Are you content with the stench in your bedroom?

[Armadillo]

(bedroom=studio just in case you are scratching your head.)

Well are you? Just wondering...

Rarely do I see a topic about music business around here. I know it's a VSTi forum primarily, but with 3 zillion members surely there'd be people who's got or wanna get a foot in some doors.

where are all the topics like:
- how do I go about releasing and distributing a white label?
- Is it worth starting up my own label?
- How do I get get into library (production) music and is there any money in it?
- As a producer should I get a manager to get my tracks distributed/ played in clubs/ radio etc.
- Do you need an image to get anywhere in the industry? Or is that only relevant for bands, or maybe not even for bands?
- I'm sending out a demo. What should I enclose in terms of press release, CV, pictures.?

etc.

I wonder if everyone around here either
A. Are already in the business. or
B. Just doing it all for fun, no ambition what so ever. I just lurve my job.
C. Been there, done that, never again. (a bit like B then).
D. Quite ambitious, but marketing er.... Don't really wanna go there.

I'm under "D" I admit.
What about you?
It's not really a poll, just looking for some opinions.

[thecontrolcentre]

i've had couple of record deals with small record labels, which i got of the back of a live recording on a cassette tape in one case, and from a well recorded demo in the other...both of which resulted in album releases 2 to 3 years later...both CD's recieved good reviews, but as yet no fame or fortune..
also you've got to sell a hell of a lot of CD's before you see any cash back.. (maybe i need a manager)
on the plus side.. promotors do seem to take you more seriously if you're signed ,so it makes it easier to get paid gigs...

[herodotus]

Actually I have seen numerous thread titles like: 'How do I send my demo to a label', or 'Is anyone here signed?'.

But I do believe that many core members are proud amateurs who haven't really put much effort into music as a 'career' per se.

And there are others who find the very idea of making commercial music offensive.

I myself have made some very useful 'business' contacts here. And if making drum loops isn't my fondest dream, it has nonetheless opened up some doors for me.

[Wopelka]

Just doing it all for fun, no ambition what so ever.

i hate my job, tho.

[Col.G]

A mouse chewed through the telephone wire and shut off my telephone in my bedroom this weekend. If he starts doing that in my studio I will have to kill him.

[Wopelka]

i should add that i'd like to make a living of my music, but i'm way too realistic to even think about it. i hate the music business world, anyway.

[vurt]

currently the stench is somewhat similar to that of an amsterdam coffee shop so yep

[dystonia_ek]

Sending out demos is absolutely useless at this point in time. Even most small indies are saturated with more than they'll ever have time to listen to, so most don't.
What you need to do is network, all the time. Make contact with as many other artists in your genre as you can. Package up some nicely presented CDR's and sell/trade. Play live or tour as often as you can and sell your stuff at shows. You need to be kind of a known quantity to get much attention these days from even the smallest labels.

If you want to start your own label or self-release, the networking rule applies equally - no good manufacturing even just 500 or 1000 cd's if they're just going to gather dust in the closet. Forge as many links as you can with as many people as you can within your 'scene'. Beware of dodgy consignment deals from distributors - if they won't pay wholesale, chances are they'll probably never pay at all. Don't manufacture more than you have a reasonable hope of actually selling, at first at least. It's not easy to turn a profit, but it's relatively easy to at least break even. Start small, and put any money recouped from one release into the next. Try to work with the same printers and pressing plants all the time - if you're a regular you may be able to cut better deals.

If you do get signed to a major or large independent (though even small indies can be guilty of much impropriety), read this article before you sign anything:

http://www.negativland.com/albini.html

[Armadillo]

i should add that i'd like to make a living of my music, but i'm way too realistic to even think about it. i hate the music business world, anyway.

Don't we all. Business seems more emphasized than music.

Let me quote Hunter S. Thompson

The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.

Ain't that the truth.

[ChimeraMan]

A.

[Meffy]

I'm a programmer first, and mess around with music for fun mostly. When I happen to earn a little dosh with music -- which is infrequent, and which involves mundane, extremely boring, background/soundtrack stuff, NOT the "music business" as such -- the money gets invested in more software (or samples or whatever). Unless my situation takes a sudden change for the worse, that's how things will remain.

[Barf]

Three years ago I send a demo to a magazine, got a good review and one of the songs was picked for their promotional CD (1250). I was so shocked I wasnt able to make anything for a year. Now I do have some songs again which are 70-90% 'finished' but I find I'm more critical than ever before when it comes to finishing them. I havent finished a song for three years!!!

[clueless]

C, because of D, leading to B

[tangentmusic]

i agree with vurt.

[herodotus]

Let me quote Hunter S. Thompson

The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.

What book is that quote from?

That is one of the most brilliant sentences that that brilliant man ever wrote.

How can one sentence be so true, so short and so funny all at once?

The mystery of genius.