White labels

[DJ Haze]

What's the difference between white labels and acetates? For example, in music magazines I've seen records listed as "UK White Label" and "UK Acetate". Does the "acetate" just mean that fewer records have been produced? Is a "black label" the same as a white label?
How much does it cost to make say, a one-off white label for yourself, or 10 or 1000 white labels? How are they distributed? Can anyone recommend any good pressing plants in the UK? Do they accept CDR as well as DAT? Thanks.

 

[DJ Taos]

wow ok tahts alot of questions.... ok a white lable is basicly a record made with no lable on it. Its usually done when there are a load of stolen samples or its an illeagle remixe of another song. Rather then going to jail or paying the sampling rights fees they just release it with no lable or a very minimal lable. Sometimes its a white lable because its a test pressing meaning its the record that the record company got and listend to to see if it sounded good before the dub plates whent off to the record press for pressing.
an Acetate record to my understanding is made of a softer plastic and is generaly used for a one off record...I think, at this point I am sorta spectulating. Acetate records should not be played on wind up phonographs. DJ's should not drag or skate pickups across acetate records, as being of soft material, they can scratch easily.

moving on.... pressing only 10 records or just one will cost you alot cash, its usually better to get at least 500 pressed but I would recomend 1000. Most small Indipendent record companies start with 1000-2000 records pressed and if it does well and they want to it may go for a second pressing. When looking at the cost to do this this you need to remember its not just sending a song it to the plant and them nmailing back the records, you need to find a good Enginear to Master your Tracks Specificly for Vynal, then you need to find someone (or a company) to Cut you a Dub Plate and thats tricky as there is an art to this, so don't just hire anyold company todo this, do your homework. YOu could always call or email some of your favorite records companies and ask who cuts there plates for them. the there is the the after this you get an acetate or a one off record to listen to make sure you like how it sounds before it goes off to the pressing plant..so it gets tricky here to, all pressing planst are difrent, one this to keep in mind is that thik records are really nice and everyone loves them but there is a down side to it, they are heavyer therfor cost more to ship and when your talking about shipping 1000 records it gets pricey especialy since you'll want to be insureing the shipment and all. Find a pressing plant near where your distributer is or where most of your records will sell, to save on shipping.
for distribution.... you'll want to call distributing companies like Sonic Groove and set up sending them an acetate or a cdr of the record and then its all about trying to get them to buy some from you to distribute, and there is also calling all the record stores in North amarica and Europe and the UK and trying to sell them direct, that would save you and the record store some cash.

well I would go on but I just realized I am suposed to be somewhere right now and I"m not...DOH!


hope that helped a bit.


oh yeah... its fine to use CDR instead of a DAT

 

[DJ Haze]

Cheers (and Remixing)

Thanks for that. Just one more question - I've seen it on the Composing forum. How do you extract the vocals, bass, drums etc. out of an existing song so that you can do your own remix? Hardware or software suggestions please.

 

[RobinH]

Hi Taos and Haze,

White labels can also be promo release , it is quite common to circulate white labels around a while before a larger release and a certain kudos value accrues to them.

This is the same with an acetate. When you go to get a record cut, they cut it to a laquer. This is then used to make the metal plaates that press the vinyl. An acetate is harder than a laquer and is what a producer cuts when he wants to test a track in a club. An acetate is not as hard as vinyl and wears out after 10 -20 plays. Acetates are expensive , around £35 . So if someone gives you an acetate , its a gift .

In the UK to get your track to vinyl go to a local mastering house. In London try Porky's - Shaftesbury Ave , The Exchange - Camden , Heathmans Mastering - Fulham .... for a few.

They will cut your track to laquer which you then take to a pressing plant. UK is expensive ... most people use the continent ... france being popular. Try MPO .

Alternatively if all this sounds to much hassle , go to Impress ( Camden , London ) and they handle the whole thing for you including sending the cut and sending your product to the distributors .... but they cost ££££ .

What can you expect to pay ... around £150 for the master to laquer , £120 for the plates , £30 for 10 TPs ( white label test pressings ), 40 - 50 p per record after that , and those funny little expenses that always make the whole thing more expensive than you planned.

Some advice ... don't go to press untill you have a distributor willing to buy. A laquer degrades after a couple of weeks and going to plate is alot of money to spend if a distributor likes the first track but not the second.

 

[RobinH]

some more advice

Don't leave a CD or DAT in the distributors hands no matter what they say until a contract is signed.

Don't try and punt your record to the shops , only do this if you have overpress from a batch. First it pisses off the distributors , second you can only sell to the shops at around £3 , the distributor will buy for £2. You create alot of extra work for which you benefit only a little. Third you have to collect this money off all these little record shops , and believe me alot of them if they know you are a small player and on your own .... well what do you reckon ? I would say you will never see %100 of your money.

A big distributor has a reputation to protect and they will not rip you off , visibly. Just make sure you don't offer them the oppurtunity to do it invisibly .

As a rule of thumb , assume everyone you meet in the music industry will rip you off. This will give you the wits to stay alive. You will be right 90% of the time. Learn to be suspicious whilst looking naive . This will make it easier to spot the 90% and it will endear you to the 10% that aren't trying to rip you off.

It is not realy possible to separate the elements out of a mix. You can by using the filters and EQ on a desk remove alot of one frequency ( like all the highs or all the lows , similar to a DJ mixer with these facilities ). You can also reverse the phase of the left channel and add it to the right and this will cancel out the center panned instruments , this is often the bass and kik drum. As far as I know there is no way to isolate vocals ( the technique before will actualy get rid of them)