Talking with labels

horace111

My name is Jago (HYQXYZ)
Joined
Nov 6, 2009
Location
Antwerp, Belgium
Hey Guys

So lately I've been getting in touch with labels more and more, so I wanted to ask this question:

What are the questions I should ask? Are there specific things I should ask them about?

I'm really new to this so labels contacting me is really , really scary ;D Any help from people with experience would help me a great deal.

Thanks in advance!
 
Ask them to give you a number, tell them to fuck off, agree on the next offer. Simple mate. I'll be your agent if you want, we could rule the world
 
Labels talking to me, basically their A&R people. :)

---------- Post added at 19:48 ---------- Previous post was at 19:48 ----------

Ask them to give you a number, tell them to fuck off, agree on the next offer. Simple mate. I'll be your agent if you want, we could rule the world
Lol'd :D
 
In that case just establish if you want to release with them and if so find out the terms and either agree or don't.

Is that what you mean or are you talking about how you should conduct yourself? Quite a vague quesitonn, sorry..

And welcome back apparently jmz :scally:
 
Yeah, sorry it's probably a bit vague :) A bit of both, the first part certainly helped , I was asking myself what I should expect from them contacting me, but I also ask myself how I should behave towards them, will they just ask me what they want and do I simply respond or do I have to send them stuff after they ask me to contact them. (Sorry if these are really stupid questions , but labels contacting me really freaks me out :D )
 
Yeah do a bit of research on the label that has contacted you. There's lots of people out there that will pose as a label just to get your track, trust me, it happened to me, but luckily I was clue'd up about it so they got feck all!

Ask them what sites they distribute their artists music through, verify this by doing a search on said sites and google.
Ask how they deal with contracts for the tracks (They should, if legit, offer to send two signed copies of a contract via post to your address), which you then sign, and send one copy back to them, so you both have an agreement in writing.
Ask how the percentages of sales work, how much do you get out of a sale, I think most will be around 75 - 25% in your favour. But this may vary slightly.
Ask how much they sell the tracks for
Ask how they will promote your music, no point signing to a label that doesnt do shit loads of promoting, no one will buy your tracks if they havnt heard them!
Ask how often you will see the monetary gains from signing with them. Some labels will pay monthly once they recieve their revenue from the sites, others will pay quarterly, or once you reach a certain amount of sales.

Hope this helps, if theres anything else I can think of I'll get back to ya

OH, AND UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SEND THEM YOUR TRACKS UNTIL YOU HAVE RECIEVED THE CONTRACTS!
 
Yeah do a bit of research on the label that has contacted you. There's lots of people out there that will pose as a label just to get your track, trust me, it happened to me, but luckily I was clue'd up about it so they got feck all!

Ask them what sites they distribute their artists music through, verify this by doing a search on said sites and google.
Ask how they deal with contracts for the tracks (They should, if legit, offer to send two signed copies of a contract via post to your address), which you then sign, and send one copy back to them, so you both have an agreement in writing.
Ask how the percentages of sales work, how much do you get out of a sale, I think most will be around 75 - 25% in your favour. But this may vary slightly.
Ask how much they sell the tracks for
Ask how they will promote your music, no point signing to a label that doesnt do shit loads of promoting, no one will buy your tracks if they havnt heard them!
Ask how often you will see the monetary gains from signing with them. Some labels will pay monthly once they recieve their revenue from the sites, others will pay quarterly, or once you reach a certain amount of sales.

Hope this helps, if theres anything else I can think of I'll get back to ya

OH, AND UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SEND THEM YOUR TRACKS UNTIL YOU HAVE RECIEVED THE CONTRACTS!

Thanks so much for that post, those were the things that I was asking myself , thanks for the warning of not sending my tracks over too, wouldn't have thought about that otherwise.

Thank you Fletch & Saint for helping me out and taking time to post this , and thanks Jmz for the lolz (love that dude's haircut btw) :D
 
Mr. Fletch summed it all up brilliantly.

In addition do your homework on the label(s) contacting you. See not only what other artists they have on their label, but check out their overall "look" and reputation. For example, do they have a website? If so, does it look legit (i.e. professional, constantly updated, relevant details, etc.). Also, check with your local labor/business departments to ensure that they're in fact, a real company.

Also, see what right's to your music will be turned over if/when you sign.

There's unfortunately a lot of assholes out in internetland trying to make a dollar out of other peoples .15 cents.

Cheers.
 
Except for dont send track untill contracts received. I very rarely listen to something unless its sitting in my aim inbox or emailed in a zip. I wont sign something i dont posses myself.

However, you're correct in as much as dont send premaster wavs without having a deal in place.
 
Except for dont send track untill contracts received. I very rarely listen to something unless its sitting in my aim inbox or emailed in a zip. I wont sign something i dont posses myself.

However, you're correct in as much as dont send premaster wavs without having a deal in place.

this x1000. if they dont got a proper 320 of your track, they wont be going to sign it, how good your track may ever be..
 
Really hard to make any cash out of sales to be honest.just go with a label that's gonna give u exposure
Only way to make it now is through bookings and eventually owning your own label when people know who u are and associate you with a style.
Even if it takes ages aim for the big guns ram,critical,hospital,hyperdub,exit etc
No point in being signed to a label that noone knows
My 2 cents :)
 
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