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Forums - Music techology
Subject: How do I start a record lable?
Viewing all 8 messages - View by pages of 10: 1
Original Message 1/8 23-Aug-11 @ 12:03 AM - RE: How do I start a record lable?
Message 2/8 23-Aug-11 @ 11:29 AM - RE: How do I start a record lable?
a record company in it's traditional role signs contracts to purchase intellectual property for contractual terms. In return - traditionaly - the labels obligation is to record & release or release only (in the case of signing fully release-ready recordings) a quantity of cd's or vinly for retail. Nowadays it's downloads, which muddies the water somewhat as for example there's no ability for a minimum legal pressing quantity.
so in it's simplest sense, a label used to work like this:
i sign your song. I provide equipment to record it and the engineer etc and create the recording. I then own that recording, and i then make copies in whatever format and go down to the market every day and sell it in the street. I keep all profit after expenses & pay you a royalty for each one i sell
on top of that, i can demand that the artist does what i say to promote the product (within reason is the legal terms usualy applied), and that's part of the contractual obligations of the artist. I say "Go to such and such a radio station at such and such a time" and the artist must be there. The label may need to pay all expenses to achieve that of course - those are expenses deducted BEFORE calculating any percentage royalties owed to the artist.
That's the model, and leaving aside traditional problems like large label greed/monopolies & lack of decent percentages to artists, it worked pretty well, in that it allowed small and large entities to compete - that was old trad' style local capitalism at work, it's simple and it worked ok.
again, downloading has blurred this traditional model as there is now no actual tangible ownable physical product. That's partly a philisophical side discussion to some extent, but ultimately a "download" may well be your "product", should you start such a venture, in which case an understanding of how to achieve sales of this non-physical medium is important
so first you gotta define what you want to do a label for, and whether to make it a proper limited company or a "sole trader" type business.
you might want to do the full model of a trad "record label"; paying to record songs/acts you think will sell
or you might want to simply promote and try to garner download sales of already created tracks, and no money spent recording the songs.
etc
so - define first. Whats the objective?
___________________________________
I had an idea for a script once. It's basically Jaws except when the guys in the boat are going after Jaws, they look around and there's an even bigger Jaws. The guys have to team up with Jaws to get Bigger Jaws.... I call it... Big Jaws!!!
Message 3/8 24-Aug-11 @ 07:29 PM - RE: How do I start a record lable?
Message 4/8 25-Aug-11 @ 08:52 AM - RE: How do I start a record lable?
a company is useful for many things, one of which is limiting your liability
that (in uk) is what a "limited" company means
so it's a way to protect your own personal assets from being siezed should you owe money. It's the company that owes, not the individual see.
so in a simple scenario - track gets sued for using a sample without permission - the company gets sued, not you.
but unless you require that, is it worth it? cos the annual costs would be about 500-800 GBP (in the UK) in accounting fees depending where your accountants are based (cheaper outside major cities usually)
if u did form a company, then you create a contract - there are templates you can get - to sign your own music to the company
then the company releases - so the company would setup accounts with the relevent online retail stores - the stores would send any accrued funds to the company, and then it's up to you how to use that money to "pay" the artists... which would be you.
so like if you had a "hit". let's say the "label" (company) you created, was paid let's say 50 grand.. in one year.
well you can pay x-percentage to the artist (you) and then you are personaly liable for tax on that money/income, (if tax is due) - the company keeps whatever is left after paying yourself the royalty as the artist - that money the company retains is NOT your personal income, it's company income, and tax is due on it, IF it breaches the rates etc
so you can pay yourself a small wage, which doesnt attract much tax (if any) and buy things you need to work as a company, thru the company... such as equipment etc
also with a company you can get investors/shreholders if it is sucessful or you found someone who beleived in it and wanted to invest etc. they cant really invest in an individual except by some personal contract between the 2 parties, but with a company they can invest and hold shares.
tbh, unless u think you'll sell a minimum 1000 downloads per year and 1 GBP each - an income of at least a grand - then having a company probably wouldn't cover the annual accounting fees
tbh it's probably only worth doing a company if "the company" earns at least a few grand a year minimum
but you can always release your stuff yourself, as a "sole trader" and sell it, without a company... you just have to be able to setup the accounts with the online stores that's all. There's no real requirement for a company to do what you want.
does that help?
where are you thinking of releasing it? which online stores?
___________________________________
I had an idea for a script once. It's basically Jaws except when the guys in the boat are going after Jaws, they look around and there's an even bigger Jaws. The guys have to team up with Jaws to get Bigger Jaws.... I call it... Big Jaws!!!
Message 5/8 25-Aug-11 @ 11:23 PM - RE: How do I start a record lable?
Thanx K
PS. When you first put the site up I was a newbee, it helped me imensly. Thank you Killo.
Message 6/8 26-Aug-11 @ 12:46 AM - RE: How do I start a record lable?
what was yr old username?
___________________________________
I had an idea for a script once. It's basically Jaws except when the guys in the boat are going after Jaws, they look around and there's an even bigger Jaws. The guys have to team up with Jaws to get Bigger Jaws.... I call it... Big Jaws!!!
Message 8/8 27-Aug-11 @ 12:49 AM - RE: How do I start a record lable?
Thanx
Brainsped
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