Starting a record label 101

[Mattias]

I usually tell people who are in to start a label that they should see it as a long term investment, I think that's a good way to see it really. It seems to be so one-releaser-at-the-time focused today instead of planning several release a ahead.

[winston]

Yeah it was my plan to just put previews a month in advance and publish the facebook page and stuff this month. However, I will wait with the facebook page until the beginning of the summer.

But it seems there are quite a few of unwritten rules. The distributors only think money as well, I cant blame them ofcourse.

I not going to pay for any promotion from 3rd parties. I'll handle it myself.

I was thinking of sending some cards or somthing via oldschoolmail instead of promo's, everybody loves mail. It will inclued a dl link for bandcamp if artists want the dough. 1.5 month before release.

I'll also hand out some of those cards on parties, without dllink ofcourse. maybe 2-3 months in advance.

I hope this will be enough, it was kind of bugging me so that is why I came to subsekt for help. I believe the info is in good hands here anyways. Its not a really big secret any more.

Getting the home adresses of the artist will be the tricky part. The element of surprise will be lost. I'm thinking of doing 10 digi files promo's. If they want the vinyl they can buy it like everybody else. I might change my mind, but that is the way I feel right now.

to play devils advocate, i would maybe question the value of your idea of sending cards with a download link. i understand your reasons behind it: it offers a novelty that might get them to check it out. but equally, it might get put to the bottom of the pile and they think "i'll get to that later" and then they never do. if they are a dj who you are considering sending promos to, then others are also sending promos to them through the regular means and i would suggest it would be a mistake not to also contact them through their soundcloud or dropbox or email or however most people get promos digitally.

i'd also think about the numbers involved and the rate of return (i think thats what it is called, i.e. how many people will 1. listen to it, 2. play it out and maybe 3. chart it or talk about it, or give you a response), and suggest you go high with the number of people you send it to. obviously the vinyl promos cost you money, so i understand that you might want to limit who they get sent to and sell them instead, but if i were you, the digital version i would send to a lot of people.

i don't know what style of techno you make or who you have considered sending it to, but the aim (in my opinion) is to get listened to. get it out to blogs, radio shows, journalists, as well as club djs. the boring work is building the network of people to send things to. they might not respond to your first release, but they might recognise/remember your name the second time. with the abundance of tracks released weekly, you can't afford to be too precious or conservative in sending things out.

[Alume]

Although I understand your point of view winston I dont feel comfortable with blogs, radio shows etc. For me the music is an expression of a state of mind captured in a certain time sceme. For me the music can set time apart from my own reason or thought. Switch me off, and enter a mind of calmness.

As the music is so close to home I'd like to give the music as much as a personal feel as possible. Its for the listeners so I want them to be a selective group that are dedicated to their music.

As for what Steve and Mattias are saying, I agree. But before we complain that the market is too saturated we will say that there is not enough vinyl like "the old days". Its like complaining in the winter that we want summer and then when summer is hits we will complain that its to hot. There is always something. I get that the quality is down and that people can do sloppy things their selves in these times. But good music is out there and although I can not garantee that my music is good(as it never is the level you want it to be). I can try my best to enhance the user experience, make the record special and hope that people will value a good statement/concept/structure.

I'm not trying to defend myself because I dont ahve second thoughts of the project. Its strange to say that I'm not doing it for the moeny because I know that loads of people in the world dont have enough. But yeah, its an investment that I am not expecting back. Money wise.

I need to channel creativity and right now only making music isnt enough.

Im going on about this this for ages without any real conclusive conclusion thingy. Maybe its the beer talking.

[winston]

i understand what you are saying, but once you release it, the music isn't yours anymore. it just takes one russian kid or a bot or however it works and it's on the filesharing sites or download sites and it out there and you have no control of it. i suppose it goes to a larger philosophical question about why musicians make music and things like that.

for nobodies benefit but your own, it sounds like you should write down what your aims are, like a business plan, so that you have it more focussed. even though profit isn't a goal, your venture still has goals.

[Alume]

Good call, though I do have one. I havent included to many long term plans to be honest.

I will have a look at it.

[Teachtaire]

Interesting thread, just wondering if anyone has any links to information regarding sales on vinyl in the electronic music world, I found this which offers some recent figures: http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2014/01/ ... sales.html

anyone know any other sales info sources?

[grandheronbleu]

Anyone in for a radioshow?

[StandardModel]

Four releases in now, and the whole process seems like a fucking lottery to be perfectly honest...

Our first release, the artwork was shit, we did virtually no promo at all but it sold out...

Second release sold less, did a much bigger promo mail out through the distributor, lot of support, we expected the vinyl to be do way better as we liked the tracks more, but did incredibly well digitally...

