The music industry is in a state of flux. The old is dying and the new has not yet been born.
Before, ‘getting a record deal’ from a major record label would include an advance – money for you to pay the bills whilst you made music. Amazing, right? Not really… because in exchange for this, they’d own your music. Forever. It was like getting a mortgage on a house only for the bank to still own the house once you’d paid off the mortgage.
Fast forward to 2019 and we’re in the new music industry. You might have already made some amazing tracks in the SEM studios or on your laptop that are ready for release. You can sign up to an online aggregator which, for a small fee, will get your music onto hundreds of different platforms (Spotify, iTunes etc). You can create social media pages and advertise to anyone relatively cheaply.
All this begs the question… do you even need a record label? Most independents, like my label Ad Hoc Records, take a fair approach to releasing music – once our costs are covered we split all revenue (downloads + streaming income) 50/50. But what does a record label actually do? Couldn’t producers ‘cut out the middle man’ and do it themselves?
In defence of labels, I’d say independents add value in two main ways:
The administrative side of releasing music (i.e. creating promotional text, artwork, marketing, dealing with music aggregators etc) and any costs associated with this
The networks they have (i.e. the DJ / radio / press contacts they’ve established and will push your music to)
But that doesn’t mean you should just ‘jump into bed’ with the first / any label that shows interest. Ask them any questions you have. A great label might do wonders to your music career, opening doors you’d never have been able to access without. Meanwhile, a badly-run label might cock up a release – instead of topping the Beatport chart your track could be lost in the noise of all the 1000s of other releases out that week. That would be a real shame!
But a great label might only approach you once there’s a bit of buzz about your music. How do you make a buzz about your music, to attract the right label? Release your own music! It might seem daunting initially, but if you’re serious about making music your life (i.e. being able to pay the bills), I strongly recommend that you think about it. Learning a DAW was daunting initially, but look at you now!
Music Business student David Burch launched his music career before starting at SEM. His business Ad Hoc Group has since grown into a record label that also hosts events, a radio show and has also extended into a booking agency. We sat down with David to find out a bit more about Ad Hoc and its plans for the future.
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Here are some of the questions to (honestly) answer:
Is your music fantastic? Not good, not even great. But mind-blowingly great. If the answer is no, head back into the studio and keep plugging away until you’ve made some tracks that you’re truly happy with. However good your marketing plan is, if your tunes are crap it’ll be like rolling a turd in glitter.
Do you have a good number of contacts who would be able to spread your music? For example, you know any DJs? anyone who hosts radio shows? anyone who writes for music blogs?
If no, that’s cool – everyone was at that stage once! But are you willing to spend the time (and it will take a lot of time) networking – heading to gigs, raves, events – talking to anyone and everyone about your music, sending it to them and asking them to spread the word about it? This can be tricky… if you’re modest or humble, bigging yourself up can feel unnatural. But if you don’t shout about your own music, how are other people going to find out about it? Making sure all your friends repost your stuff on social media is a good way to do this.
We live in an exciting time, where the music industry is rapidly changing. Never has it been easier to record and release music and for you to be in complete control – of how your music sounds and the way you as an artist (or ‘brand’) comes across. But that freedom means you have to become skilled in many different roles – administration, networking, social media etc.
A great label could help your music career move to the next level. But great labels usually only come to you once there’s some buzz around your music. The key to success in this new music industry is to start acting like you run your own label – learning the skills to promote yourself and start building a network. Embrace this and you’ll not only be able to build a career in the industry but also have the freedom to shape it however you want!
https://www.schoolofelectronicmusic.com/ni-sem-students