The Recording Process – Skip Section on Setting up Your Own Label
Texas Music Office
https://gov.texas.gov/music/page/tmlp_recording
Intro to the Music Industry: Course Readings
Dr. Stan Renard | Fall 2019
The Recording Process – Skip Section on Setting up Your Own Label
Texas Music Office
https://gov.texas.gov/music/page/tmlp_recording
This article informs potential music artists on how to set up their own label, record their contracts, and do many other things that will help them succeed in the music industry. One of the things the article mentioned was obtaining an investor deal. An investor deal in the music industry is when an investor decides to invest money in furthering an artist’s career. This will greatly benefit the artist by making their career more successful. In return, that investor will seek a percentage of the artist’s profit. For more information on investor deals, click the link below:
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/09/29/artist-investment-agreements/
This article has a bunch of information if you’re looking to obtain a label or pretty much wanting to get into the music business as a whole. If you were interested in setting up a label this site gives you useful information on how to obtain that while and recommending books for you to read. Some other useful tips it gives is working part time or intern for a record company, radio station, or record distributor, write a business plan, and planning out your business research. One of the new deals the article talks about is the Spec deal. A Spec deal is a deal that somebody is providing for a product or service for less than what they would normally charge, which means they are investing time hopping their investment gets returned. There are also two different types of spec deals the producer spec deal and the studio spec deal. The producer spec deal makes the producer produce one or more master recordings for little to know fee, while the studio spec deal allows the artist to to record one or more masters in a studio at little cost.
Here is a link that gives tips about setting up a label
https://www.loopmasters.com/articles/2720-10-Steps-To-Setting-Up-Your-Own-Record-Label
More on the Texas Music office that is very beneficial. Quite honestly, I didn’t know there were different rules that are unique to each state. There are many points that A&R’s look for in a group and/or artist. It is almost like an actual interview. They wont just take on anyone. They want to see that you are serious. Can you tour? Do you have a somewhat lively Facebook Fan Page? There are many things that go into just having your demo looked at. You have to go into this very seriously.
Here is an article about the A&R rep and what they do: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/what-is-aandr-artist-and-repertoire-2460349
The article pretty much sums up the content on how to obtain a label and the woks of it. What I like about the article is that it outline the specifics of the financial side of the label, and it’s a very thorough with its information. I found the “360 Deal” to be informative. It is a well thought out plan for both the artist and the company.
For more obtainable information on the 360 Deal here is a link:
https://www.musicconnection.com/the-legal-beat-360-deal/
Something new I learned from this article is the period you’re bound to a contract. I always imagined it would be done by years, so learning that it mostly has to do with the predicted production period was interesting. The balance careers believe you should sign a music publishing deal because publishing is risky and time consuming. They know you can learn about all the mechanical royalties, licenses, and accounting but publishers are meant to help with it and it’ll allow you to spend your time on other things.
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/why-sign-a-music-publishing-deal-2460921
Reading these articles have always brought to mind situations that are relevant to the readings. I really enjoyed the break down of each different type of record deal, even though there are more, it thoroughly explains 360 deals, as mentioned are known for being destructive to artist in the long run. Also, I was not too familiar with demo deals , so I’ glad they touched on that
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2013/07/02/threesixty/.
This is very informative about the paperwork and revenue calculations that goes into being an artist. The article show the outline of different types contracts (i.e. Producer/Studio Spec Deal, 360 Deal), who is all involved, and where revenue is being generated. For instance artist royalties can be split in many varying ways where the producer can take a cut, the percentage escalates based on the number of records you sell, or even labels deducting a percentage for physical packaging.
Here is a great article expanding on how royalties affect the music industry –> https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/licensing-artwork-negotiating-monitoring-royalty-payments-30093.html
In this article you will learn about how to get started in the recording process. It provides many links you can access that gives information on questions you may have as a potential recording artist or someone who wants to start their own label. My favorite article I read was “How do I get my demo heard?” because I think it would be extremely helpful to a new artist trying to get discovered or strike a record deal. It tells you to look at your demo through the eyes of an A&R representative and then gives good tips on what they are looking for in potential artists.
Here’s an article on the dos and don’ts of demo submission:
https://blog.landr.com/dos-and-donts-of-demo-submission-how-to-get-your/
Starting up your label takes a whole lot of time and money to build up. This article gives a ton of helpful resources to jump-start a successful recording label. To start from the ground up to become a successful independent business there are a ton of steps that he or she will have to take. I learned from this article what spec deals are. Spec deals are identified as a means of representation and receiving profit from that gain of representation.
