What it really starts with is, is music, who you are, what kind of artist you are, and what kind of music you make. and I talk about this because before you get to the point, there are so many different paths that you can possibly go down as an artist, today and, and find ways to get your music out into the universe in, you know, you wanna have a sense of who you are and where your music fits. And that’ll help guide you along the way as and as we’re talking about it today.
We’ll, we’ll talk about that a bit more. but the, the key components, I repeat, I, I said that I, I wrote this in the first slide. The music you make, that is really, that’s, that’s really, I can’t, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is as you’re in this exploratory phase for you guys. you know, as artists think about what you’re doing and how you would represent yourself in the best, in the best way possible.
That music is gonna help you figure out the team you need. You know, you need, you might be able to do this independently, completely on your own. We’re gonna talk about that. You also really might need a team of all different sorts of people to help you really achieve the goals and the vision that you have for yourself. So those are the sort of the two things that you start off thinking about. And, and then we’ll talk a little bit more about this. Are you a, are you an independent artist?
Are you, are you looking to be, you know, a hobbyist, just fulfill a wishlist, a a, a buck, a bucket list, a dream, a vision, for your friends, for, you know, for, on a small sort of platform. are you looking to get an independent relationship where you have a little bit more reach and your distribution is a little bit more substantial? Or are you a global super aspiring global superstar if you’re looking to really have that big impact? And we’re gonna talk a lot about the structure of, of, you know, major record companies.
in the next few minutes, you’ll target your efforts and, you know, according to where these opportunities are best served. So think about that for yourselves. Think about that as you’re starting to put your music together. and that’s really the basis for where we’re gonna go from here. What I, what I do wanna emphasize is that all of these different paths, all of these career paths, as an artist, no matter, no matter which you choose or which is chosen for you, are all attainable.
but they require, first and foremost the great music, the vision for your music, and a lot of hard work. It is really competitive out there. And, I, I, I don’t wanna sugarcoat the opportunities that are, that are, you know, the opportunities of getting a big record deal. It’s a lot harder than than putting out music independently. But if you have that, if you have that vision and you put your team together, that’s a great place to start in terms of finding a path that’s gonna suit your circumstances. So let’s talk about some steps to getting a record deal.
I, I, I think that, one sec. Let’s talk about release distribution goals. So, as I said before, if you wanna just self-release, there’s any number of platforms, you can put the music up directly onto digital service providers. You can go through, you can go through, distribution companies that are active as sort of middlemen to putting your music out and getting your music onto DSPs.
you can do it totally yourself. You can do it with partners. You are all sorts of distribution label service that, that offer different label services as well. So I mentioned before, the company I currently work for, we are an independent distributor that has an independent label, that has a distributor that puts our music out globally. and we get a different type a, a different array of services within our relationship that you as an independent artist or you as partnering with a distributor or a distribution company independently can, can navigate, can, can have, you can have a lot of different service options, you know, within, within, the specific relationship, that, that you choose.
I’m gonna backtrack and go through all of those in a minute. and then of course, you can have a major label relationship where that’s a multi-tiered deal that offers you just about every possible service that you might want, and need along the course of your career.
So, in today’s, in, in today’s industry, in, in 2022, whereas I think from for many people, you know, historically thinking about the business, the, the goal was, you know, oh, I wanna bid on a big major label. not only are major labels a little bit, you know, a lot harder to sort of get at, and we’re gonna talk to you, we’re gonna talk about that in a little bit. But the options are a bit, even if the resources are great, the options might be more narrow.
And again, if you are music, if you’re a, if you are, a, a, a folk singer with, or, or an indie folk singer, or if you’re a hardcore metal band, that might not, a major label might not really be the right path for you. So when I, when I talked at the beginning, about really trying to, you know, have that heart to heart with yourself and, who are you the kind of music you make, how do you want your music to be received out in the, in the industry? Do you, do you wanna have an, are, are you are, are you the kind of artist that’s gonna have a novelty hit?
