ninehertz

1. • Ollie
   • Been talking to a mate about maybe starting a small label...very small. Limited runs to start off with, maybe some split releases.
     
     Any advice? Things to think about, look out for...etc...other than don't bother!!!
   • [10:43 on 18/12/08]
2. • Sheldon
   • like you said do limited runs or split release first / always if you can
     
     do a release on your own is tough if you are a lazy bastard like me you spend £600 or more pressing a release and sell 10 copies out of 500 ha ha repeat that 9 or 10 times and your are down about £7k fun times though i dont regret it
     
     Dont press too many copies of anything unless you know this band are amazing and everyone loves them
     
     trade with other labels as much as possible and start an online shop
     
     have fun
     [Edited by Sheldon at 11:40 on 18/12/08]
   • [11:40 on 18/12/08]
3. • Ollie
   • Sheldon says:

     like you said do limited runs or split release first / always if you can
     
     do a release on your own is tough if you are a lazy bastard like me you spend £600 or more pressing a release and sell 10 copies out of 500 ha ha repeat that 9 or 10 times and your are down about £7k fun times though i dont regret it
     
     Dont press too many copies of anything unless you know this band are amazing and everyone loves them
     
     trade with other labels as much as possible and start an online shop
     
     have fun
     
     
     Cheers mate, that's pretty much what I was thinking. Either split releases or just doing EPs rather than albums. Split releases though doubles the sales potential of a release though which makes it an attractive idea. I've been looking at pressing prices and the one I found locally is about £450 for 500 CDs and £600 for 1000, does that sound about right. If the difference in outlay is only around £150 I'm thinking go for 1000 and have more to use for promo and to give to the bands for their cut.
     
     Trades are something we would definitely look at and set up a web store and maybe co-releases with other labels to share costs and promotion duties.
   • [11:59 on 18/12/08]
4. • Sheldon
   • costs seem about right
     
     extra £100 seems nice and a good deal for getting 1000 cds instead of 500 but you will kick yourself when you have 900 cds lying around your bedroom doing Sweet FA
     
     Unless the bad is amazing 1000 cds is just annoying in terms of space
   • [12:13 on 18/12/08]
5. • Ollie
   • Sheldon says:

     costs seem about right
     
     extra £100 seems nice and a good deal for getting 1000 cds instead of 500 but you will kick yourself when you have 900 cds lying around your bedroom doing Sweet FA
     
     Unless the bad is amazing 1000 cds is just annoying in terms of space
     
     
     Yeah, did think that...leave them at my mate's house!!!!
   • [12:29 on 18/12/08]
6. • Tim Holehouse
   • Maybe start by doing short run CD-r things this place do some pretty good quality CD-rs www.directduplication.com
     
     I'm starting a label for my stuff its gonna be only for my stuff, but hoping to stick a wee bit of Vinyl out now. I'll put a bit more about it up soon...
     
     Name wise think disloction diety is my current working tittle.
   • [12:55 on 18/12/08]
7. • Podge
   • my advice... don't do it.
     
     you'll never have a free moment again and you'll loose money hand over fist.
     
     bands and buyers couldn't give a toss.
     
     I'm giving up after the 3 i have pencilled in. better things to do with my life than waste money and time
     [Edited by Podge at 13:04 on 18/12/08]
   • [13:02 on 18/12/08]
8. • Mazz
   • Podge says:

     my advice... don't do it.
     
     you'll never have a free moment again and you'll loose money hand over fist.
     
     bands and buyers couldn't give a toss.
     
     
     
   • [13:03 on 18/12/08]
9. • Ollie
   • Short run Cd-R stuff might be a good way to bring in a little bit of income for starters.
     
     I'm thinking Tiny Cock Records but I suspect the others might not go for it.
   • [13:04 on 18/12/08]
10. • Podge
    • Ollie says:

      Short run Cd-R stuff might be a good way to bring in a little bit of income for starters.
      
      
      minimum is 50, you'll still only sell half if that.
      
      ask your self why do you want to do it?
    • [13:05 on 18/12/08]
11. • Tim Holehouse
    • I think it can depend who your putting out... my merch box is pretty much empty now (minus the naked shit Cd's sorry Chris I am trying to shift the buggers).
    • [13:19 on 18/12/08]
12. • Podge
    • also the concept of a limited run is flawed.
      
      what if the demand is still there? you are cutting your nose off to spite your face, and what is limited anyway? its only limited cos you've not made a phone call to say "yeah, do me another run" and if the demand isnt there then whats the point in getting it pressed in the first place?
      
      of the 17 or so releases i did, only 2 of them have sold out, one cos i did a run of 50 and i was in the band so i could pimp it at every moment and the other because i never checked the last 3 boxes of 50 records and each one was smashed to bits so it dropped my run from 500 to 350.
      
      the bands couldnt give a fuck either, i've been to gigs by band's ive done and they dont even mention thay have stuff for sale, when i asked they why they say "oh, i forgot" nice to know you are proud of your work or "we dont like saying it on stage, it sounds a bit gay" yeah, thanks guys.
      
