JPF Home Page Forums Southeast US Chapter Message Boards Nashville Chapter Message Board Anyone heard of KMA Records in Nashville?

I have an acquaintance, a young singer from out of town, who has sung one of my songs at open mike nights. She was approached by the owner of KMA Records (www.kmarecords.com) and offered a 'contract'. They ask for $3,500 upfront to produce a CD with ten songs from their catalog and deliver her 500 CDs and keep 250 to 'promote' overseas...

Of course any record company that asks for $$ upfront is not 100% legitmate, but then I know there are 'degrees' of legitimacy in Nashville

Thanks for any input....

Stacy

Stacy,

$3500 for a ten song master with 500 CD copies is not, by itself, a bad price. The trick is, the songs need to be from THEIR catalogue. What this probably means, is the tracks to the session have already been recorded (and paid for by the songwriters) So all the record company pays for is studio time and CD pressing costs.

Let's assume the studio is $35 an hour, that would be about $350 at the most. Then let's assume that they press the CD's for about $2.50 apiece...at 750 CD's that's $1875. Add them up and you get $2225 in cost to the record company, leaving them with a profit of $1225 (probably more.)

Now, in value to your friend, this isn't too bad...assuming that the songs are a good match for the artist, that they are in the right key, that the artist is given enough time to "hook" the performance, and the background tracks are recorded well with talented musicians.

One thing to consider: assuming that the song and the performance is of the quality that they attract the attention of a major label, who owns the rights to the master? Also, a major label would need to have the session contracted by the musician's union at master scale.

I have heard albums like this that have been pretty good. But, with most of them the songs are mismatched, the performance is rushed, and the package is amateurish.

If your friend is considering this, make sure she listens to several CD's this company has made. She should let them know she wants to talk with some of their customers. Also, have her ask for a playlist from the foriegn stations that have played the label's artists.

By the way, there are actually "legitimate" businesses that operate this system. I have a friend, Lonnie Ratliff of Westwood Records, who does something similar to this. He has had real success with some of his artists. The difference is, Lonnie is in it for the music, while many of these operations are in it for the money. If your friend does her homework, she'll be OK.

Mike,

Thanks for the reply and insight, I've passed it along. I'm sure she'll appreciate it.


Stacy

Stacy,

I checked out the website. I've seen their office on Old Hickory. The website looks good. Just make sure you friend does her homework, and tell her not to buy it unless she LOVES the songs.

Mike

Why promote overseas when you're in the US? It's very hard to take control of and promote things to people who are thousands of miles away.

dave @ kathode ray
www.indiebiz.com

Dave,

Some artists may want to promote overseas so they can travel to different countries. I've been to Europe nine times and I'm packed and ready to go again. The European market is more fragmented and diverse than the U.S. market, but this can be a blessing as well as a curse. It seems to me as if the European market is controlled by afficianados, the way our indie market is. This evens the playing field somewhat.

I do think, however, artists should be pro-active with their careers, rather than just being "sold" the idea of focusing on one market or the other. Artists should be aware of their strengths and weaknesses, as well as be able to assess their value to a particular market.

As long as you're there to play shows and do the necessary work, that's fine. My point is that you can't just stay in the US and expect to do well in Europe or elsewhere. You need to be there.

The great thing about most European counties is that they are small and you'll be able to cover them in their entirety a lot more quickly than you would the United States.

dave @ kathode ray
www.kathoderaymusic.com