For more insightful information about starting up a label visit: https://www.recordingconnection.com/reference-library/recording-entrepreneurs/how-to-get-started-in-the-music-business/
I honestly love reading these articles because they are really helpful to the beginning artist. I found that the section that goes through some of the recording deals and the explanations super insightful. I learned that there is more than one way a deal can be made and who can they can be made between. A producer spec deal is when the producer creates recordings and basically gives it to the artist so they can use in their work. The producer does not see any money unless the artist is able to make sales off of their track. When reading over the producer spec deals went more in depth about what a producer should be looking for in the deal such as a royalties, ownerships, and rules that the recording company and producer should go over. The list touches about everything you can think of. It goes over numbers and situations that may come up during the deal. This section is a great tool to utilize and go over to go into a deal with more knowledge instead of going in blindly. Here is a link that goes a little more in depth about different types of deals. it also includes contract to look at for example. : https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2015/07/30/three-contracts-that-every-music-producer-should-know/
This article provides you information on how to start your own label by giving you links on key concepts on what to do . What I like about is that they are the main questions that a majority of people ask about and this website provides how to solve them. It mentions the different deals and calculations of all kinds of payments. These are my favorite type of articles because they provide so much information for new artists to help them gain knowledge about starting up and telling you what you need to know.
The article I found provides just as much information.
https://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/start-your-own-record-label
This article gives an artist who is trying to get into the record business or who is trying to start there own label a lot of information. This article basically gives you the direct knowledge you need to get the ball rolling. Not only does this article help an artist get a label started but it also goes deep into what the different kind of deals are. I find that important because as an artist myself it helps me to know what kind of deals are out there and what kind of deals would be best for me and what I am doing instead of going in blind eyed. These type of articles with all of this information is very useful and I hope many new artists look into this article.
The article below provides more information on a 360 deal, and the pros and cons:
https://www.musicindustryhowto.com/what-is-a-360-deal-in-the-music-industry-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-signing-one/
This article provides key tips and guidelines on the music recording process in the state of Texas. The website provides lots of resources to help assist someone who is just starting off in the recording industry get going on the right foot. One part of the article that I thought was interesting was about Tour Support, which is money that the record label advances to the band to cover any losses that may occur on the tour. I found an article that dives into more options for tour support that doesn’t come from the record label : https://onstagesuccess.com/artist-tour-support/
Upon opening the article, the section I was most intrigued by was on how to start your own record label. The link provided many steps to consider prior to starting a label and other resources such as books. Although, I am aware that there are countless steps to consider prior to starting a record label the information provided seems quite helpful for anyone thinking of doing so. Therefore, here is an article I found that goes further into depth on making your own record label.
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-to-start-a-record-label-2460782
Once again, reading this article has provided me information that I find incredibly helpful. The amount of information provided exceeded any of the requirements that I thought was necessary prior to reading it. One particular aspect that I found surprising was the concept of tour support. I had no idea that record companies actually provided funds on lost money. It is a perfect example of investing, and “spending money to make money.” From the article, it is obvious that there is much more preparation needed than what I previously thought.
Here is a short read that talks about tour support availability: https://www.thebalancecareers.com/tour-support-2460946
Within this article, you will find many helpful resources about the music industry. More notably, I took an interest in the “Setting Up Your Own Label” article. Much of the article advises the reader to check out books that will expose them to knowledge about setting up a business as well as making sales. The only information it doesn’t give is how to set up a business plan. Nonetheless, I found it knowledgeable enough to inform the reader about how he/she can start a business label within the music industry.
Heres an article I found about writing a business plan: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/281416
I particularly focused on the 360 deal article, and it is insane how many ways the label fixes things so that they make the most money. To an uninformed artist, the money upfront may sound great but they are losing a lot of money in the long run. They could even accumulate more debt than what they got paid in the beginning. You really have to be getting constantly informed on 360 deals, here’s another article on them. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-360-deals-in-the-music-industry-work-2460343
I found this to be a very informative read and have even shared the link with friends who are up and coming in the business. However after going through all the information I have come to the conclusion that musicians/bands who are early in their career should place much less focus on a “record deal” and work more towards developing as a business and then growing that business. I feel this will give the musician/band better odds at making a decent living in the music industry and give them much more leverage if/when they are ready to sign a deal with a record company.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvAhIKnLsRo
This article was very helpful, once more, in streamlining a process; in this case, it’s about recording contracts. One thing that stood out to me was the extensive process of simply getting your demo heard, which is a lot harder to do and more complicated than I had originally thought. Even then, after getting your demo heard, there’s so many different types of deals that can be had. It’s all extremely daunting, as it seems extremely difficult to be heard in the first place, much less get a good deal. Here’s an interview about record deals: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ditto-music-lee-parsons-interview-749510/
This article is very informative in how to start up your own record label. There is a lot of useful information regarding financing, contract agreements, obtaining royalties, and legal concerns. Here is an article about starting your own label without very much money. https://www.thebalancecareers.com/can-i-start-a-record-label-with-no-money-2460665
This article have many different site and link for answer to these question. These are so useful and informative because it basically teaches artist or someone who want to start a label. There are many information on music business and industry. I found an interesting article on how to start a label
https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-to-start-a-record-label-2460782
For the portion of the article it spoke about how to finance a label and the small ticks and ways to keep the money coming. I found most useful was that they recommend hiring an accountant to keep track of the income since this is under a small business in the eyes of the government. This is also to keep track of all receipts for the band and you don’t have to worry about whats going as much and focus on the music. There is also the part where they mentioned the net working is a big part because even a small gig is a gig.
