how to...start a new label

[simonb]

I walked into a record store the other day and it was mid aged balding guys. It used to be young people. I walked away thinking it's more about nostalgia and people who think it's cool to play a vinyl record then anything else. It's like opening a video rental store only selling VHS tapes and VCR's to rent. Some people would enjoy that nostalgia and in the right city such a store could probably do okay.

Plenty young people at the record shops I go to, and a significant amount of the music I'm into just now is vinyl-only. Just depends on your town, what stuff you're into, etc.

[John Clees]

a few things that come to mind..

1. I think it has nothing to do with anyone culture of their "homeland".. that is completely bias..
based on one persons option, from one state, based one one or two record shop owners is hilarious..

2. no one is right or wrong here... naturally we are individuals stating our opinions from our own experiences and perspectives.. that being said.. vinyl sales were up I thought.. ? hasn't vinyl sales been up the past two years in a row..? I thought that was discussed a few times in a few different threads..

3. vinyl is a losing battle for sure from a label point of view. sure. it's more cost, more in shipping, more hassle. but to count it out completely I could never.. I haven't pressed vinyl in years, hope to do so again, but not sure when I can just tank $500 to $1000 on a project idea.. which I've done in the past.

I've distributed my own music on my own net label for over 10 years.. since I've had the same hosting company for the past 5 years I can only track that far.. just in the past 5 years, just that I can track... the releases had over 30,000 downloads...and that doesn't include any dj sets. I just recently tracked all my numbers a few weeks ago. for example, my live set from moscow had over 4000 downloads the past few years, but had apx 4000 just last year alone.... Ive only formally released 6 digital downloads, the last one was a full album/live pa from 2008 and Im getting more downloads now that ever.. good music is timeless and everything come in waves and patterns as music generally does. and naturally is wonderful to see it grow to what is has become..

so their is momentum, and as I see it as.... the pass it forward theory.. I'd rather give my music away directly at my site, so I can track it, the link remains the same, and it's always the quality I prefer...and know that thousands of thousands of ipods may potentially have music from myself or some of the artist I support... vs. trying to sell mp3's to make a few hundred from time to time.. plus I can keep my music pure. art before music and not have pressure trying to keep up with some distribution quota from some random source.. pressing vinyl would be my preference but not financially an option I want to entertain once more just yet..

I disagree with vinyl being attached to someone's ego.. vinyl can exceed over 1000 kps...320 kps is about 1/3 of it's original or potential format.. vinyl is richer in sound. their is a difference between hearing something and experiencing something. period!

and were talking about (dance) music which are frequencies to make you move.. which is sound...how can anyone just comment on how 1/3 of the sound is (ok) because beatport decided one year that 320 was the acceptable kps to sell online.. I'm not sure how anyone could ever comment on vinyl and it's purpose, or sound just as a whole... or that is it's an ego driven because some balding old guy in new york is trying to run a record shop for profit..

personally, I'm more into buying vinyl than ever before. the best thing about vinyl is it should rock. no one's putting out mediocre releases typically.. all the digital nonsense is intensely over saturated ... so vinyl stands out more than ever before... it eliminates a lot of the bullshit factor..

sometimes, myself included, I just wanted to press a record.. if that is what you wish to do, the get some white labels pressed, keep the lacquer for potential future releases. have at it and have fun.. - create a logo, create a label, get a web domain/address, get a decent hosting company... release your own stuff for very limited cost. * you can have an online presence for about $40 US to start with..

running a label can be exhausting... I can see how some may get discouraged.. myself included. I've gone back to just being the artist. sending material out to a few selected labels that I trust... and I'm perfectly happy releasing stuff on my own net label when I decide to share something extremely personal I wish to part with..

vinyl may be a neat idea..however realistically: for $500 US

option 1: "getting vinyl made" and obtaining 100 white label records you "might" sell...vs.
option 2: for the same cost...creating your own net label, paying for hosting, domain name, ect... for 5 years in full in advance...

is something to consider. you decide.. do both if you can..

have fun and enjoy!

best wishes

[Dal-Tech]

I may change my mind of vinyl. There's a hip-hop producer I pomised last year that I would release what he creates using synth samples I made on vintage synths. After completely forgetting about the project I get a message that the tracks are turning out well. Lol.

[John Clees]

any stuff online to listen to..

[soapz]

side question: still relevant but i can start my own thread if it takes things off of topic..

It is perfectly legal to create tracks and just release them from your own personal blog/website as opposed to starting a label or trying to get onto another label? Ive got a blog that has started to get quite a decent following and I would like to release some music on there in the future and just sell for $0.50 or whatever. It seems I would have a lot more chance of people giving it the time of day rather than starting a label and fighting for people's approval on beatport.

I see websites all the time charging for downloads for digital products such as ebooks and access to videos. This is obviously legal as the author created it and so can sell it for whatever they see fit. Is it the same with a .wav file if I created it? At first i was thinking yes, as i OWN that .wav, but some of the discussions on this forum have made me think otherwise. All the talk of costs etc when all i would be doing is sellin a digital file really..

PS I understand marketing is the reason people go for a label etc etc, my question is only if it is legal..

[mr lee]

it is perfectly legal to sell a .wav file on the internet.

people use beatport/labels for several different reasons... mostly exposure, promotion, etc.

larger labels will provide legal incase of copyright infringement, etc. but thats a different topic all together.

[John Clees]

selling them at mulitople sites would be more of an option for potential sales.. that would be your choice..

the sites wouldn't matter vs. the agreement you would have with such artist.. charging money, filling it as income, and paying tax on it is a separate topic for obvious reasons. but yes, it would be beneficial to sell and/or attempted to sell them at a site that already has a high volume of traffic.. there is no issue.

* here in the states I think the number is $700. if you make less than this amount you wouldn't have to file it on your taxes.. but this brings me to another point of filing your business name, have you created one? you can go to the local county office and file a D.B.A. (Doing Business As) Here in Oakland County : $45 to file your DBA for apx 7 or 9 years.. filing your expenses per year as a loss...flyers, promotional parties, t-shirts, CDs, ect...or even your vinyl expense.. is also an option. I've literately tripped my return one year by showing a loss for my expenses... I've been told, apx 90% of most starting businesses show a loss and/or fail for first 2 years. also, you can show a loss for the first 3 years without any questioning. it's encouraged to attempt to create a business and there are tax benefits for trying to do such a thing..

the only topic up for discussion and/or concern would be the relationship and/or agreement you may have with an artist to charge money for there works.. and what type of fee would be owed to them minus your cost.

[soapz]

I'm never in the same country for more than three months at a time now so I'm not sure which country I am supposed to be paying tax to when I'm selling over the internet. I'm registered self-employed in the UK at the moment, but as i havent been there in about 17 months i'm thinking of maybe paying tax somewhere else. I was born there so it felt right to pay tax there at first, but I'm not really getting anything for it.

Thanks for letting me know though. Ive been thinking that some artists would probably benefit by releasing a few tracks on beatport, for promotion etc etc and then the rest of the back catalogue on another site. People would still find the music, (as long as you continue to make great parties). Website name would be on the flyers instead of the label name etc..

Somebody should start a mnml download site. Where artist/label get 100% of the pay split between them. Take away the biggest cost which is beatport's share. The tracks could sell for less than on beatport and the artist would still walk away with more money per sale. I bet enough people come through this site for it to be worth it..