Hi all...I sent out my demo about 10 months ago to 10-12 different labels. 2 responded and said that they "really liked it" and had been playing it around the office. But that was it. No offers. What do I do next?
p.s. these are not mainstream music labels...but nonetheless very respected and popular in the underground scene.
p.p.s they are both in London and I'm in the states so all correspondence is LOOOONG distance.
Comments
Thomas W. Bethel wrote: Anyone can say they are a record label.
Thomas W. Bethel wrote:
Anyone can say they are a record label. What they have to have is money in order to work with you and for you. There are probably 10 "record labels" in my area but if you do some checking most of them are "record labels" in name only and are setup out of someone's house and are used mainly for the prestige factor and for the owners own uses. I met a guy at GC the other day who handed me a card saying he was the CEO of the XXXXXX record label. Nice guy but when pushed for info basically told me he was doing this for "tax purposes" and the only artist he had was himself. CASE CLOSED.Do some checking and see how others that are signed to this label are doing. If possible contact others and find out how they got signed by this label and what to watch out for. Do your research up front and don't get caught up by the prospect of getting signed since it may not be what you think it is...
Just some friendly words of advice.
-TOM-
Thanks a lot Thomas. Actually, these are very big labels, REAL ones, and I know that many of their artists are doing quite well (they're famous). So I guess that's where I hit a bit of an impasse....I don't want to screw it up. You're right though, correspondence is best, and it never hurts to ask "what next?".
Don't they have email? So they like your stuff but..........? d
Don't they have email?
So they like your stuff but..........? do they like it enough to offer you something? If they took the time to correspond with you they seem like they are more that casually interested so I would correspond back to them and ask them "what is the next step?"
My intern's band was in the process of getting signed in California with a BIG signing bonus deal UNTIL they met the record company owner on a trip to California and decided NOT to sign since their were too many unanswered questions and they had real doubts that this person could do what he said he could do.
Anyone can say they are a record label. What they have to have is money in order to work with you and for you. There are probably 10 "record labels" in my area but if you do some checking most of them are "record labels" in name only and are setup out of someone's house and are used mainly for the prestige factor and for the owners own uses. I met a guy at GC the other day who handed me a card saying he was the CEO of the XXXXXX record label. Nice guy but when pushed for info basically told me he was doing this for "tax purposes" and the only artist he had was himself. CASE CLOSED.
Do some checking and see how others that are signed to this label are doing. If possible contact others and find out how they got signed by this label and what to watch out for. Do your research up front and don't get caught up by the prospect of getting signed since it may not be what you think it is...
Just some friendly words of advice.
-TOM-