You've written and mixed down your new track, and you're certain it's a surefire hit. Well, you're pretty sure it's quite good, anyway. Time to get it signed to a label, right?
Well, perhaps. Let's take a look at the whole business of getting tracks signed, from demo to release, and consider some advice for newcomers to the business.
The beginning, of course, is to get your demo out there. We can forget the old days, when everything was black and white and people used to send CDs out. Now, you can do it quickly and easily via email. But the problem is that everyone does just that - so you need to help the label as much as you can. They get overwhelmed with demos now, so there are a few things you should cover in your submission.
First, make sure you include a personal element in the email. Acknowledge the name of the label, or the guy running it, or say why you like their sound. Something that lets them know you haven't just spammed the same message out to hundreds of people. Next, you need to give them an idea of what the demo will sound like. Hopefully, this will pique their curiosity and make someone click on through. If you can, include the names of people who've been playing it out.
Then - and this one is absolutely crucial - you should have a link to a simple, clear, streaming preview of the track, without popups and delays. Soundcloud is ideal; zShare is usually terrible. But you certainly don't want to make someone wait 45 seconds to click a download link on MegaRapid.com and wait for a .zip file to come down before they can hear your sound. They'll be onto the next demo long before that happens.
You don't need to have your tracks mastered, a simple limiter on the master out (just taking off 2 or 3dB) will cover it for now.
But you do need to make sure that your contact details are everywhere: in the email, in the filenames, and in the ID3 tags on the files. It's incredible, in 2010, that people still send out tracks with no artist name, no email address, sometimes not even a trackname. But they do. Don't be that person!
So, let's fast-forward a touch, and assume for a moment that you've had an offer from a label who would lke to sign your tracks. The jackpot! Yes?
At this point, it's worthwhile to think how much the music industry in general, and dance music in particular, has changed in the last 4 or 5 years. Way back when, all labels released on vinyl, which meant that to release your track they basically had to pony up at least a thousand pounds before you were even in the shops. That's quite a commitment. There were a lot of labels, but most tracks managed to get themselves a review in one of the national magazines, maybe even a spot of radio play.
Now? For a start, it's only a significant (and shrinking) minority who still release on vinyl. There are also ten times more labels than there were back in, say, 2006 - which means a lot more product competing for the consumer's dollar. That also means it's a lot harder to get your stuff noticed, whether as an artist or a label. The fact a digital label doesn't need to invest financially - digital mastering services come very cheap these days - means that they don't necessarily need to make a large commitment to your release. Magazines don't have a hope of reviewing everything that comes out, although there are now plentiful blogs that may cover new releases. One upshot of all this is that it is now much easier to generate hype without having contacts in the old world of magazines and radio. But another is that it's now perfectly possible for a release to, basically, sink without a trace.
Of course, this doesn't mean that getting a release, even if it's digital-only, is pointless. But it does mean that you should consider your options carefully, because we are no longer in a situation where 'any release is better than no release'.
The main thing, now, is to think what the label can do for you. As mentioned, a release doesn't necessarily mean that you'll make money, or boost your profile; but a good label will make both of these things happen. So look at the artists they've released before - how are they doing now? Look at the label's soundcloud page - does it have many followers, do their tracks have many plays? Do you see much evidence of effective PR work - did they get the tracks to the magazines, or on blogs?
Have they tried any clever or innovative ideas to drive sales or publicity?
Of course, just the absence of a track record does not always mean bad news, and it's best to chat to the label owners to see what their plans are. Often, the best labels grow with their artists - see Hyperdub and Burial; both started out together, as unknowns.
If your track really is good, then you'll likely be able to find more than one label that wants to take it on, so you shouldn't just jump at the first offer that comes up. Bear in mind that when you sign a track to a label, you'll usually be signing away the ownership of the track. So be sure that you're signing it to someone who'll do a good job of getting you the hype you deserve!
Hopefully this has given you some food for thought regarding the brave new internet-based world of dance music labels. So, have you got your demo ready to go? A list of labels perfectly suited to your sound? Then let's go...
