How some crappy labels (owners) think?

[Dusk]

Bet nobody can name me a new artist that came through and is playing out each weekend that releases only on vinyl?

Some dubstep/garage folk have done just this, although I appreciate that scene is different, still very rooted in vinyl culture. A friend of a friend is Pariah who has his first release last year for R&S - a vinyl EP with a vinyl album to come this year - only plays vinyl too AFAIK.

What's cool is that lots of these guys are now making straight-up house but it seems the vinyl focus remains the same.

[::BLM::]

Booking fees are normally on top of the artist fee no? I do all my own bookings so dont know, but my friends who have them dont moan because its on top of their fee. I had a booking agent, but they didnt get me a single gig and all the gigs I got myself they started complaining because I wasnt putting them through, meaning they lost out on the 15% so i took myself off their agency.

one of the best ways you could get exposure, gigs, networking for gigs abroad in the UK right now is to play at Freerotation, which is non-profit making. it is only a modest sized party, but the effect its had on promoting underground artists is increadible.

How can we play then bro? Sud is another party I would love to play at, but not had the chance yet. My fav party that...

[::BLM::]

Bet nobody can name me a new artist that came through and is playing out each weekend that releases only on vinyl?

Some dubstep/garage folk have done just this, although I appreciate that scene is different, still very rooted in vinyl culture. A friend of a friend is Pariah who has his first release last year for R&S - a vinyl EP with a vinyl album to come this year - only plays vinyl too AFAIK.

What's cool is that lots of these guys are now making straight-up house but it seems the vinyl focus remains the same.

Yeah its different. My brother does dnb and they still sell 5000+ vinyl. That Techno release on DOLDRUMS from Joy Orbison is phat though!

[steevio]

Booking fees are normally on top of the artist fee no? I do all my own bookings so dont know, but my friends who have them dont moan because its on top of their fee. I had a booking agent, but they didnt get me a single gig and all the gigs I got myself they started complaining because I wasnt putting them through, meaning they lost out on the 15% so i took myself off their agency.

one of the best ways you could get exposure, gigs, networking for gigs abroad in the UK right now is to play at Freerotation, which is non-profit making. it is only a modest sized party, but the effect its had on promoting underground artists is increadible.

How can we play then bro? Sud is another party I would love to play at, but not had the chance yet. My fav party that...

yes its on top, but if the promoter is willing to pay the combined fee for the artist, then the artist could be making that as well.

i mean 15% for what ? a duplicated standard contract, a load of spam, booking a flight, sending a couple of emails...........
compare that to what the artist has to do to say play a gig abroad, including maybe 3 or 4 days travel, not to mention all the effort he has to put in to write tunes, practice etc..
booking agents have their own agenda, making money, and that drives alot of the decisions they make. i know for a fact that at least one booking agent didnt inform an artist of my interest in them playing at our event, because he could make more money from them playing at a more lucrative one. it probably happens all the time.

i'm not saying they are all bad guys, for instance trying to get gigs for US artists in europe must be a real pain, and in situations like that, booking agents are invaluable to the artist.

edit - to be honest this is all a bit negative of me, sorry, there's a lot of good agents out there, and i'm portraying them all in a bad light, and thats not on, apologies. it just doesnt seem underground to me, (maybe i overuse that word). there's just something about doing everything on trust, and contracts just dont fit into that, but i totally understand why for some artists, theres no other way .......................peace

playing at Freerotation ? just send me some demos bro.

[::BLM::]

i mean 15% for what ? a duplicated standard contract, a load of spam, booking a flight, sending a couple of emails...........
compare that to what the artist has to do to say play a gig abroad, including maybe 3 or 4 days travel, not to mention all the effort he has to put in to write tunes, practice etc..
booking agents have their own agenda, making money, and that drives alot of the decisions they make. i know for a fact that at least one booking agent didnt inform an artist of my interest in them playing at our event, because he could make more money from them playing at a more lucrative one. it probably happens all the time.

Yep this happens all the time. I dont like booking agents in general, but I think if you can use it to keep your label afloat then cool. There are so many labels out there that are losing huge amounts of money so something like this might help them out.

[LouisVee]

But if I release it digital and vinylized on the same moment, I end up with 100 vinyls unsold and the music plastered all over the net and digital sales of close to nothing.

Hmm Ok I understand your dilemma...

[steevio]

i mean 15% for what ? a duplicated standard contract, a load of spam, booking a flight, sending a couple of emails...........
compare that to what the artist has to do to say play a gig abroad, including maybe 3 or 4 days travel, not to mention all the effort he has to put in to write tunes, practice etc..
booking agents have their own agenda, making money, and that drives alot of the decisions they make. i know for a fact that at least one booking agent didnt inform an artist of my interest in them playing at our event, because he could make more money from them playing at a more lucrative one. it probably happens all the time.

Yep this happens all the time. I dont like booking agents in general, but I think if you can use it to keep your label afloat then cool. There are so many labels out there that are losing huge amounts of money so something like this might help them out.

maybe, but i think a whole new approach is required with labels, its one of the reasons ive put my label on hold for a while.
when i started the whole underground label thing was DIY big style, driving round with boxes of records in the boot of your car, getting to know the guys in the shops, partying with them, infact most of my best friends i've made in this game have been shop owners and other label owners, and party organisers, where money was never an issue.
comraderie, and treating the whole thing as fun was what it was all about.
and most importantly helping each other !
this is the spirit of Freerotation, and it works.

when i read about labels being run as businesses and worrying about beatport sales figures etc.. i think its really sad, and it makes me feel that the original spirit of what undergound dance music was all about has been lost.
luckily there are plenty of people who still believe.

[::BLM::]

You used to come into the record shop where I worked - Massive Records, Oxford. That is where I first heard your music.

when i read about labels being run as businesses and worrying about beatport sales figures etc.. i think its really sad, and it makes me feel that the original spirit of what undergound dance music was all about has been lost.
luckily there are plenty of people who still believe.

Its not the case of worrying about sales though. I dont think people worry they are just nice to have And if you can get them exposing your artist to more fans then why not.