On Tue, Mar 13, 2001 at 12:11:26AM -0500, Jesse Farmer wrote:
quoted 5 lines Something I've been considering for a while is starting a record
> Something I've been considering for a while is starting a record
> label. Yes, yes, I know.. the last thing we need is another
> label.. Anyway, I've been reading what I can about this aspect of the
> music industry, and as much as I can about the dance field in
> particular. However, there is still a lack of information about this.
That's a priceless resource written by Chris Sattinger (AKA
Timeblind/Keek)
quoted 5 lines I was wondering if anyone on this list has started a label, and if you
> I was wondering if anyone on this list has started a label, and if you
> wouldn't mind sharing with me a bit about your experiences. I'm wondering
> what sales strategies are the most effective, distributing yourself, or
> through a distributor, vinyl vs. cd's in terms of sales, initial catalogue
> size, etc...
So far it's been a pretty good experience- it's great being able to
release music that you enjoy and you feel that other people should
hear. Sure, it gets annoying at times when a distributor doesn't pay
or when somebody writes a harsh review of your record, but it's
definitely worth it; nothing is more rewarding than getting back your
first test pressings and hearing something on vinyl that you made.
As far as distribution, it's good to distribute yourself (mailorder
works especially well with IDM) but you're just not going to move the
amount of vinyl that you need if you're going to self-distribute unless
you're willing to call a whole lot of stores. It's really not
cost-effective to press anything less than 300 records, so it would take
a lot to get that with mailorders off internet advertising unless you're
releasing an Aphex remix of Autechre or something.
It is important, though, even if you have a distributor, to talk to
stores yourself and try to get your records spread to stores with whom
your distributors don't deal. My first record got distributed in Europe
but mostly only in the hardcore/breakcore shops. When I went over to
London, I was able to get rid of all 50 records (35 of mine and 15 of
Eupholus #1 (
http://www.eupholus.net/)) by just selling them to the guys
at the record shops that I was shopping at (Smallfish, Rough Trade,
Ambient Soho, etc) anyway.
As far as finding musicians (somebody else mentioned this), it probably
works best to either release your own record or a record of a friend
whose music you really like first just to spread the label's name.
Once you have a label, you'll start meeting people and getting lots of
demos from people, which will direct you to a decent amount of good
music.
I think it's really important to stress that you should not start a
label unless you're absolutely positive that you have the time to put
into it, because it can get quite tedious (particularly when dealing
with distributors).
A friend of mine who works at Dust Traxx summed it up this weekend as
"don't expect a distributor to pay you unless you release about 8 albums
that all sell over 1500 copies." This of course isn't true for small
distributors, but it is for any of the major ones like Syntax or Watts.
It's also important to know what you want to release before you start
and to base your decisions around this. If you're going to release
normal IDM stuff (crunchy hip hop beats with soothing melodies) then
it's fine to release CDs, but if you're into harder or more experimental
stuff, then you're not going to be able to really move any CDs since
everybody in that scene wants vinyl.
Anyway, I hope that's enough info for now- if you have any more
questions, ask away.
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