Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Age?

Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

herojuana said:
I go to critical nights.

I don't go to random matey releasing his own music's night. Because they don't have one
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I go to nights none of you here have heard of (or at least been to) and hear established producers/DJs talking about those as one of their top nights playing out. Argument is invalid. People go to a RAM/Critical/Hospital/Shogun/whatever else night because of the exposure that name provides, it doesn't come hand in hand with the quality necessarily though. Same applies for the music, there's a lot brilliant stuff waiting to be found if you dig a bit deeper which can and sometimes even does put to shame the biggest names out there.
 
Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

Rich Pitchshift said:
Cheers for all the responses so far. We are trying to collate the feedback on the site so if anyone can comment on there that'd be great. I know it's a bit of a p**s take to start a thread on a forum and try get you to comment elsewhere but we are just trying to get as many involved.
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i think an important part to get a debate going is to first write an article about the subject. your own point of view. then there's a bigger chance that people follow.
 
Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

Fallen.GeMiNi said:
I go to nights none of you here have heard of (or at least been to) and hear established producers/DJs talking about those as one of their top nights playing out. Argument is invalid. People go to a RAM/Critical/Hospital/Shogun/whatever else night because of the exposure that name provides, it doesn't come hand in hand with the quality necessarily though. Same applies for the music, there's a lot brilliant stuff waiting to be found if you dig a bit deeper which can and sometimes even does put to shame the biggest names out there.
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my point was more about it provides a platform for people.
 
Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

Sure it does. But it's possible to manage without. You can throw out a night with no big names and be successful as well as you can release your music on your own and be successful without the need to go through a (major) label. It's just up to you, you don't necessarily need that platform, that's my point :)
 
Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

DjCartel said:
think how many new tunes would come out every week. any half decent new talent would be completely lost in a sea of shit music from people releasing stuff thats not ready. At least with labels they cherry pick what they think is good, and you trust that opinion. Yes labels are important, pretty silly question imo (no offence)
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+ 1 trillion.
 
Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

labels are necessary.

Djcartels argument is solid,
quality control is a must and thats exactly what successful label managers are good at.

I also agree with herojuana, yeah smaller nights have more vibes, but the label nights are a staple in the dnb industry.
 
Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

Absolutely. As others mentioned, quality control is a big thing here... you can already find tunes being released without a label by independent artists... and more than half of the time, you'll be wading though a river of shit. (you can find a gem here and there of course, but you're better off checking a label)
Promotion is a big part of that as well. You'll be much more likely to be heard by the masses if your track is spread around on a label sampler than you would by just posting it up online and hoping people stumble across it.

That and you can USUALLY find some great songs by checking back-cats of a label if you have an artist you like the style of...
Obsessed with a songs from artists signed to Metalheadz, Barcode, TAMRecords, Lifted / Breed, etc.?... well, check their roster and back catalog and you can pretty much be guaranteed find a trove of other tunes to obsess over... you just can't don't have those artists with an independent release :l


evermind said:
music is better
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Heh...
 
Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

I for one am highly anticipating Dat"u"Dudes thoughts on the matter...
 
Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

he hated matter, too mainstream
 
Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

Short answer - "Yes"

Long answer - "Yes, but...."
 
Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

Anyone can sell there music without a label.....But if youor an unknown artist you prob would struggle to get your music out unless your tune is an absolute monster and your self promotion is spot on.

So really without a label unknown artists wont get recognition. If your an established and respected artist, in general i wont matter what lable your on as people will know what to expect.

In hindsight, a respected artist has the power to make a label stand out and get recognised.....On the otherhand a respected label has the power to make a artist stand out.

swings n roundabouts

Also producers produce....Labels promote. If your an hard working producer, do you want to waste valuable time posting clips, promoting and networking instead of spending your time making music.....let the label do that.

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DjCartel said:
think how many new tunes would come out every week. any half decent new talent would be completely lost in a sea of shit music from people releasing stuff thats not ready. At least with labels they cherry pick what they think is good, and you trust that opinion. Yes labels are important, pretty silly question imo (no offence)
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I agree with what your saying but labels ARE releasing shit bro.... I literally shift through 100s of tunes on download sites to grab 4-5 decent tracks to play.
 
Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

Afek_One said:
If a label that I trust comes out with a tune from a producer I don't know, it's going to get a listen.QUOTE]

So you only listen to music if you are guaranteed you'll like it?
that's why a lot of unknown names never get nowhere and they are 10 times better than the shit some massive labels keep putting out
You can miss out on a lot of top notch stuff like that......
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Re: Are Record Labels Still Important, Or An Unnecessary Middle Man In The Digital Ag

garffi3 said:
Afek_One said:
If a label that I trust comes out with a tune from a producer I don't know, it's going to get a listen.QUOTE]

So you only listen to music if you are guaranteed you'll like it?
that's why a lot of unknown names never get nowhere and they are 10 times better than the shit some massive labels keep putting out
You can miss out on a lot of top notch stuff like that......
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I listen to enough mixes that if a tune is really that good, I'll hear it.
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