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Do we need a record label these days?

Chriso21

Chriso21

Jan 15, 2006
324
54
Fort Worth Texas
#1
I am in a band called TURBID NORTH that is about 2 weeks away from releasing our new album. The guys were originally from Alaska but moved to Fort worth Tx after playing with drowning pool up there who loved them and encouraged them to move down here to "get big". I came over from England and joined them. the guitarist is a very accomplished artist and the t shirts we have sold down here have allowed us to buy a lot of recording equipment (4000 bucks worth roughly) and we have spent the last 8 months coming up with a really great product. The guitarist has drawn a beautiful mural for every song and we plan on printing a bunch of cds, vinyls, t shirts, hats, back patches, etc to sell at gigs (which they will because this artwork is so cool). So we have someone in the band to book gigs (me), an artist, a recording studio & engineer, a van, a trailer and fantastic top of the line equipment and merch that sells...and a really tight energetic stage show.
We want to play nationally/ internationally and do it full time with a view to continue to do so without working night shifts at target to make ends meet....
If we get our cd to magazines/forums/ distributors I believe it will get good reviews and generate publicity (not to be big headed but its really good!). If we get on a tour with a pretty popular national band we can make fans and sell our product as well as online through itunes/cdbaby etc.
What is the advantage of signing a record deal? It seems that all we need is a good tour and distribution. Am i missing something here?

See these links of my band:



Opinions?
 
#10
brekfustuvluzer - the new stuff IS a lot more high brow than the older material on myspace, i can assure you. Old stuff = Pantera influence. The new album is a lot different - honest! We have the old singer from a band called Debri who won that battle for Ozzfest when that festival made one stop on the USA in dallas. You are more than welcome to come to Skillman's street pub on the 24th april (i'll put you on the guest list)- I've never met a fellow talkbasser before!

I know its a long shot - maybe I AM an arrogant SOB to think that my band could be one of the 1st bands to do it alone, but with the way cd sales are plummeting, and record companies making less and bands making even less than before - don't you guys the think the industry is going "flip"?

I figure if a band has good, well thought out, catchy, well produced music, interesting and abundant artwork and a super solid work ethic on the road, couldn't it be done in theory?
 
#11
what do you mean by high brow? and pantera influence is a good thing! :) and i dont think you are any more arrogant than everyone else who is in a band trying to "make it." ive just met a thousand people with the same attitudes and watched them become bank clerks. i do wish the industry would flip, as you say, but i dont think it will happen any time soon or ever. it takes a lot of money to saturate a market so that kids dont realize there is other music out there for them to listen to that is better, and buy the labels crap. you are either a good band without a chance to be heard through the deluge of mainstream feces, or a not very good band who would need to be on a label so they can be one of the bands that are bricks in the label's wall blocking out the sun. pessimistic, i know. but good luck to you.
 
#12
It's possible, but really unlikely. To make it without a label you'll still need help, like a booking agent and a manager and some PR contacts. So even if you don't have a label, you will still need support from somewhere. I'd say it's next to impossible to get big doing it 100% DIY.

Ingrid Michaelson didn't have a label for a long time and got some serious exposure, but you can be that she had people helping her out.
 
#14
ShawnStones said:
You're doing a sound that A LOT of other bands are doing. And doing well. It's going to be realllllyy hard for you to stand out enough to stand on your own. IMO
Click to expand...

+1 to this.

Also, I'm surprised no one has mentioned this but...

How is your band's DRAW? Not when you guys open up for other bands, but when you headline a show, is there a massive crowd freaking out to your stuff?

This is really the most important part here. A band that brings 20 people to a local gig and that crowd is comprised of friends and family probably is not going to get on a label (not saying that's you guys, just making a point). If you want label recognition, you've got to show them and prove (over and over) that your band can consistently bring a crowd.

Draw, Draw, Draw. It's all labels care about anymore. A big draw can mean big money for labels and venues alike - and in turn, make your band more money as well. And get this: even if your band gets signed, you get a loan from a label for cd's, merch, van, gear, whatever. The reality is, it's like taking out a giant credit card (say $100,000 to be modest). And if your band doesn't PAY BACK all of that $100,000 (by selling CD's hopefully), you will get DROPPED. Happens all the time. Then you're up to your ass in debt.

The days of waking up and getting signed out of nowhere for no good reason are long gone, my friend. There's too many bands out there anymore, and the labels just aren't making money like they used to.

Worry about your music first, make sure it makes you happy, get your fans who love you for your songs, and maybe it can happen for you. Best of luck. :bassist:

/rant
 
#15
+1 to how much is your draw.

Also, getting shows on tour is easy. Are you making money at these shows that you book/getting guarantees? I know on our tours gas is roughly $100/day so be sure to at least make that if you want to do it full time.

Also, as far as not having to work ever- I doubt it. A lot of the bigger bands I know say that even they got on MTV/Fuse/Etc... they still had to work when they were home from tour so they could have money to go back out for another year.

Also, what do you mean by full-time? I consider full-time being gone playing shows 8-11 months/year almost every night.

There are a lot of ifs and ands that need to be answered. Basically if you don't have labels asking you to be on their roster, I doubt you NEED one.

