We've all been there as new artists, you made a killer song, put it to music, now what? You search for someone to listen to your music, search the web hoping to find the right people that will actually listen to it and you wait. Today we are all digitally connected and just putting it out there is like throwing a needle in a hay stack. The internet is full of people that say they love your music and for a price they will push your music somewhere. This is the first pitfall many new artists fall prey to. I could list hundreds of examples from people on Facebook, Instagram and even twitter saying they have massive audiences and for a fee they'll promote you. I have had artists tell me labels have contacted them and said for a price they will give them a promotional package and exposure. A reputable record label would never ask you for money
You have a choice, you become an independent artist and go it alone, meaning you pay for everything yourself and you'd better have a healthy bank account $10,000+ just for P.R. or you look for a record label to represent you. I've heard and seen a substantial amount of negative publicity lately about labels, sorry I've been in the business 35 years and I am a label. Let's be honest here, I don't know of any new artists that have the piggybank to do P.R., the resources to produce their songs or the means to publish them. Lets not forget about pushing their music to commercial radio stations, all the online stores and tracking it for royalties.
So how do record labels make money, artists sign contracts with us, we pay for recording, production, distribution and marketing. And for all of this outlay of money which can run in the thousands for a single song we do a royalty split on streams, sales and mechanical licenses. yes we want a return on our money and yes were going to take a bigger portion until were paid back which could take years. That is the business of music, we have investors who want their money, no different than getting a loan or a mortgage. Are we taking a risk, absolutely. we are working on the premise that you work will catch on and people will want to hear your music. Are we selective about who we put on our rosters, definitely...
The last and biggest mistake I see today is from the indie pop market, young artists are using other peoples music and publishing their work without a mechanical license. Most if not all sites that have samples do not allow you to publish or alter their music for commercial sale. If you want a law suit for copywrite infringement which usually starts out at 1.5 million, yes I said million don't even think about it. With new technology and companies like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok all being made to use copywrite checking software chances are you going to get your accounts revoked and possibly sued. If your serous about your music start by signing up with a Pro (performing rights organization) like Socan, Ascap, Bmi or Sesac in the U.S or whatever you have. Lastly this shouldn't be rocket science, if your serous about your music and a career, find a label that works with artists in your Genre.
Doug Banks, CEO
Tiger Music Productions Canada