I’ve been giving this some consideration recently, not to just release my own stuff. More as a hobby I guess, I think it would be interesting to do and you never know, if done well maybe I could make some cash.
Looks pretty cheap to get started from what I see, even getting tracks mastered can be done for as little as £12.50 a track, not using present and with a professional finish.
So I’m wondering if anyone has any experience in this field they can share, advice, pro and cons etc?
You’d be surprised it does take up a lot of time to do, the paper work for starters is a bit mad i’ve heard. It could defo be worth it in the end though.
Tbh i dont see the point theres too little reward in it and the only way to get the exposure you need is to join a bigger label and become a sub label which is very difficult to do the only real way is to become a succesfull artist yourself. To give you an example i know of a small indy label that got their tracks supported by Tiesto, Armin, PVD etc So you would think thats good publicity and good exposure and a sure fire way to establish yourself as a firm label with good quality releases. You wana know what that label is doing now? Nothing, they dont exist anymore…
maybe but there has gotta be money in it or people wouldnt do it.
if I want my career in the long term to be in the music business then I think its gotta be worth a shot…
only way to find out it to do it… just an idea at the moment
Tbh mabey im a bit cynical but i think its the same reason why anyone ‘tries’ anything. Everyone is ill informed and everyoje thinks they can be unique or bring that new fresh sound in a overdone world etc etc but the sad truth is they try it, they invest their time and money and in the end they end up going under. Its sad but true. Let me ask you this wayne, you make trance yeah so im guessing your dream is to become a well established name in the scene and a big famous dj. Wouldnt you rather spend your time making tracks and remixes and sending them out to big labels and getting mabey releases on big labels apposed to releasing potentially hit tracks on your own label and getting it seen by 3 people and boaght by 1??? Im not trying to be a nob but this is what happens ive seen it! I just think its a waste of your time and time is also money.
It’s a real valid point Jan, definitely, but you also have to look at things like this…
If no one bothered to try anything ever for fear of failure, then most of what you see and hear around you today would not exist.
The real winners in life are those that dare to try.
Yeah you are 100% on that Rob i need some optimism juice lol. But still its such a desolate world with EDM and labels and its really sad tbh…
You are totally right though and I can relate with your point, the problem is though that we need people to keep trying for anything to ever improve (if at all).
I definitely don’t think there is really much money to be made, but then you have to think of it like this. When we release tracks we know we won’t make much, but release quite a few tracks on your label and remember you’re getting 50% of everything that comes back from each track you’ve pushed out.
So it could be a small earner, especially if there isn’t really any costs involved since it’s all digital releases.
You may have to consider who’s going to do your mastering, that may be a cost to consider because if you’re pushing things out on your label, you need the tracks professionaly mastered, no point doing make shift job yourself.
well as Mr Jong said. this is an overcrowded market and trying to invest your time in something that u are not even sure how it will work ,its a waste of time.
I have few friends that are running labels and they dont have time to Produce or Dj at all . because they invest so much money and time to Promote, look for the new Talent , and not to mention to book their Djs for events .
so yeahh .choose wisely between Producer or Label Owner . because there is so many small labels that fail and give up quick when they find out how hard is to keep a label successful. and the most important . how to make money
Have I missed the point here? Surely it not about making loads of money, it’s about getting yours and others music out there, the exposure etc, doing your bit to make the scene what it is.
I would do it if that’s what you want to put your efforts into mate
Who dares wins and see where it goes
all very very good points guys.
to be honest I think if I did start a label I wouldnt release my tracks on it. Its a bit self indulgent I think.
Instead I would release my track via other labels, at least until my label became established (if it ever did!).
I wouldnt expect to make loads of money but as Rob said, if your taking 50% on a number or tracks, there has gotta be some cash in it.
Take look at what theses guys do and their prices, this is what got me thinking: [url=http://www.label-worx.com/]http://www.label-worx.com/[/url]
minimal risk attached, yeah a little cash, but not much in the grand scheme of things, and it would seem a lot of the time consuming stuff is taken care of.
Whats even more interesting… well look at the mastering section! £12.50 a track!
Also look at the client list…
Interesting stuff I think, just goes to show how little it costs
I used Label worx for mastering once. Mainly because I saw the price and thought it was worth a punt.
They made the track louder thats for sure. The original mixdown wasn’t to hot before hand so unfair to totally judge them, but they do say in their marketing material that basically they will master what you give them regardless of what the original is like, which isn’t reassuring.
On the label note, it’s something I’ve wanted to do since about 1996, I even priced up all the vinyl cutting, distribution etc. but for numerous reasons I never did it.
I’d still like to do it, and even though people will tell you reasons not to, I think if you want to expose more of the music you like and are willing to put some work in then it’s all good to me.
Make sure your releases are high quality tracks and that you keep some semblance of a business head on, and I don’t see why you can’t make it work for you.
I agree there Bang.
One of my tracks is being mastered by them now via a label I sign to, so it will be interesting to hear the results 
[quote]gofunk (23/11/2010)[hr]I agree there Bang.
One of my tracks is being mastered by them now via a label I sign to, so it will be interesting to hear the results :)[/quote]
Yeah would be good to know as £12.50 seems really low
it is mate, but I looked at the client list, and I have no doubt I have tracks that have been mastered by them.
Will let you know when I get it back, will be about 2 weeks
It’s actually crazy how cheap that is!
[quote]Roben (23/11/2010)[hr]It’s actually crazy how cheap that is![/quote]
Yeah I hope Wayne thinks they are good as I would certainly use their services at that price
[quote]slender (23/11/2010)[hr][quote]Roben (23/11/2010)[hr]It’s actually crazy how cheap that is![/quote]
Yeah I hope Wayne thinks they are good as I would certainly use their services at that price[/quote]
They send me music promos pretty much on a weekly basis and i’ve not noticed any problems in the quality of the mastering of those tracks, most of the tracks are awesome, but i’m not sure whether they master all / any of the promos they send out or not, could just be a seperate part to the company.
[quote]Roben (23/11/2010)[hr][quote]slender (23/11/2010)[hr][quote]Roben (23/11/2010)[hr]It’s actually crazy how cheap that is![/quote]
Yeah I hope Wayne thinks they are good as I would certainly use their services at that price[/quote]
They send me music promos pretty much on a weekly basis and i’ve not noticed any problems in the quality of the mastering of those tracks, most of the tracks are awesome, but i’m not sure whether they master all / any of the promos they send out or not, could just be a seperate part to the company.[/quote]
I know they have in house mastering which no doubt some of the promos will have used but labels dont have to use the mastering servie to use the promo service, so some will have been mastered by a 3rd party too, by the labels own choice no doubt
I recon that after events, label is probably the best way to make money out of this business…if you’re good at promo that is (in both cases)
Also, If the track is successful on your tiny label than there will be no problem with getting big one to back it! think Denis Ferrer Hey Hey
I’m not saying that you can get salary out of it, but you’ve got more chance than producing alone.