Question on contacting labels

C

Ceiiu

New member
So, I have been producing tracks for quite some time now. Even though I don't get the production quality I desire, I still like make music and don't let the final output quality let me down. But I still aim to get a good quality song/track out. That being said I thought about sending one of my track demos that is barely mastered to an indie record label. Would they oversee or help me in terms of mastering? If they really liked the track would they send it to a mastering engineer for me and release it? How does that work? Or do record labels mainly do promoting and such? I'm very new when it comes to promoting and marketing so I just wanted a noob's guide when it comes to sending your tracks/songs to record labels.

Thank you in advance,

Ceiiu
 
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Short answer:

All of the above.


Long answer:

It depends how much they're invested in a talent. No two labels are the same in their ways. In my experience, if your music is not ready and you don't have an audience, your submission will go straight in the bin. That's not to say you're producing poor music, but more of the fact that the labels want something that they know they can sell - even the indies.

Your best bet is to build yourself an audience/fan base which you can flaunt at the labels when you submit your record. "Hey, my music's good AND I've already made X amount of sales"... Most record labels are concerned about one thing, and that's finance. If you are a big gamble they probably won't sign you.

On the other hand, there a few record labels (like the one I run) who dedicate time and money to artist development. I suppose it's about looking for the best fit for you and applying.

If you do stay independent for the time being, I recommend you learn how to run your career on your own. You can start off by having a look at my music marketing blog (shameless plug) - Internal Affairs.

Here's a few blog posts you can check out from the blog:
Why Your Attitude Stinks
Are Your Objectives Smart?
Niche & Mass Markets in Music

Cheers,
Jordan
 
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Thank you so much Jordan. This is by far the best answer I could've gotten. It really cleared up lots of things for me. For now I'll try to build my own audience then and check out the links you have posted as well. Again thanks a lot, some really great info here!
 
hey @ceiiu , thought id give some info that i have with my experiences in this business so far. exclusivo pretty much nailed it but i have a few more things to add.
The more that you can offer the Label the more chance of you being signed. if you are skilled many areas, such as mixing, mastering, beat production, sound design, song writing, lyric writing etc then you will be a more valuable asset. Try to perfect as many music production related skills as possible, that will make you a highly desired person to go to. Labels tend to also like hearing final products, complete with vocals arranged in song structure. Try to find a pretty sick rapper/singer that's upcoming, and collab with them, the Labels will take you more serious when you have a final product, and shows you have a musical vision when creating music. Also, developing brands is KEY! a good example is that SuperStarO fella, if you dont know him check him out, his Grind Or Die brand is massive!! having a brand which is appealing and relate-able = $$$. Labels will look far deeper than just music, and again, the more you have to offer, the higher your chances of being signed. hope this helps also!
 
Hey there @farra_producer,

Thanks a lot for the advice! A lot of what you said has opened up my eyes. As you mentioned, for now, I'll be working on becoming a highly desired person. I'll study and work as much as I can during this time.

I'll be sure to check out SuperStarO as well. The developing brands aspect has also piqued my interest quite a bit. Thanks for the advice again,

Cheers,
Ceiiu
 
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