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What do you want from a full service record label?

I've been retained to write the business plan for a record label that's planning to expand. These folks are already artist friendly, but there's always room for improvement especially this early in the expansion process.

I'd appreciate your feedback on what the 5 most important things would be to you, if you decided to work with a record label.

Thank you.
Tom


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Jackie Blue
www.jackieblue.com
E-mail: jackieblue_2001@yahoo.com

Hmm...good question! I'm no expert, and lots of the things I'd like would be unrealistic I suppose, but to start:

1. Honest and straight dealing, contracts easy to understand and hard to screw up. Good communication on what's going on in general and in specifics regarding business.
2. A well-organized plan of marketing and promotion, for the label as well as individual artists.
3. Deep enough pockets for decent tour support (well, OK, in the best of all possible worlds anyway).
4. Distribution that isn't just a joke.
5. Enough advertising that the above distribution isn't a joke.

...That's the first 5 things that come to mind, anyway. Any other ideas?

Oh yeah...and that "Standard Rich & Famous Contract", that oughta be in there too.

Good stuff--I'd add a split that would allow the artist to make a reasonable amount of money without having to sell millions of CDs first. It's crazy when there are people who sell thousands of CDs and still can't make any money back from their label.

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DawnXianaMoon.com
Melodic alternative folk pop infused with passion and honesty.

Download free music, buy the CD, and other fun stuff.

It seems that large labels give minimal royalty/publishing returns per unit, but they have the power to pump the advertising etc., and IF they do, and IF it catches on, then the artist has a small chance of making some money (but not much per CD). Small labels can give better deals and more flexibility, but their budgets are correspondingly smaller, and often it seems that it's not much better than doing your own sales through CD Baby or some such (where you have significant profit per CD). Do I sound a little cynical? Yeh, maybe just a little. Sorry...but I'd like to know what advantages there would be in signing off the rights to one's work (and whatever chunk of the publishing, etc.), there should be some compelling arguments from a label... as a starving artist, I'm always willing to listen.

"...there should be some compelling arguments from a label."

I agree with you 100%. That's why I've asked for folk's top 5 most important things. A compelling business case needs to include fair benefits for both the artist and the business.

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Jackie Blue
www.jackieblue.com
E-mail: jackieblue_2001@yahoo.com

Indeed! You're right there. What I want from a label is the ability to reach more people (and incidentaly make more money, so's I can buy some of them good Ramen Noodles), I'd want a feeling that there would be long-term support for the artists, I'd want some control over how my material would be sold and packaged over time. I'd want a fair deal (always a debatable thing) on royalties and publishing rights. And support in terms of CD recording and duplication would be a plus...I'm getting tendonitius stuffing in those inserts by hand! Of course, other folks have other concerns as well...anybody else?

At the risk of going on and on, I thought I'd mention some of the things that my friend and bandleader Mike Katon's label, Mascot/Provogue, do for people in their stable. With Mike at least, they front him the money for tickets (his once or twice yearly tours are in western europe, mostly Germany and the Netherlands), and rent him a backline of bass amp & drums (he keeps his own guitars and amp out there with them). They also have a house bus, about the size of a step-van, that they rent him at a discount. They also have a series of drivers/road managers that they connect him with, and they also interface with the agent to put together a coherent tour plan. In their case they're doing a lot, sending posters to venues and working publicity for their acts during their tours, almost like a manager might do, at least during the six weeks or whatever that we're over there. Mike is somewhat close-mouthed about his advances, royalty/publishing deals etc. (I am after all just a sideman on these things), but I think they're not too bad. The touring arrangement, though, really makes it easier for the Mascot artists to get out there to where their fan base is, and of course this boosts CD sales, so I guess it must be worth it to the label as well.

Having the finances to front a recording and advertising for the recording (posters, radio, and touring) coupled with proper distribution (bricks & mortar not just online) are all important. What appears to be happening in the industry is that they are becoming venture capital plus promotion and distribution (nothing magical about that as some record labels would have folks believe).

Going back to the "value" statement of a full service record label, based on feedback from this board and others, these 3 things appear to be the value to an artist. The rest any of us can do ourselves. And, if we as an artist can do these 3 things, then a full service record label has no value. In return the venture capital company (record label) needs a good return on their investment for taking the risk of fronting the money plus dealing with advertising and distribution.

Here's a followup question: How much money, per tour stop (6 week tour) does a band, solo artist, duet (etc) need to at least breakeven? I know what that number is for several bands, but I'd appreciate more feedback.

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Jackie Blue
www.jackieblue.com
E-mail: jackieblue_2001@yahoo.com

Just finished the first draft of the business plan and I'm getting ready to fly over to New York to start the detailed revisions.

As it presently looks, the plan revolves around these key issues (you're feedback is appreciated):
1) 2 year contract (with mutual option for additional years)
2) Recording and release of one album (with mutual option for a second album)
3) Investor (label) covers all costs for production, promotion, distribution, limited touring in support of the CD.

Questions to artists:
1) Can you sell 5,000 to 10,000 CDs per year?
2) If the investor/label did the above 3 items, would you agree to receive $0.50 per CD payment for the first 5,000 CDs sold and $1.25 per CD payment for the remaining sold through the term of the contract?

Thank you.
Tom