Or are you gonna have a long-term career and go out on the road and tour, you know, and, and, and build a career for yourself over a long amount of a long period of time that, you know, those paths come with different, circumstances along the way. And, and you can, in the independent sector, you may find that the type of career you want and the path that’s gonna suit your lifestyle. also lifestyle is really important.
I meant to mention that before, you know, if you are a a new mom, you might not wanna go spend all your time on the road. If you’re, if you’re a kid with a dream and a hit song, that might be all you wanna do, you know, you wanna slog it out, going to radio stations to promote your music at the crack of dawn and freezing cold, you know, weather. all of those circumstances are things that can, that should affect how you think about the, the path that you wanna take. So, the major labels offer one path.
I’ll talk about that in a minute. But on the independent side, there’s so many options and, and, and opportunities for deals and partnerships and, and services that either come with a relationship or services that you can actually kind of a la carte, bring on as you need them if you’re, if you’re going really, you know, sort of much more on the independent side. So, you know, and then there’s all sorts of deals within that. So if you are not necessarily the type of artist that wants to put out full on albums, maybe you wanna start out with singles deals, or maybe you wanna start out with singles deals and work towards, you know, towards an album release.
same thing. Do you wanna put out an ep? Do you wanna a licensing deal where you own the work, but you license it to a partner or a distributor for a certain amount of time and then you get it back? if you want a, a pro 50 50 profit split, those are different types of, you know, relationships with distributors and with record companies that offer, again, different contractual obligations, but also, you know, different, you know, different options and different services.
and then the, the major, you know, the major label or the more developed independent, boutique labels might have traditional multi album commitments where you sign with them, you get a very substantial advance, or you get a small advance of money to help you make the record to help you, with your marketing, to help you with promotion. and, and then there’s a lot of, a lot of these multi album deal, commitments, offer options.
They’re not always your option. You might be signed and tied into a deal for longer than you want. and they all, and, and mostly the traditional album deals do, really, they, they own the masters, which is can be great because they can help you pay for the masters, they can help you do the recording and, and help you with everything you need. But you might not necessarily have exactly the kind of control you want.
You might not wanna turn over your ownership. and you also might have different ideas than ultimately the people that are working with you in that, in, in a bigger partnership. So, you, you might not always get the full level of control that you, that you want, but again, you might need that relationship and we’ll, we’ll talk about that in a minute. But it, but when it comes to independent labels, you know, the path of an artist can run in a lot of different ways. You can start off in any way, you know, with a single steal, looking at a, putting out an ep, doing it yourself.
Sometimes that’s not even the, the end of it. Sometimes that’s also a path towards getting a major deal. we’ll talk a little bit, and I guess I could, I could talk about this a little bit now, but, you know, in the world of, of data and, and I’m gonna, this is gonna come into play a little bit later too, but in the world that we’re in, where data is everything and research and algorithms and, or how, or how record companies are finding artists, how artists are promoting and marketing themselves using the knowledge you get from these, from these platforms and all of the, the data, you know, that comes from them.
these are, these are things that can help you as an independent artist. for example, when you’re on Spotify, you know, if your music is out on Spotify and you’re what’s called a verified artist, there’s backend data and analytics that you can access and you can find out for yourself how many people are listening, how many people are skipping, and use that information to help yourself along the way as you’re continuing to put out music.
Maybe that’s all it is, and that’s what you, that’s what you learn, and that’s where it stays for you. But you can also use the, the traction you gain independently to attract the interest in using those same, that same sort of DA data and a and analytics. That’s how an a and r person or a publishing company, or, or even a distributed a distributor, a distri distribution creative platform, can, can also find you. So if you’re looking as, you know, in this independent sector as a means to a bigger end, that’s also a very, very, you know, valid and possible path that you can, that you can take.
So, but this, you know, these pathways are very, are are very sort of transparent, particularly, you know, today where, where you just can Google basically any company. it’s important to take a look at these and if, and if you want more detailed information on some of these specific independent relationships and partnerships and services that are out there, you can find out a lot of that, very much on your own.
And, and obviously, you know, talking to people and mentors, so.
