You're incredible, SUBGenre. Two-three original tracks per month is impressive and a selling point on its own.

What is it that you're looking for from a record label? I think you really need to know why you need them, especially if you're producing and mixing your own music. There may be many useful services out there that will help get your music out including PR but a record label might not be necessary if you can fund the writing/ performing and marketing costs without them.

 

While you are correct about getting his music out there, you are so far gone about not filing copyrights, it's clear you have very little actual understanding of what copyrights are. FWIW, he has already copyrighted his music once it was in a fixed format, registering PA copyrights just give him full protection and the ability to protect his work if needed. Your PA copyrights allow you to legally get your music out there in any way the copyright owner approves of...... and allows for the ability to collect publishing if the situation arises.

 

Remain independent. Create a fictitious business name and get you an LLC business license. Then get your music coded up. Otherwise you wont get paid for streams, soundscans, youtube etc.. Start your own webpage then start branding yourself, not just the music, but YOU. Also,do the grunt work yourself, promote, promote, promote, network, promote.

 

Copyrights are a given, of course get your music copy written. Yet you can still be taken advantage of monetarily. Spend a couple hundred bucks and create a business. Get a licence and register for your ISRC and UPC. And you won't have to worry about shyt.

 

You do know you can register your copyright even years after someone infringes on it if you were the original creator. All you would need is proof is that your song was uploaded to YouTube or wherever before the defendants version was. Again I stress though that there is really no point spending money and time to protect something that will likely not even turn a profit.

...and are you really going to go through all the effort to bring a lawsuit against someone who claims they created your song, or are using it without your permission? The people who steal your work likely will not have earned any money off it and the legal costs wont be worth any damages you are rewarded. Likely you will settle and just have them remove the song from their catalog. Sure if it becomes a top 10 hit or something register your copyright and sue, but the chances of that happening are very slim.

 

First of all lemme say your music is very good @subGENRE
Now, having been a recording artist for at least 25 years under a myriad of monikers and tags, i can tell a ton of bad stories of getting screwed and another ton of well done deals. The biz part of the music industry is certainly not without "hidden traps" , but the important part is to make the leap forward. I agree with Pinkman's guerilla tactics and anyone else advising to take an aggressive position towards promoting your work.
With that said, publishing is where "authors" expect to get paid from when their work gets released. Therefore it is imperative to not only have a publisher but also developing a personal relation with them and any other "cog" in the music industry that may help you, like a manager for instance. All these people connect various dots of the music biz puzzle and you should be ready to prove your worth anytime, once you have put this whole ordeal to motion. Developing a live act is crucial for any artists who want to make a name for themselves and no matter how many years will pass, it will be the path to walk. Especially now that record sales have gone byebye and physical media is obsolete for the most part. And if anyone thinks Skrillex or any other artist make their money just from record sales, think again. Recording artists without a live act to promote their work are very rare, as live and studio are both what a pro musician/artist is all about. Needless to say playing live gives you more energy than anything in this world. (Better than sex in many ways). Of course all these practices mentioned are not easy to handle overnight, neither digest in a jiffy, and they are time,brain and soul consuming. In my sense and experience, only the dedicated and persistent make it far or deep enough to make a living from music. Are you one of them ?
If the answer is yes:
Do your thing, know the history but don't look back if not for just inspiration, learn from your mistakes, build a solid foundation with both making/releasing music (be it indie or mainstream doesn't really matter) and live sessions/gigs, be as present and vibrant as you can be. Be what you dream yourself could be, now. Be honest and humble but proud and loud where you have to as well. Most important lesson imho, nobody made it far enough, pretending to be someone they are not. Be yourself.
My best wishes from the bottom of my heart

 

Last edited: Mar 28, 2017

In addition to all what's been said here I'd like to add some thoughts.
My insight comes from the real electronic music genre that started it all, techno, (pun intended ) so maybe my extrapolation is not 100% accurate. A bud of mine is a relatively successful future bass/neurofunk producer and I try to answer to you with what I gathered from our conversations.
This is all extremely subjective, thus biased, but maybe it helps a bit.

So, should you submit your music to labels?

Should you, as in is your music good enough? Absoletely. You're ready! Go for it. One thing: all your songs are really short. Radio edits. Most of the time, electronic music tracks are pretty long, say, 6 or 7 minutes. Extended versions, from which radio edits are cut later. That's maybe something what you could work on. But apart from that, excellent work.