Mind you, that labels are really just loans. They MIGHT get you into stores, but how much will that do for you in reality? Just because you CD is sitting in Best Buy, people wont buy it. You can get yourself onto every online music store for like $50. If people want your CD, they are likely to just go online or to a show anyway. They do help (sometimes, still) with booking/promotion. Realize, though, that they most likely run up what you owe them. Think of a label as a loan, they can get you hookups, but you are definitely paying for them. You have to pay the label back before you get paid.

Long story short, labels aren't all they are cracked up to be and if you don't have them wanting to sign you, you probably don't NEED one.

IMO, IME, my $0.02
 
#16
getting a private investor would be one way around getting a record deal, and might be easier to do but then you loose all of the connections and experience a label can bring. it may work until you get recognized by a big label. also, if you do start to get big locally or regionally, more than likely a label will hear of you and want to sign you. do you think you would pass on this? im gonna guess not. and in that case none of this will be any different than what any other band does these days. play locally, get noticed, get signed.

some bands have the mentality that touring is the answer, but my view is that if you cant blow up dallas, then you probably wont blow up anywhere else (not always true however). so why waste the resources traveling when you have millions of people within a 2 hour drive from your house that you are overlooking?
 
#17
The short answer is no, you don't need a label. I know because i just left a signed national band. In detail though, what are you wanting from a label?

You mentioned you have your own touring van, you made $4000 in merch sales, you have an album being released, and you book your own gigs. It sounds like all you need is distribution and PR, both of which you do not need a label for.

I don't want to sound rude, but you are believing and hoping for things, with the idea in your head that if it happens, everything will fall into place and you will come out on top. Unfortunately it's not true. What do you want from a magazine? Many of the articles you read of relatively unknown bands and up-and-comers are paid for. Small ads from magazines like Hails and Horns and Revolver are running upwards of $800. If a label pays that out, they expect a return, so why not pay it out yourself and keep the benefits?

You are wanting to get on some tours with national bands. That sounds like an okay idea, but do you know the smaller bands pay to get on those bills? Low level Tour packages are designed to compile bands that don't have the ability to draw enough fans across the nation alone, but together they can make enough money to go out and get home. Larger venues like Ozzfest second stage, has bands paying around $100,000. Bands like God Forbid, and Killswitch Engage still have to get jobs at pizza places and what not to pay their bills when not on tour.

I hope I'm not coming off rude, as it's not my goal. That is just the plain truth of being in a band, moreso a metal band, trying to push through the ranks. It really takes a good song on the radio to reach the right people at the right time. With the economy hurting, musicians are struggling. Good luck to you, but don't believe that a record label is the end all be all, as most of which don't even book bands anymore. That is done a lot more through booking agencies now. To be honest, the band probably had a better chance in Alaska. It's better to be top dog in an isolated area than to be above average in a competetive region.
 
#19
Thanks so much for the replies guys - i really appreciate your input on this - there seems to be a lot of experience round these parts!

Clarification - yes i would like to tour AS MUCH as possible - 11 months a year, 7 days a week would be perfect - I love every second of being in the band. If i have to flip burgers when i am back in town then so be it!

We can afford to buy about 1000 cds and 500 vinyls now. We always make money at shows - usually 100-400 at the door and 50-300 in merch, Plus when we stop and setup a table at hot topic we can shift 100-200 dollars of stuff that can go towards the fund - we try to do that when we play out of town as much as poss as we can hand out fliers to the show we are playing too.

I totally agree that it is pointless touring and playing without making it big locally first. If we couldn't get 100 through the door in dfw then i wouldn't consider it at all.

Our cd release show at the Ridglea in Fort worth should bring 500-800 people through the door. brekfustuvluzer - please come to that show in dallas on the 24th april if you can fit it in- Would be nice to meet ya! We work hard to hand out fliers at national shows and local gigs, put posters up locally - all the normal local band promo grunt work to get people through the door, we also sell lots of prepaid tickets to local shows because of the artwork we can bundle in "for free"
People at our shows DO "go crazy". we ALWAYS get a pit going and have the best crowd response of the night - we practice every day and are also the tightest metal band around IMO.
I was thinking that sending out the album/promo pack to magazines would get a good review for us (because its good) that we could use on our web site and future promo packs to get gigs. (like i said I truly believe this is something new and different here - wait till i can post some new tracks in a couple of weeks before you discard it as boring=) I guess if they charge an arm and a leg to review cds, then it might be an issue..

I have spoken to a couple of bands that are not signed and are touring with big bands - i chatted with a chick from this metal band from cali who are touring with Nile for free because they liked 'em. We have made friends with a few national bands too that could possibly hook us up - will have to wait to see what they think of the new album. Long shot, but if that band from cali did it....

I am aware that this plan does entirely rest on this album NOT being like other bands and being different, i know THAT...is exactly what every other band thinks they are creating when they get a new album out that is actually totally cookie cutter to the world - I'll post to see what you think very soon. If you don't like heavy vocals or fast death metal then lets be honest - you probably won't like it at all, but that's not the point is it? We can all tell if a band has good songs that are produced well without liking a genre right? I guess i won't reply to this thread until i post something new, i just heard bands are making 80 cents a cd on a record label, and that kind of makes me feel uncomfortable after spending so much time and effort on this bad boy!
 

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