Third release, critically acclaimed video, distributor did the promo mailout again, but to double the people of the 2nd release (over 500). Feedback was unreal, constantly getting sent videos of XYZ DJ playing it, messages from Berghain/Tresor etc.. saying it's being played, but we sold fuck all... Really hoping the digital will salvage it...

Fourth release, no promo whatsoever, very close to selling out again....

It would be easy to equate it to the mailout, but plenty of labels do this and still sell out, and whilst I definitely think we gave the digital files out for free to DJ's who would have bought the vinyl, I honestly don't know if it's that or not.

You can do all the promo in the world, but people buying vinyl listen to records either in the store, or the website, and if they like it, they buy it, and our distributor has got us in virtually every reputable store in the world.

[StandardModel]

We print 300, but I know of several labels that print 500, and sell out every time...

[Alume]

Hey man, interesting results. Which label are you running if i may ask.

Pm me if neccesary:)

[rktic]

More sales without promotion somehow makes perfect sense to me these days.

[Wiu]

A lot of people that receive promos probably receive so damn many they probably don't even listen to most. Bombarded with so much it's impossible to keep up I'd imagine.

[winston]

Interesting stuff StandardModel, do you get breakdowns of what stores sold what numbers? Do you have a delay between vinyl and digital release? And, last question, how many digital promos are you sending out?

It does sound strange that a release that gets exposure does less well than your others, but there's nowt as queer as folk i suppose.

[rktic]

Well, promos turned into dick business. You get stuff for free that you didn't ask for. Sounds like spam, doesn't it? The diametric end is going to a store and discovering something new or get a personal recommendation. It feels entirely different. And maybe you're the first to drop something fresh.

It's a mind game.

[Hades]

Hey man, interesting results. Which label are you running if i may ask.

Pm me if neccesary:)

I'd like to know this one as well.

[Hades]

More sales without promotion somehow makes perfect sense to me these days.

absolutely.

people are a lot more into their own "personal" taste nowadays than into what they are "told" to find good by radiostations or whatever.
for example : how much power does a radio station still hold nowadays ?
It's a lot easier to find original stuff nowadays, only it might take some more digging,
but I do believe with all this "everybody's a DJ" nowadays thing,
that a lot of those folks tend to at least try and dig for somewhat original stuff,
even if it's not out of pure love for music but just to be the first to play something unknown.
It's a lot harder to be original nowadays than say a decade ago.

And I do think this is far more typical for our type of music,
not for the big generic kind of music.
EDM people is not the type of people I am talking about above,
those people really don't buy one of these pieces of vinyl or a digital copy.

[mick]

Any update on how this is going?

And who knows what the specifications are for designing a record sleeve. As in, resolution, DPI etc.

[Lost to the Void]

If you are sending out 500 promos,thats your market.
Unless you are talking EDM, there are barely 500 people out there to buy your vinyl in techno land. Stores take 5-10 copies to sell, so if you see sold out at somewhere like juno or hardwax, it doesn't actually mean that much.
I know some labels might claim to be pressing 500+ but take most people's sales figures with a pinch of salt unless you hear it from the distributer as no one likes to talk real with their vinyl sales, because the pressing plants are pressing more 300 and 150 runs from techno labels than 500. 500 is upper end.
People don't buy music any more, that's the reality.
If you want your techno audience to buy your physical product then dont give it to them for free first.

[avmilli]

I think it is important to also focus on the visual artwork that vinyl releases alllow. A favourite cover of mine is by The Scientist called The Bee on Kickin' Records.

[winston]

I think it is important to also focus on the visual artwork that vinyl releases alllow. A favourite cover of mine is by The Scientist called The Bee on Kickin' Records.

it's kind of a shame that people think like that, but then it's also quite good that people think like that. if good artwork makes a physical record mean more then fair enough, i get that. but an argument could be made that the artwork for dance-floor music is an irrelevance. those records live in boxes or on shelves and are pulled out to go on decks and get played. i doubt there are many djs who think "that has a good cover, i'll play that next". but there are probably plenty of people who have A turntable and a stack of records to flip through when their friends are round and show off. like buying LPs from urban outfitters to put on display shelves in your living room, so you can talk about how you've always been a fan of Stevie Wonder. like buying a Twix because you like the colour gold.

but at the same time, if you're producing a record, you want it to be the best it can be. you want it to be cool as fuck, and cool shit gets looked at. it's like the modern-art aspect of music, where it isn't really about how the music sounds, it's the message behind it, it's the presentation.

the modern quandary: style over substance.
someone should just announce disco-sleeves are the shit.