Should you, as in will it help your career? That is something very genre specific, and I really can't tell you because I don't know how it is with future bass. In Techno, there are two ways. One would be to get your music signed to a reputable label, so your artist name is associated with said label. This will help your reputation as an artist, resulting in demand for bookings and so on. Like in Jazz, maybe. If you're signed to blue note, you're set for life. The other way would be to go out and dominate your local scene. Find likeminded people and create something together. Throw parties, build relationships, create a plattform for yourself and your music, maybe build your own label. If you do it right, and one step at a time, this will do big things for you.
But maybe labels are irrelevant in future bass. Maybe you don't want to play out. There are ways to be wildly successful without a label, without going on tour. It all depends on how it works in your genre. And that's where you have to become the expert. Examine how famous artists of your genre are doing it. Become a scholar. Make a case study out of it. And then, do it yourself.
Prepare yourself for a long, hard way of pain and sacrifice. Before his breakthrough hit "a little more love" in 2002, David Guetta worked on his career for nearly two decades. And now see where he's at. There is no short cut and it is hard work, and lots of it. But it's rewarding like nothing else. Your first paycheck from your music is something you will never forget.

So, let's say you decide to go for the label way. First, don't be random. Nothing gets deleted faster than what feels like a mass mailing. Research exactly what labels would be a good fit, and what you could give them that they need. For me, searching a label, tailoring my demo for them, finding out who to contact and sending out that demo can take up a whole day. It's a lot of work and it's very likely you never hear back. Don't take it personal! You put all your heart and soul in your music, your music is everything you are, so if they reject you, it means they hate your guts, right? No. They're incredibly busy. Or badly organized. Or they're just jerks! Who knows. In all cases, it has nothing to do with you as a person.
If you want people to listen to your music and really cut throught the noise, your best bet is through relationships. When I started out, it was very frustrating. It’s really a paradox: all the labels ask for demos on their website, but provide no other way for you to reach their contacts. Even when you do find a way to send them something, they often seem like they won’t even end up listening.

So I changed my approach. I went about creating a list of labels I knew I could get in touch with through friends, or through friends of friends. I learned that one of these labels was located in a pretty small town where a good friend of mine originally grew up. Coming from a town of similar size myself I knew that if you grow up in such a town you likely will know/meet everybody at some point. So I got in touch and sure enough, he knew the guys that ran the label. This was great news. I was able to get on the phone with the label head, who then asked for my demo and indeed gave it a listen. He didn’t see my music as a match for his label but he referred me to the label that does the distribution for them. What really blew me away was that this distribution label is the one biggest independent labels for electronic music in the country, with massively inspirational artists under contract.

I dug up the courage and got on the phone with the label head and started telling him my story. When he heard that the owner of the other label had referred me to him, he asked me to send in my demo so he could have a listen. But unfortunately, no fit either. Back at square one. But, a powerful lesson had been learned; Get in touch with people personally, or at least over the phone.

I went back to my list and there was still one label I had not contacted yet, mostly because I was a little scared. This label was easily the most prestigious label in it’s respective genre, even the Petshop Boys released on this label! As if that wasn’t already enough to deter me, I knew the label owner used to be the editor of one of the largest electronic music magazines in the country and easily the biggest critic in the genre, having written over 10,000 reviews. Frankly, I was intimidated and wouldn’t have seen myself and my music in the position to fit amongst the calibre of a roster such as this, but I thought, “What the hell, there is nothing to lose”, and I called them. I specifically asked who would listen to the demo I’d send them (of course it was the label owner!), and five minutes later they had my demo. Then the most incredible thing happened. The label owner got back to me…within one hour!

So from my experience: if you want to get heard, personal relationships are everything. And if you have that relationship, your number of followers doesn't mean a thing. Most guys don't inspect your numbers and if they're not right, they don't even listen - too much time and energy.

And one more thing: I know it eats you up wether someone hasn't listened to your demo because he hasn't opened your email or because he read it and it didn't tickle him enough to give your demo a listen. There is that awesome tool, bananatag, that let's you track what happens with the emails you send, and they have a free plan

pure gold, man

 

Last edited by a moderator: Mar 28, 2017

I have been down that road more than 10 years ago and i can only tell you, dont waste time sending music to labels unless you have a connection there or a friend of a friend works there.
Its easier to get stuff seen by submiting your music to companies like TAXI, though your chances with service providers like TAXI arent any bigger.
You might waste precious time.
Learn your craft, be good at what you do and be independent, put that money on your own website and other channels.
Do your own music videos, buy a dslr camera and start rolling, ask friends or hire someone for some small money too shoot your music video(if you need it).
Many artists dont even have music videos and have a nice income.
You can still send music to labels but the music industry has changed a lot compared to the old days.
Scouts dont look for originality, its a popularity contest these days, hence why they sign shitty but "safe" sounding artists and bands.
If you write original material, if you have your own sound, the chances are the A&R scouts are too stupid to know what is going on anyway.
Do not put your hopes into someone who isnt even remotely interested in your work.
They also get hundreds of mp3s and cds delivered each day, so they listen to each band for 10secs and if they like it they listen to another 30secs and even if they do like it they will go with the safe popular kid that has lots of subscribers on YT.
You can earn lots of money by being independent.
Do not buy the holywood stories of success, be realistic and you wont be disappoined.

 

Since when does giving away a song as a freebie mean also giving away the rights anyways?

@subGENRE What I forgot: I sincerely recommend reading "the war of art" by steven pressfield. If there is a book out there to set your mind for what's ahead of you, this is it. It's worth its weight in gold (figuratively speaking, because, it's actually pretty lightweight ).

