Running A Label In Your Home

JMD_Music said:
I'm gonna run the business from my home, but I will not build a studio there. I will just go to a professional studio. Why wouldn't I be able to run a business from my apartment?
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You could run into some zoning issues. This is why a PO Box is ideal.
 
As mentioned by others. It will be helpful to have a least a very basic recording setup at your disposal. You don't want to have to pay someone every time you need something done. Even if it something extremely basic.
 
I'll be in an apartment so not much I can have done. I'm taking a semester off from college, but when I do this, I'll still be in college. Did you think I should do the recording where I live? And then send it out for mixing and mastering?
 
depends on what kind of apt. complex you lease from.. when I started my first studio I was in a two bedroom apt. that ppl would consider to be in the hood ...never had a break in,never had a complaint,but I didn't record or rough mix after 10p.m. I made sure I was on the bottom level so I wouldn't have ppl complaining about ppl stomping around lol..but it was cool never told anyone in the complex I had a studio only cats I knew,KNEW!!
I used the master bedroom for the studio and the small room for my bedroom both rooms were pretty big...
so location is key and I would cover any of the studio equipment I brought in a box UNLABELED
I kept to myself too
now I'm about to setup up my production studio in a finished basement my wife setup up my office so I'll I have to do is put up the acoustic treatment.... alot of freedom in a house
I am renting so when hanging acoustic treatment I'm going to go to Home Depot and found some not destructive methods of applying the acoustic treatment to the walls and ceiling
remember stay away from foam acoustic treatment doesn't treat even half of the sound level spectrum especially the low end

I never talked to my landlord when I was in those apts. and neither will I now as long as I don't damage the walls and ceiling I'll be fine
p.s. get your site up even if it's just very basic and you can learn and build a better layout in 30days
The Walking On Water Media/Ent. Business Coach Antonio
Research and Information Gathering Expert
 
I'll more than likely be in a studio apartment. Right now I'm actually looking at studios and their prices and developing a budget based on 2 sessions a week for 4 months. What I want my artist to do is write on the weekday and record on the weekends. I know some studios offer discounts for special projects.
 
okay studio apts. are super way to save money
and yeah just do your paperwork/office stuff in your apt.
use public places to meet your artists like your public library schedule to use one of the private rooms which is free
 
Yea that's exactly what I was thinking. Have my studio apartment to do paperwork/office stuff in. Pay the rent with a regular job. Get a PO Box and have anything business related sent there. And use public places to meet the artist. Like if we were having a business meeting I could take them to lunch or dinner, something like that. Things involving paperwork I'd go somewhere else. But this budget is getting really high, I'm looking at $10,000 as a production budget that I need and I don't know how to get that much money. I looked it up and the government doesn't give out grants to start-up companies and I don't want to take out a loan.
 
In my humble opinion you too worry about the physical location when you should start thinking in terms of a virtual office. An intranet where anyone on your staff/team can log on and see what the daily and weekly task and goals that are set to accomplish. Because having meetings everyday or every week wastes a lot of time. I am in the process of researching the best products and services to allow this even to the point to go paperless as possible. And when I mean the best I mean the best products and services to fit my needs. Think when your label starts to grow how will your team communicate and respond will determine your success as a music company. Of course GREAT MUSIC will determine if your label will be working.
 
I won't be hiring anyone to do anything. I'll be doing everything. And when I meant meetings, I was speaking about meetings with the artist about studio time, photoshoots, video shoots, radio, etc.
 
have you even made a appointment with a representative from your local SCORE Chapter or your local SBA representative they give out free business consultation and help you find investors for your company
The U.S. Small Business Administration | SBA.gov

this is mines they have free seminar online and offline with amazing business professionals will solid concrete information
on all kinds of subjects that pretain to business owners
Nebraska Business Development Center

Free Small Business Advice | How-to Resources | Tools | Templates | SCORE

first class you should take in college is a entrepreneurship course
they will probably have a person from the SBA come and speak to you as they did when I took the class

you need to work hard and your studio apt. will be super cheap you can easily save $6,000
$2,500 to record,mix, and master $2,500 for production
throw that first album on CDbaby or Tunecore to get your stuff on Itunes
make up a agreement with the artist for a 30% artist share/70% to your company since you won't be giving an advance
$1,000 budget for diy promotion
you know how I work some free information and some information costs
don't be afraid to invest in your business and time is the most important investment you have at the grassroot level
start to network now,know your local music scene like the back of your hand
know the music venues owners well take them out to dinner now or just give them a cold call and ask for meeting at their venue
The Walking On Water Media/Ent. Business Coach Antonio
Research and Information Gathering Expert
 
I plan on moving soon so I don't plan on doing anything yet, I'm just saving money. I don't see how I would need $2,500 for production. I may be dropping out of college to pursue this.
 
$2,500 to buy somewhere around 15-17 beats outright no strings attached you own the beats no future payments(backend payments) and unlimited sales alot of producers aren't making any money so $2,500 is a great deal of money for them
you just have to find a producer who is willing to do this or several producers as your artists have to be feeling the instrumentals
you should produce the the intro,interludes,and outro
learn the game man... or pay for it....it's your choice
 
I've actually talked to a few producers who were willing to give away free beats and didn't expect any future payments, they just wanted credit. I wanted to help out other people while also helping myself, which is why I wanted to look into seeking beats from students at different production sites.
I've tried producing myself, not good at it. One thing that would save me money is I had an artist like J Cole, who produced most of their beats themselves. I'm looking at about $10,000 per artist when it comes to getting an album done in terms of production, mixing, mastering, and marketing, because I would be doing the marketing myself. I talked to an engineer today and he gave me some good numbers.
 
free is always good as the grassroots level
blessing on your business activities
if you need one on one help you know how to contact me

---------- Post added at 08:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:09 PM ----------

actually I listened to that my life instrumental that woul make a decent intro or outro, or interlude

---------- Post added at 08:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:11 PM ----------

if you're are getting instrumentals free $5,000 is plenty to start off with
$2,500 for recording,mixing, and mastering
$2,500 for diy Marketing/promotion online and offline
 
JMD_Music said:
lol and this whole time I was thinking I would need $20,000 to start a label
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yeah that's if you're trying to go national right away album are cheap to make it's the marketing and promotion that dig into your capital

$20,000 can be easily spent in a day dealing with your promotion campaign you may get weeks to a months of visibility out of it though
My own budget is looking around $12,000 to drop a compilation album
but when it comes to solo albums I'm looking to invest $70,000 grand of someone esle's money
music is a very high risk marketplace...and is saturated by tons of rappers
see indie rock bands do well because they can get alot of gigs and usually more sellable
hardcore rap or even general rap music can easily get railroaded
With me doing more family friendly music I have a different niche market

what is your niche market is the first thing you should be asking yourself
are you going to let your artists determine that or will your company's mission determine who you sign and who you wouldn't sign

this is the music in my niche market
 
Inverted314 said:
Huge labels have been started with $2,000.
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exactly it's about but these days running a indie label you should budget for a whole album and a promotion campaign to get out in front of the pack...as there are so many indie labels now...
saturated market
 
Well I'm actually considering receiving a specialist certificate in music business from Berklee College.Three classes that focused on marketing and promotion along with the music business in general My label wouldn't sign rappers. That's a huge risk I'm not willing to take. I was aiming more towards R&B, pop/rock, and country. Country music is a huge business, some people don't realize that. I really wanted to give exposure to artists that can actually sing. No auto tune needed.
 
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