A small label would probably do you wonders just from the point of view of handling some of the logistic stuff that you've been doing yourselves up until now, and also giving you the security of accounting. Of course, they have to like what you're doing, so look only for labels that are involved in your type of stuff.srr said:Hey BonsaiK, I just stumbled across this blog and I'd like to say thank you for this thread. It's quite rare to find people so open and willing to talk about the biz. So for that thanks so much!
I'm from the States and am in a phycedelic/prog/rock group that's been together for about 8+ years now. We've been doing quite well on our own and have released 3 full length albums. We've been putting in a lot of that leg work that every artist has to do, promo, press, design, financial, booking/touring, creating and building the buzz, and of course writing, etc. And from all that have been building quite a following world-wide.
Things are still growing but we feel that we're butting that ceiling a bit. Because of our independence, we don't have the resources to get us on tour packages nationally and internationally and to expand our exposure to that "next level", or to get consistent guarantees to cover travel costs. We'd prefer to stay as independent as possible to retain control over the art and music but we're still open to building our team like management, agencies or even a good indie label. But how is it that we start a dialogue with these people? What do they want to see? Just a standard press package? How should I follow up with these people after I've first contacted them? We've submitted stuff to people in the past but have had little luck getting much of a response from them. Your thoughts would be awesome
You don't need much in the way of a press package, and to be honest, less is definitely more. People at labels have a serious case of tl;dr. My standard reaction when I get a glossy colour multi-page press kit is "who the fuck do these people think they are?". The only function of any attached press kit is just to get people to give your music a go.
I answered someone else's question of "what are the do's and dont's of submitting stuff to radio station and record labels" with the following post, I'll cut and paste it here:
If you have further questions, fire away, as I know I haven't covered a lot of stuff, I have to go now but I'll check back later.me said:Do:
* put your best song first. Whoever listens to it will start at track 1. Make sure this song is good and reasonably representative of your project/group as a whole.
Don't:
* have a lengthy intro to your first song, or some other wank. If it doesn't jump out at the listener with something immediate and catchy in the first 10 seconds, forget it. It's a bad choice for a first song because the person listening to it may not even listen past the first bit. This even applies to genres like prog rock which are notorious for wank. Save the two-minute atmosphere-building acoustic intros for when you actually get that record deal. If you best song happens to be the one with the big intro, then put your second-best song first - or just use your better song and chop the intro.
Don't:
* bother putting more than four songs on your demo. Less it better. One is perfect, up to three if you feel the need to show different sides of your music.
Do:
* be good at what you're doing. Make sure whatever you're sending out is the best quality performance you're reasonably capable of.
Don't:
* be too fussy about audio quality. It's a demo, meaning demonstration. You'll be amazed how forgiving some places are about audio fidelity. As long as everything is clear and can be heard, and the performances are good, that will do.
Do:
* include a biography. I want to know shit about your group, like where you come from, who is in it, if anyone in the band has any history worth noting, and what I can expect the music to sound like. A picture is also considerate, assuming you're photogenic enough to not crack the camera lens, but make the picture part of the piece of paper, don't attach separate pictures.
Don't:
* include a fucking essay. I have a rule in my office - if office correspondence of any kind doesn't fit onto one side of one A4 piece of paper, it goes straight in recycling. Also don't fill your bio with art-wank, make it real. Humour is good, wankery is not.
Do:
* write a personal note to the person you're sending it to, thanking them, and include it with your CD and bio. This happens rarely and it always puts me in a good mood when I get a nice note. Putting the person who is potentially helping your career in a good mood is a good situation for you. Needless to say, brevity is good - the recipient's name at the top, two or three sentences and your signature at the bottom is about right.
Do:
* ring up the place you're sending it to beforehand and find out who in there you should attention it to, and let them know that your product is on its way and when they could be likely to receive it.
Don't:
* harass them for airplay/a record deal/whatever. They know why you're sending it, so don't be a pest, just put your best foot forward and let them work out whether it's something that they want. Rest assured that you can't "talk them into" liking it, they'll either like it or they won't, for whatever reason.
Do:
* ask about formats - some places prefer MP3s, some prefer CDs, some prefer vinyl, and some would just rather you upload your songs somewhere and send them a link.
Don't:
* use some bullshit format, like cassette, USB sticks or whatever in order to be unique and get attention, unless you're specifically asked to provide songs in this format. It'll get attention alright, but it will be the wrong sort. I've still got a USB stick that a band sent to me once, I deleted their shitty songs off it and now I just use it as my office USB stick. Thanks, band, whoever you were, I forget now.
Don't:
* (in the case of a radio station) get friends and relatives to ring up and request your own music! Or even worse, ring up the radio station pretending to be a punter and request it yourself! DJs are sly to this because it happens all the time, my radio station keeps a permanent list of whatever bands are currently ringing up requesting their own shit all the time so we know exactly how much contempt to give anybody who calls.
Do:
* use packaging that stands out. Standing out is important. Also, make the spine legible!
Don't:
* use packaging that makes your product difficult to file on a shelf.
Don't:
* forget to put on it the names of the songs and most importantly, your contact details! Track times are also considerate, DJs in particular like this.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head. There may be one or two other points which will occur to me later.