This website allows your to view accountants the will work for your music label.
https://growthgroup.com/record-label-accountant/
This article provides detailed information on how people can start up their own label as well as the many different kinds of recording contracts there are. I was particularly interested on learning about spec deals and how it works. I like the idea that producers and studios are willing to help artists create with little to no costs. Obviously producers hope that they’ll get money in return from the revenue artists make from selling the masters. This article goes more in depth on contracts for producers only. https://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/guide-contracts-producers
As the article specifies how to get started when it comes to the recording process and really getting started in the music industry, the recording contracts seem the most interesting to me, as it really helps the everyday artist artist or producer build a good foundation of what they should do when starting in the music business. The article gives a good insight of what to expect when getting hands on with the “spec deal” of things when it comes to the producer of an artist’s work or the studio helping make the music possible. But one thing that is important about both is that, they get revenue off the artist’s work if applicable and always have deals in place so that when money is being made off the music, they are sure to get paid in any situation they seem to be in which the article goes into further detail about. Another great aspect about the article and what it informs an artist about, is what they would be getting into if a recording artist agreement were to take place and the so many levels to go through when making music for someone else.
Here is a link on more information involving “spec deals”.
https://www.nospec.com/music-business
Here is link regarding more information on a exclusive recording artist agreement.
http://www.raclawfirm.com/articles/recording-agreement/
A few things I did not know about this particular part of the music industry I learned from this article, such as all the things it takes to get a record label’s attention. I had no idea that there are multiple approaches to this, including youtube videos, online promotions, registered and copyrighted music, and so on. I also learned that demo deals are, in other words, a test by the record label to see if recording and marketing the band or artist is really worth it. A spec deal works in a similar way, and is offered at a lower cost, by either a producer or a studio. Here is an article for further reading on producer deals.
http://blog.sonicbids.com/5-types-of-producer-deals
I enjoyed this article because it was very helpful on what I wanted to know about and how to get started with my own record label. Also how you are still able to be independent when it comes to realasing your own music. Something that I wanted to know a little more about was the control of the marketing aspect. It had the “Coming Soon” under it but I wanted to know more behind the scenes on what music marketing really entails.
Heres more information on how to promote your music.
https://newartistmodel.com/promote-your-music/
This article gave me some insight to what labels are looking for in signees. The amount of people and emails they should have signed up in an email list, high quality videos on youtube, relationship with BMI, ASCAP, and SESAC, etc. All of these things are what make the potential signee credible. Here I found some more information on what steps an artist or band should take while looking to be signed to a label: https://medium.com/giglue/how-to-get-signed-by-any-record-label-f3eaf9f11566
If there’s anything I’ve learned from technology, it’s the fact that in order to be successful in any business, we need to change, grow and adapt to the era we’re living in. As the article clearly says, in order to have a slight shot of being discovered, one needs to have a good social media presence with a decent following. It talks about having at least 1,000 fans on Facebook, 1,000 email addresses for contact and even some decent YouTube content. This article shows the many possibilities of signing with a record label and unknowingly proves how important modern technology really is in this industry.
