Record label?

[DJvCitro]

Hello, everyone.
I want to know how this record labels work, because I really want to start one with one of my friends (:
I have some questions:
How does I start one?
How does I publish the music?
How does I get other bands to know about it?

Please answer (:


vCitro

[tohis]

Social networking. Networking, more networking and even more networking. The basic in pretty much every business, but even more so in music: to get publishing deals, manufacturing, marketing, blah blah blah, you need to know people. Seriously, SOCIAL NETWORKING. If you - nor your friend - can't do it, forget about establishing record labels.

Also, money. The more, the better.

On the other hand, I've no idea how e.g. iTunes et al. work: can even tiny little never-heard-of labels/artists get their tracks on iTunes etc. or - once again - do you need to know the right people to get your tracks on there? Someone who knows about these might be able to help more.

[DJvCitro]

What should we do, if we want to make it as cheap as possible, and what do we need to use the money on?

[tohis]

Release the music online? Mp3s etc. In most cases you'd need to buy space+bandwidth or give another party (e.g. iTunes, Amazon, whatever) a cut of the profits. Say, 50 % of the price of the track + tax. Or free hosting (MediaFire or whatever), might work, dunno, but PayPal takes a cut. Not free.

If you really want to release a physical product (vinyl, CD) -- far from being free. Not going to go into details.

And above all, marketing. Unless you're a marketing genius who knows how to sell stuff without paying for ads etc, it's going to cost. Sure, word of mouth works to some degree, but let's be realistic: who wants to pay for **** they know pretty much nothing of?

Actually, let's be really realistic: who wants to pay **** for anything anymore? Even if you did start a record label, don't expect to get lots of profit from it for a long, long time (if ever). (Unless you're not only a marketing genius but also a genius at A&R. Or have a social network so large you'll get everything with a huge discount. At which point I'll tip my hat to you and then eat it.)

No offence, but how old are you? If you're under 20, wait till you're older and re-think about this. And if you're over 20? Go study economy, there they'll either make you realise how unrealistic this idea is in today's world - or help you develop your business idea (or business plan, if you're that far already.) into a successful thing.

All in all, sorry for being both cynical (and realistic) -- it's what music business is today.(On the other hand, there are businesses who don't care about profits...) So if you guys really are going to found a label, all the best to you!

[Boba]

Or you do it the Netlabel way, which costs nothing.

But not to sound rude or anything, if you're having to ask these questions, you're probably not ready.

[Champiness]

Talk to Daniel Vangarde.

[DJvCitro]

We're planning making a Netlabel.
Not to release the music in stores n' stuff, but free on the internet.

We don't want to use or earn money on this label, but just get a lot of contacts, and promote music.

Thanks for all the replies, and we hope that this will be to something (:

And we are only teenagers, lol (:

smiley,
vCitro

[Boba]

In that case, here's the thing to do. Set up a myspace for it, and add as many friends as you possibly can. Which friends to add depends on what genre you're trying to promote. Facebook will get you more attention as well. Set up one of those free mailing list managers and start getting relevant email addresses. Use some place like archive.org to upload your releases. Email music bloggers (ilictronix for instance) with the songs ahead of the release for them to post.

It is all social networking, albeit with emails, instant messengers, and myface/spacebook crap. it's not easy though, and it's really time consuming, so don't do it unless you're really serious about it.

[FerreNL]

Start a label like Crydamoure. Good vision :P

[DJvCitro]

Thanks for the help everybody. We'll start working !! (: