KVR Audio

rachmiel · Post by **rachmiel** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:32 pm

i have a question for composers/producers:

are there any of you out there who *could have* been signed by a label, but chose instead to remain unsigned, a free agent?

might seem like a trick question, or just plain goofy, but i'm really interested in your answers. i'm on the lookout for gifted musicians who are active in their field but choose to remain outside societal conventions, anti-establishment.

thanks,

rachMiel

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:39 pm

I had an encounter recently with a record label known as CCT. We were at the contract stage, but I was just not happy with the contract - giving up certain rights for 75 years, not having a good enough royalty rate, etc...

The guy I was dealing with kept equating me to Robbie Williams, kept forgetting my name, and had the most atrocious grammar and language control I've ever seen from another human being, really was f**king diabolical.

So I told him straight, look, if you wont fit in with my needs, I'm going else where. As soon as it was clear that I was not going to sign, he started getting really nasty, calling me an untalented piece of shit in various ways. I posted long lists of emails here at KvR for people to read. He even at one point threatened me with "sending the boys round".

Ever since then, I've sort of lost interest in getting signed. However, I am going to be having a release on Intelligent Music Productions, which is run by our very own John Ingram. A nice guy with a bit more ballsack to him than the other guy I mentioned.

Why do you ask?

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:42 pm

im signed to a label,i dont see it as restricting tho

its run by someone who knows me well enough and truusts my experiments enough i guess.
altho he signed the slowest mofo he could in me,yeah i can release a lot of tracks but deciding on track lists and final masters

rachmiel · Post by **rachmiel** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 4:05 pm

> Why do you ask?

i'm very interested in (and inspired by) people who manage, successfully (i.e. without falling into depression, drinking, drugs, self-pity) to forge their own idiosyncratic trails rather than relying on existing, societally certified trails. anti-establishmentarians. ;-)

and i'm thinking about trying to create some sort of public forum for them, an audience who will take their work seriously. i tend to be a lot more excited about music from gifted anti-establishmenters than from big names signed by the big labels.

rachMiel

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 4:15 pm

Yeah I share your enthusiasm. I respect people who make music for the love of the music as opposed to the love of the attention.

rsmus7 · Post by **rsmus7** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:13 pm

I´m not signed (yet

)

but with my ambient music I dont want to get signed.
I want to do what I like and make the stuff I like.
So maybe for a CD-project of mine I would collaborate with a label,
but only for the distribution of the CD.

since years I listen 95% to unsinged artists.

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:18 pm

rsmus7 wrote:I´m not signed (yet )

but with my ambient music I dont want to get signed.
I want to do what I like and make the stuff I like.

since years I listen 95% to unsinged artists.

my label boss lets me do what i like

he appreciates what i do,this is the problem finding a label with the right credentials.
if the people ate the label like good music they like good music

as for what i listen to,good music signed or not.

labels arent all moneysucking plague bearers rsmus,some of them do just like the idea of helping get music heard

having a label means you get more time to do the stuff you enjoy and letting them worry about the rest

Jbravo · Post by **Jbravo** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:44 pm

my experience is that talk is cheap. Lots of people talk about signing you, license your music etc. then never follow up on their promises. So even if/when someone makes me another offer I'll be extremely sceptical...

dystonia_ek · Post by **dystonia_ek** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:51 pm

Tons of DIY people everywhere these days. Who needs record companies anymore?

vurt · Post by **vurt** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:52 pm

depends what you expect?
for me all i ask of my label is the pressing and distrib help,they worry about that side of things i worry about the music.
no advances or shit like that,i dont expect limos i just want an available platform for whe i need it

from me they will get paid through doing the services i require ie pressing and such,i will get paid from selling the products
in turn we will publicise each other and that is how i have always viewed my expectancu of labels,a mutually beneficial deal that at least pays enough for itself to be produced in the nicest form possible.

clueless · Post by **clueless** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:58 pm

rsmus7 wrote:since years I listen 95% to unsinged artists.

I was quite badly singed...

mckenic · Post by **mckenic** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 6:26 pm

I consider myself still learning, thus Im not where I want to be musically quite yet... although I feel Im very close to where I would be happy with a product.

When I was 19 I had an EP with 6 songs done with 2 guitars, a bass, drumbox and 3 delay stompboxes... really surreal soundscapes but nevertheless melodic...
I brought them to an Independant Lable in Dublin and the owner was all gung ho about releasing them with the proviso I re-record them with rock drums...

Needless to say nothing happened - BUT - I still love these tunes and listen to them to this day. That would never be had I canablized them... strange story I guess!

As I mentioned - Im very close to my 'White Album' so I'll be banging on doors when thats done

Dave

rachmiel · Post by **rachmiel** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 7:30 pm

> Tons of DIY people everywhere these days. Who needs record companies anymore?

as far as i can tell, beyond the sense of security and belonging and "having made it" that some people get from record labels ... the things they provide are exposure and record funding (maybe) and cd sales money (maybe). these days you can make a top-notch cd at home with a pc or mac. and no one in the offbeat world gets much money for cd sales (right?).

so, as far as i see it, the only real thing a record label provides is exposure, an audience. and that's a big thing ... at least for me, having listeners is huge. if there were a way to get around that, to find an audience without having to rely on the help of a corporate (or indie) big brother, i'd have no qualms at all about never being signed. (and no, i'm not signed, partly because i'm still quite new to electronic music (composed instrumental music professionally for many years) and partly because of everything in this thread. (oh yeah, i almost forgot, largely because the music i do is ... is ... is ... so uncompromisingly me. ;-) ))

rachMiel

mystahr · Post by **mystahr** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 7:30 pm

Actually I am signed to two netlabels but only for the (3) album releases. No further constraints other then I'm not allowed to sell the digital product elsewhere, I am still free to sell the hardware copy elsewhere. I'd rather stay a free agent

Soniccat · Post by **Soniccat** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 7:52 pm

mystahr wrote:Actually I am signed to two netlabels but only for the (3) album releases. No further constraints other then I'm not allowed to sell the digital product elsewhere, I am still free to sell the hardware copy elsewhere. I'd rather stay a free agent

This is the same situation for me. two different net labels and the contracts were for digital releases only. I am free to sell physical cds myself and the benefits that I get from the labels are for digital distribution and exposure.

free agents