price of a business license in your state and the associated yearly fees to keep the license. That’s it. We sell our CDs in Independent Music stores and our albums are available via digital download from iTunes, EMUSIC, AMAZON, Yahoo! Music, and Napster. Join my forum on MySpace http://groups.myspace.com/RockCoop and I can tell you how to get your business up off the ground.
Here is something else you need to know. The question isn’t so much what’s its going to cost as it is will your label be able to compete.
Right now there are over 5 million Indie (Independent) Bands on MySpace. Most of them are either unsigned or consider themselves self published. That anyone can start their own label isn’t really that much of a threat to the major labels. When there are 5 million independent record companies it does become a threat. Not because you can steal their customers, but because you once were a customer. So us 5 million bands are 5 million potential customers the major labels don’t have anymore and that is a threat – - a serious threat!
Hundreds of bands sign up to MySpace everyday and give away their music for free hoping to find their nitch and hook some die hard fans. Competition is fierce! The music buying public is being flooded with so much really good Indie music it is difficult to stand out. Every band has there own MySpace page, website (http://www.lezbnrockerchicks.com), and a ton of youtube videos out. Even so, there are some people who manage to be successful doing it all themselves.
When an artist is successful for a major label she needs to go gold and sale at least 500,000 albums. An Indie Label can have a very good year if her artist only sale maybe 50,000 albums. Consider that the CD is selling for $9.99 and half of that goes to the artist you label has made a quarter of a million dollars! Because Indie labels don’t have the overhead, employees, and operating costs of the majors labels most of that would go in your pocket.
Here’s the thing though. It takes some serious cash to get the kind of publicity needed for an album to be that successful. The majors still have all the commercial airtime locked down tight. Internet radio stations are getting more popular, but wireless radio is still preferred because it is so easily accessible. Indies rely heavily on College Radio, because it is not consumer driven. However, it doesn’t have the exposure of commercial radio.