Here is another article on how technology and social media has shaped the music industry into what it is now. https://econsultancy.com/the-impact-of-technology-and-social-media-on-the-music-industry/
There’s more to signing a record deal than people think. The term “selling your soul to the Devil” really comes from the fact that in most of these you’re giving up 98% of your creative freedom to these labels. However, the more of a household name you become, the more lenient these deals may be. Take Jay-Z and Madonna for example. They’ve been around for decades and have established their dominance in the music world. Considering the fact they both have 360 deals with Live Nation, they don’t have to worry if an album does poorly because they’re still making bank! Here’s an article I found that goes more in-depth about 360 deals:
https://djbooth.net/features/rapper-poor-artist-devleopment
Even though Dr. Renard usually says a 360 deal is terrible for the artist, this article made it seem pretty attractve. It seemed likeit was a pretty safe way for a musician to have a more guaranteed source of revenue coming from their recordings. I do see the pit falls though, such as having to share revenue from everything involving your musical career and the creative limitations that the record label could use if they don’t like what you are producing. This article gave a really good look at the positive sides compared to what Dr. Renard usually says about a 360 deal. This article gives a breif overview of the pros and cons of a 360 deal:
https://www.legendarymix.com/single-post/2016/10/12/The-Pros-Cons-Of-A-360-Deal
I am grateful that the Texas Music Office gives resources to musicians about the music industry. I’m starting to realize all the legalities that go into just one artist and how every decision, big or small, affects them for a good period of their career. As I look through the articles, I particularly take interest in 360 deals and how record labels grow an artist. It’s not all glitz and more glam, but if we take time to understand what exactly are the pros in cons, future artists will make better decisions when signing to a label.
For more info on the pros and cons of 360 deals, click on the link below:
https://www.musicindustryhowto.com/what-is-a-360-deal-in-the-music-industry-and-the-pros-and-cons-of-signing-one/
This articles contains many information in regards to artists starting their own record label, how to set up contracts, as well as getting a demo heard. I thought it was interesting how many artists try to send their demos “unsolicited “. You would think they’d always go through the process to make it official, especially when it comes to the music business. In addition, I thought it was interesting how there are different rules in each state for A&R, distribution, as well as rules according to getting a record label started. Here’s an article I found describing a basic guideline for artists on how to start their own record label.
https://medium.com/@adamcolefreedman/how-to-start-a-record-label-101-part-1-c0404e8d88e9
This article depicts the different steps one needs to take in starting your own label. It went in depth about how to get your music heard in the first place, to setting up a contract. The article also emphasized on how to get a labels attention mainly through the use of YouTube and other social media as well as copyrighted music and any other previous online promotion.
It seems as though exposure is one of the most if not the most important necessity in this industry, so I found it specially interesting.
Here are a few other ways to gain exposure
https://www.artchain.world/all/ten-tips-get-art-artist-noticed-2/
This article is a great resource for any artist interested in getting their music professionally recorded or getting a record deal. It breaks down the process and explains the do’s and don’ts of each step. For example, I never realized that you could call a label to ask if they accept unsolicited demos before actually sending one to increase your chances of it getting heard. I also thought that the tip of organizing a business plan for your music or future record deal was important because it would force the artist to plan ahead and really analyze whatever it is that they’re doing.
Here is an article that provides a step by step explanation on how to write a business plan as a musician:
https://www.saskmusic.org/uploads/ck/files/funding/fundingtool_BusinessPlansArtist.pdf
When I first saw the title of the article, I was excited because I thought it would be about the actual recording process. However, I was very wrong (lol) and was actually pleasantly surprised with the information given. The article gives direct, insider knowledge on recording contracts which, for the most part was knew to me. One thing that really stuck out to me where the exclusivity and term clauses. Here’s an article explaining contract jargon: http://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/recording-contracts-explained%3famp
The article was very informal in all aspects of how a recording deal is obtained, and how exactly it works. One of the most interesting things in the article for me was the 360 deal. Its not hard to believe that in the changing world that we live in, royalties from streams are not enough anymore. Another thing that I enjoyed i the article are the “options” they tell you about if you get any sort of deal from a record label. This article is great for anyone who is trying to get more into the music industry but do not know a whole lot about the kind of deals you need or should be looking at when it comes to recording deals.
