What do labels do for us nowadays?

[bridgefield]

Playing devil's advocate here as we are all clamouring to get signed (that's presumably why we all joined Taxi), but what do labels provide these days that we cannot provide for ourselves. I can only think of one thing, and this is the killer...marketing. It is still too expensive for us independents to advertise and promote ourselves in the larger music publications, and very hard to get meaningful air-play. Besides that, we can do our own recording, mastering, produce our own CDs at increasingly cheaper unit prices (or not even bother and go the mp3 route) and set up our products for sale on the internet...which is great, but without the marketing, it all grinds to a halt at that point.I thought it would be fun to see what ingenious methods of self-publicity all you good people are attempting to get your material out there, as my attempts are failing miserably. If we could crack this one, we could change the structure of the music industry for ever.Luv to allMartBridgefieldhttp://www.bridgefieldmusic.com

[guscave]

Hi Mart,you make some very good points, but I think indie Artists need to approach their marketing and distributing a differently than how the majors do it. One thing to keep in mind is that as an indie Artist you're gonna keep a lot more of the money than if you were signed to a major. So although selling 1 million copies as an Artist on a major would be awesome, selling 50k to 75k as an indie could probably pay-off the mortgage...:)One thing that I noticed some of the more succesful indie Artists do, is provide some of their music online for free. One example is with podcasters. They are always looking for new music to play for their listeners, and some of those podcasters have a lot of listeners. Check out podsafe music network: http://music.podshow.com/

[nomiyah]

Thanks for the podcast link.The comments about staying indie are very valid.I don't know if most Taxi members are looking for Major Record Label deals. I know I'm not. I joined Taxi because the listings have lots of opportunities for songwriters and producers.Nomi

[bridgefield]

Hi Guscave,Many thanks for the link. I'd heard about Pod Casts but never considered investigating them further...time to change my attitude towards them.I'm beginning to think that staying as an indie is probably the best way forward, not just because you get to keep a bigger slice of the pie (as you so rightly point out), but you hear of many bands getting signed and never making a living out of their music as they get ditched after an album. Also, as an indie you get to retain your musical integrity.Nice one!MartBridgefield

[guscave]

I've worked in & out of the music biz for over 25 years, and thru those years I've seen less & less Artists with major deals making a living off it. Yet I constantly hear of more indie Artists doing just the opposite (if only for a short time).I suppose a lot of it has to do with the facts that labels don't provide the same advances that they use to (they can't afford to anymore). And you also have to remember that there are different levels of independance with in the biz. Check out this article for an example of what I mean:http://www.musicrow.com/

[onoffon]

What do labels do for us nowadays?The indie world is gaining credibility by leaps and bounds. CD Baby distribution has placed indie music at etailers like CDBaby.com, TowerRecords.com, and BestBuy.com. Their digital distribution network has placed indies side by side with major acts at all the major download sites. That will be the distribution of choice by the mass majority. Organizations like TAXI help to place music in credible places to benefit a wide array of artists and genres. The International Online Music Awards (IOMA's) and Just Plain Folks have annual awards that highlight what they consider to be the finest independent talent out there. EPK's, ezines, podcasts, internet radio streaming 24/7 to a global audience..... The indie movement itself will create its own story - it's own mass exposure. This next year should be very interesting for independent music...

[nomiyah]

Let me chime in... I totally adore CD Baby. I think in the future Derek will be considered a music business genius like Bill Graham or Russell Simmons.

[guscave]

Another cool thing about CDbaby is that they can get your music on iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, etc. for less than 10%. The majors can't even come close to a deal like that.

[bridgefield]

I'm with you all the way on CDBaby. I think Derek is a genius as well. He's managed to engineer a situation where the interests of the artist are directly in line with those of the distribution company (i.e CDBaby). I'm not sure if that's the case with the majors. The other cool thing is that we get to maintain our artistic, editorial integrity. You know that what get's put out is what the artist intended.I also think that 2006 is going to be very interesting.Happy New Year to you all,Mart

[guscave]

So true... I expect 2006 to be the most prosperous year for indie Artists. They just have way more resources for promotion and marketing than ever before.Best to you all....