      Chris gets a lot of flack and i'd not / am not running mine the same as he rund his but he must have the paitence of a saint.
      
      oh also, if you are rich / silly / bored enough to do it. make sure you factor in costs for or have a good artist. bands may be good at music but they are fucking rubbish at artwork and artwork can take years, yes YEARS to get done.
      
      oh and do contracts, anyone says "we dont do them" tell them to fuck right off. no messing. if they dont want to do one they probably cant be arsed to do a load of other stuff as well... having said that, i have no idea what your options would be if the contract was broken, its more of an agreement than a contract. i think i have a couple of template ones you can butcher for your self.
      
      also, do you wanna buy £2K of unsold calculon releases? and or my distro? good price, satisfaction guaranteed.
    • [13:25 on 18/12/08]
13. • Podge
    • Tim Holehouse says:

      I think it can depend who your putting out... my merch box is pretty much empty now (minus the naked shit Cd's sorry Chris I am trying to shift the buggers).
      
      
      you do a lot of shows, some bands do 3 in 2 years after you put out their stuff and then re-record it and put it on their next CD and say "oh, didn't think you'd mind"
    • [13:27 on 18/12/08]
14. • Tim Holehouse
    • Yeah i agree with what your saying there Mr podge yeah i do gig lots and yeah the whole I have merch banter... And recnetly been quite good at standing by my merch instead of just buggering off to the bar.
      The reason i'm doing my own label now with my stuff is I'm slowly truning into a control freak (for my albums at least). I also have silly ideas for artwork that most labels would hemerage at.
      
    • [13:32 on 18/12/08]
15. • Rob Himself
    • All hail Podge and his mighty words of truth. I would never put out anything other than my own stuff and even that was a stupid overstretch - 200 copies of my current EP and I've sold ten so far. if you must do it, do CD-R's and burn them/print them yourself: we sold 100 + Mfkzt/Sunshine Bumfun splits on our tour with them and it cost me about 20 quid to make.
    • [13:58 on 18/12/08]
16. • Ollie
    • By limited a really mean short runs...the repress option is always there if it does go well.
      
      Being in a band that does work hard to push releases I'm pretty aware what a band needs to do to sell stuff and wouldn't want to work with a band that expect everything on a plate and expects us to do all the work for them. We'll be looking at abnds that do have a history of self promotion and passion about it. It doesn't matter how awesome a band is , I want to know that they will work. Given that me and one of the other guys interested are both in bands we at least know we'd have a vested interest in flogging our own product. One of the other guys is a promoter and knows the value of sorting gigs and doing decent promotion and there is a graphics/web guy that we can bring on board.
      
      After dealing with labels on and off for 14 years I certainly won't be going in blind, I know a lot of the pitfalls from watching other labels make mistakes that we've dealt with.
    • [14:06 on 18/12/08]
17. • Podge
    • i could have easily said all those things 3 years ago.
      
      and now i have the benefit of running a label.
    • [15:03 on 18/12/08]
18. • Donny
    • Do it the WHR way.
      
      Get everything proffesionally pressed, spend loads of time of lovely booklets, spend loads of cash. Smile as good people buy them from you. Cry as the vast majority ends up in the shed probably getting frost damaged as there's no room in the flat. Borrow money off the missus for the next 5 years trying to pay back debts of getting stuff pressed. Spend all your lunch break in the post office.
      
      It's a lot of work mate and it's got very few rewards.
    • [16:29 on 18/12/08]
19. • Sheldon
    • I did it because I was depressed at the time and it gave me something to do and made me happy so in that regard I justify the £7k or so it has cost i think maybe i have made £500 back Ha ha
      
      but seriously it quite fun im still releasing shit but only split release mainly i still never sell anything but i enjoy trading and thing if i have the time
      
      It can be fun just dont expect to make money at the end of the day you only live once and for myself at least im proudto say that i ran a little record label
    • [17:12 on 18/12/08]
20. • Sheldon
    • it does seem sometimes that people just dont buy records anymore kinda sucks
      
      cunts!
    • [17:18 on 18/12/08]

Forums - Music Discussion and Promotion - Any advice from labels on starting up?