You started your own record label from the ground up. How'd it go?
ArtistHouse Music Community,
The title pretty much sums it up. I would like to know your situation when you were thinking about starting a record label and what it was like for you when you actually began one. What were your goals? Where did you see yourself 5 years down the road? How seriously were you taking on the challenges? Was this something done on the side from everything else? Etc?
All your informative responses are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Alex
The title pretty much sums it up. I would like to know your situation when you were thinking about starting a record label and what it was like for you when you actually began one. What were your goals? Where did you see yourself 5 years down the road? How seriously were you taking on the challenges? Was this something done on the side from everything else? Etc?
All your informative responses are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Alex
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jacob James on -
Alexandar,
I started a record label about ten years ago. It didn't work out. I had roughly $120,000 to invest in the label and what I actually needed was something more along the lines of $1,000,000, and that is even cutting it close. Trying to get a single song, let alone two or three albums, to market and exposed is tremendously expensive if you want to do it correctly. By that I mean you will need someone to handle your legal issues, your accounting issues, your advertising issues, and your musical issues to name just a few aspects of what it takes to run a record label. You won't be able to do all of these types of tasks yourself with any long-term degree of competency.
With all that being said, I certainly can appreciate anyone trying to consolidate as much work down into a single person, or just a few people initially. In the short run that is possible. You want to put together a comprehensive business plan of what you what to get accomplished and by when. If any aspect of that plan is not clearly understood do not start up the record label (don't spend any money towards the company) before getting a full, total understanding of everything you need to make happen. I promise you that you will lose all of your money if not all angles are considered.
Well, we can always talk more about this but could you tell me what type of label are you considering? Where will the label be located? Are you able to gain ownership of, or do you currently own, any recording facilities? In general, any information you can give to me would allow me to better talk about what you are trying to do. Let me know.
Jacob
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Permalink Reply by Alexander Martin on -
Jacob,
Thank you for your input. It is nice to hear another perspective about running a record label. In most cases I read about record labels that have been successful and rarely do I find the contrary. It helps me further understand the challenge lying ahead of starting this type business. I am surprised you were able to start with that amount of money and find that you needed even more...almost 7 times your original amount. Could you please tell me why it is so expensive? I understand some of the costs included in marketing, promotion, studio time, attorneys, etc, but how fast can that money be spent?
What type of music were you trying to market? This music industry has changed significantly over the course of ten years. Is there anything that you would have done differently at that time or things done differently if you were trying to run your label today?
In addition, either you read my profile or it is easy to figure out that, yes, I am trying to start my own record label. I've been trying to do a lot of research outside of my involvement with getting an advertising degree(the backup plan). My education of music has been mostly books and trade magazines about music business, production, publishing, and a few others. I am trying to get different perspectives about the industry, but as of now the idea of starting a label seems most appealing.
I have a wide variety of tastes in music, but my favorite genre is definitely rock. I know that is rather vague, but I really enjoy some acoustic, some heavy distortion, great guitar(been playing for 10 years), melodic lines over heavy drums and bass. On the other hand, jazz would be my second favorite. What I am after is something that stands out and sounds different and innovative; something outside of mainstream and stands well alone. With that said, starting an independent "rock" or "jazz" label is something I would like to pursue. ?!?!Maybe start a combination of the two?!?!?!
Seeing that I do live in a college town and have visited many others in the south east I would like to take advantage of student communities that have a wide variety of clubs/venues, student concert organizations, college radio, etc. I would like to start this label while I am still in school in Gainesville, FL, but following graduation I would plan to relocate to Atlanta where I feel many opportunities for exposure are present within a 300 mile radius. Furthermore, being a student community, I plan on hiring interns to take care of some of the work for me to make my job easier for a low rate. Things such as website, logo, and a street team are just a few examples of things that I think students could help out with in return for some experience and something to put on their resume.
As for recording facilities, I currently own a home studio(bedroom). This has a few mics, guitars, amps, recording software, computer, studio monitors, headphones. But I'll be honest, I do not think it would cut it for quality of production I am looking for. In Gainesville there is a quality recording studio offering $60/hour sessions. In your situation, what did you do for getting quality music? Mixers, producers, engineers, etc? Were they on your staff?
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For a while I plan on wearing "many hats." Also, I am thinking that by the time I have start this label I would have a few thousand dollars set up ($5,000 - 10,0000). I have contacted the IRS for tax information about a sole proprietorship. I plan on consulting entertainment attorneys for help(I hope they aren't to expensive, but probably are). Over time I would like to hire one or two other people for A&R and accounting.
How did you handle the publishing? This is another route that I have considered pursuing, but I am still reading about just because I know how "lucrative" it has been known to be.
Lastly, why do I hear about people starting a successful record label with only a few hundred/thousand dollars. Why did they succeed with such low capital to start off with? Is success measured by the length of strides you plan on taking and where you land? How long did it take for you to close your record label?
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I am sure there are a million more angles and thoughts that I could pass over to you, but I'll end this message here. All of your help is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for letting me know your personal experience about putting a record label together.
- Alex
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