Here is another article that talks more about negotiating with record labels: http://heroic.academy/truth-about-record-deals/
This article is a great resource for up and coming artists who are trying to figure out how to navigate the music industry. I really liked how it talked about how to approach a label appropriately so you can maximize your network even if you get a lot of no’s. It was really interesting when they talked about how major labels sometimes use their own artists as recruiters for the label. The article also gave a great piece of advice to try and plan performances with artists from a label you are interested in so you build those relationships and build your network early on. Here is an interesting article that talks about how to approach a label:
ocs.google.com/document/d/1cr7gXdKRvufV_3p_55nnD33l6vrwCvY2Le5wMno7_Fk/edit
https://www.makeitinmusic.com/how-should-you-approach-a-record-label-or-manager/
I really enjoy how this article provides steps and instructions for people interested in the music industry. It breaks down different aspects of the start up process and provides answers to many of the intimidating questions musicians ask themselves when they are in this start up process such as how one finances a recording. This is my favorite section of the article as this is the most informative section that I find extremely valuable. The article mentions that you must make a business plan as all traditional funding sources require a business plan. This business plan should be reviewed by an accountant that has experience with record labels to make sure it looks presentable and professional. This article is very informative and should be more well known to assist upcoming artists and performers to help them share their music and succeed financially. Below is an article that provides more detail on the steps and requirements for making a business plan.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/281416
This article was extremely helpful for those who do not know much about the business of labels. I think it gave a lot of good information about what record labels do, how to start your own and what to expect when working for a record label. I found the most helpful part to be the grant of rights section because it showed the importance of understanding the contracts you sign and the effect they have on your music as well as income. A lot of times artist do not realize that they sign a lot of the rights of their music over and end up upset with the label because of the way they are taking away their finances. Below I have attached an article about grant of rights.
http://www.soundandmusic.org/resources/artists-toolkit/intellectual-property/rights
The Texas Music Office is in abundance with crucial information on setting up labels and learning how to finance your business. The article goes into more detail citing books to read for starting a business, making a business plan for yourself, and what it takes to finance it all. One important thing i wanted to add to this article was how to also set goals for all of these things in order to make juggling these tasks more efficient. I’ve attached an article link for setting up goals specifically tailored to musicians.
https://www.cyberprmusic.com/musicians-guide-setting-achieving-goals/
This article was extremely beneficial in learning about Record Companies and technical advice on Record Deal contracts. It seems that many things can go wrong without a concise, agreeable contract. When it comes down to the relationship between the artist and the label/ record company, there is much “give and take” and return, as well as a lot of risk and ownership involved from early advancements to produce albums to artist royalties from mechanical publishing. Various agreements and clauses such as the Controlled Composition Clause and Grants of Rights Clause leads me to believe that since Record Companies are prior sponsors of upcoming new artists, they have too much power over their future goals strangling the creative process itself. A link below expresses this bias view on how labels can destroy the creative process.
https://caricole.com/ugly-truth-record-labels-kill-artistry-instincts/
Recording contracts come in various forms. One form is in the form of a demo deal. With a demo its where the record label pays for part of your product because they want to see what you can do. This is also called an EP and an LP is considered an album. Demos are usually for artists who are just starting out and are trying to get their foot in the door. They way a person can get their demo heard is through and A&R at a major record labels and submit them and hope they will give it a listen.
Here’s a link to learn more about demo deals
http://www.wallacecollins.com/demo-dls.html
I think this link really showed that starting a label is a multi-person task and requires a lot of financing. Starting a new label seems near impossible unless you are already an established act with a decent sized following. We’ve seen several artists the past few years start their own label or sign to lesser known local labels and I think a large part of this is how much overhead costs at bigger labels. They have to take a bigger cut because they have more people to pay. For larger artists, it makes fiscal sense to start your own label with someone you trust.
My link is an interesting read from Forbes about J. Cole’s record label, Dreamville, and how Cole and his manager/college friend Ibrahim Hamad started a label from scratch and trusted their own talent to carry them.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ogdenpayne/2016/04/22/how-dreamville-records-is-altering-the-major-label-business-model/#4450544e6e39
I think this link really showed that starting a label is a multi-person task and requires a lot of financing. Starting a new label seems near impossible unless you are already an established act with a decent sized following. We’ve seen several artists the past few years start their own label or sign to lesser known local labels and I think a large part of this is how much overhead costs at bigger labels. They have to take a bigger cut because they have more people to pay. For larger artists, it makes fiscal sense to start your own label with someone you trust.
My link is an interesting read from Forbes about J. Cole’s record label, Dreamville, and how Cole and his manager/college friend Ibrahim Hamad started a label from scratch and trusted their own talent to carry them.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ogdenpayne/2016/04/22/how-dreamville-records-is-altering-the-major-label-business-model/#4450544e6e39
This article is useful for most anyone who is headed into the music industry regardless of interest. The detailed information is applicable to those who are looking to produce, record, or write music in any capacity, all in simple layman’s terms for the most part. Something that was described in detail was the substantial amount of risk that artists take in signing with a label. Media has romanticized the musicians’ life of recording and touring when it is actually incredibly difficult work that more often than not proves to be detrimental to one’s career if not done in a smart manner.
Attached is a link from BMI’s blog that weighs the pros and cons of signing to a label, and describes on a surface level a few different kinds of deals.
https://www.bmi.com/news/entry/the_pros_cons_of_signing_a_publishing_deal