 

of course labels are there just to screw you, but ...

1 - you will get the foot in the door
2 - they will grow your brand and your fanbase and it will remains yours even after you find a better label or you self produce.

music is dime a dozen nowadays the fanbase is everything, once you're recognized in your niche you've 100 ways to monetize.
so, who's getting screwed in the end ? are you guys aware how much is the acquisition cost of a big fanbase ? nobody can steal your fanbase, it's yours forever and so is your copyright on your music and the PRO earnings from PRS/BMI/ASCAP etc.

and apart your fanbase you can monetize your brand with merchandising, running your own web site, and more, all things that your label can't touch unless you agree on being totally locked-in with them.

and also pussy ! the groupies who are into your music niche will get hot in their pants when they meet you, no matter if you're ugly.

 

the problem with Rights is ... to enforce your rights you'll always need to pay a lawyer, no matter if you're 100% right and this will cost an arm and a leg.
suppose an overseas radio is playing your freebies without any licence for playback, what you're gonna do ? sue them ? write an email to PRS/BMI/ASCAP legal dept ?
i'll tell you what .. you'll do nothing and next time you'll think twice before giving away your music with the hope of free promotion.

 

@Von_Steyr
For the most part i feel you, but you do sound somewhat bitter to me. While i agree to many of the points you make, i do not agree that the industry as a whole is a jarful of idiots. Sure there is a huge bunch of them, but being polarized towards indie or major doesn't help you progress imho. Be ready for anything and carefully try new things is the correct approach imho. I have criticized many times major labels for the ways they sunk their own industry. Still, as a thumb rule all situations and offers should be taken upon consideration by any aspiring newcomer or even established professional, since every deal can be totally different from another.
As for me...Personally i refuse to do my own videos. I am Only because i know a good deal of artists that can do it better than me, and i wouldn't want anything less for my music. Likewise, i refuse to do my own promotion too, but hand it to other people who specialize in this as well. Of course i wasn't born with a crew of people at my disposal, all these connections i built through decades of being a performing/recording artist, and it definitely costs more to utilize specialists in all fields than the DIY method. With these said, i have absolutely np with the people who do it all, on the contrary i admire them, up to a point. And this point which also acts as my word of caution is:
When you put too much effort in all directions other than your music, the music itself may start to suffer. I have seen it happen(or rather heard it) too many times. Mixes become more rough and simplistic, lacking detail. Compositions and arrangements lack depth and originality and so on. Simply because there is never enough time to handle everything properly, and only imho of course. The indie world and a good part of the major labels is full of such mediocre tracks with these very symptoms i mention. Everybody promoting their music like crazy and when you decide to give them their "15 mins of fame", and go and see them live, 9 out of 10 times its a person pressing a couple of buttons for 1:30 hrs and jumping like an asshole. In fact they give much more to jumping than playing. The bedroom producer lazy ethics CANNOT relate to the real world imho. Not everybody can be Skrillex. When people comprehend that they cannot be king in the place of the king but they have to find/create their own kingdom to rule, everything in their own microworld becomes more clear and the destination may finally seem reachable. Step up and do something different or relevant, be present and really live if you want to earn respect and this is how fanbases are built. No guts no glory.
Thanks for listening

 

I'd say focus on getting your music on some of the more popular music blog sites out there. That's where the labels seem to look for new talent nowadays. Lots of artists were discovered on Hype Machine for example.

 

From what I've heard of your music, you're definitely good enough to be on the same platform as many of these other guys who I see being promoted by labels.

Also, why the fuck not. However you decide to go about promoting yourself, go for it. I'll definitely be in your corner.

 

Last edited: Mar 28, 2017

Your stuff is good but you need to work on your mixing,

 

Not bitter, realistic.Reality is most people wont be able to afford to pay for services in the beginning, yet you can still achieve a lot on your own today.
If you can pay a proper experienced crew for certain services, then sure, i agree, it could be a better choice in certain cases.

 

If you're a member of a performing rights organization, you will be payed royalties. If you want your streaming royalties, you'll sign up with soundexchange. It's all taken care of. If your song is aired, you will be payed. There are international treaties in place. It's not the wild west anymore, you don't need no stinkin lawyer. Register with respective collecting agencies and/or publishing adminstration and claim what's yours. Simple is that.
Plus, what financial drawback would the scenario you lay out mean anyhow? A play on a radio station with major reach, say kiss fm or kcrw, will earn you 6 $ usd per 50000 reach. Big whoop.

 

As far as sending music/beats to labels goes, would you suggest sending CDs with name and phone number or E-mails with soundcloud links?
I know sending CDs is old school but I think at least it's something physical. I mean an email is deleted in the blink of an eye or blocked by Filters. What you think?

 

There is no general rule. Do some research and find out how they want it.

 

or cds and flash drives? 8x10 b/w glossy, one paragraph bio etc?