HOW
TO RELEASE YOUR SONGS
HOW
TO RELEASE YOUR SONGS
- Major Label vs. Indie Label vs. Self Release
- Which approach to take label vs self release
- R.I.A.A. LIST OF RECORD LABELS
- Major Label vs. Indie Label vs. Self Release
There are three basic outlets for releasing your CD to the buying public
1) You get a major label record deal with one of the four major labels, EMI, Warner, Vivendi Universal or Sony BMG,
who have the clout and financing to get your CD played on the commercial radio stations, music video stations
and placed for sale in the bins of all the retail record stores.
The Price - You must give them total commitment of your time and sign off most of your rights on this CD and any
future songs you write
The Odds of getting a major label deal are probably about the same as winning a lottery for most artists considering
the small number of new releases from labels each year compared to the over one million bands out there.
If you have already released a CD independantly and have sold several thousand copies at local shows in and around
the regional area you live in, and have developed a fan base you stand a greater chance of getting signed than an
artist who has done nothing. Knowing that you can do this in a small regional area without radio airplay would
suggest a low risk for the label that you could do it on a national basis with the right backing and promotion.
The Payoff If you sell millions of CD's you will make a ton of money, probably become a millionaire. If you don't
sell millions of CD's you will probably just earn a living, although you will experience other perks such as fame
and living the rock star lifestyle. Even bands who flopped and are dropped from the label for poor CD sales,
still become a known band name due to the labels promotion machine and influence on getting them played
on the radio.
2) You get a record deal with an indie record label. They don't have the clout and financial resources of the major
labels but will get you played on some radio stations and will get your CD's placed in a lot of stores.
You probably won't sell anywhere near the amount of CD's that you would sell with a major record label,
although the Indies will probably give you a bigger cut and you won't have as many charge backs as with the majors.
The Price - You will still have to totally commit your time to them. You probably won't have to sign away as much
of your rights and future as with the major label.
The Odds of getting an indie record deal range from slim to none with one of the larger indie labels to pretty good
with one of the smallest indie labels.
The Payoff - Anywhere from a part time job to a huge income depending on how much the label does to promote
you and how the buying public reacts to you.
3) To give yourself the record deal that only you know how much you deserve, you give it to yourself.
There is a large number of sites on the internet where you can sell your CD on consignment, (you give them
5 or 10 CD's, when they sell them they send you the cash and you advance them another 5 or 10 copies.)
You can also get your CD digitized and available for digital download on a number of sites that is growing
everyday, Apple's I tunes included. If you have a some extra cash you could get air play on some radio stations.
The Price - The more time and effort you put into it the more you will get out. If you put nothing in you will get
nothing out.
The Payoff - You will never sell even a small fraction of the CD's that you would with a major label or a large indie
label. You could sell as many or more than the smallest indie label. You will though have complete control over
your music and the image you want to project. You will probably never get rich, although there are self release
artists who have. If you are successful and create a following of fans, CD sales and packed bar rooms you will
undoubtably attract the attention of the record labels. At that point you have an edge to negotiate a better
recording contract, or you might decide to continue on your own. As a self release artist you will get all of the
proceeds. However 100% of nothing is still nothing. You will have to work it or just be content to tell your friends
you released a CD.
The odds are 100% of getting you to release your CD. (unless you don't like yourself)
In Summary Which approach to take label vs self release
There are lots of arguments for and against both ways. You'll hear all kinds of horror stories about artists who
signed a record deal, their CD was shelved, never released and they cannot take it anywhere else or release it
independantly because they are locked into a record company contract.
If you are not sure which way to try, why not try all three ways. Most labels are looking for a three song
demo CD. When the first three songs are done send them out to the major labels while you are working on
the rest of the CD. When the next three songs are done, try sending them to some of the indie labels. If after
several months of sending demos to labels doesn't get you anything then try the self release route.
If you build up enough of a fan following and CD sales on your own try the labels again if you choose to.
The infamous record contract with a major label is almost impossible to get because there are over one
million bands/ artists, and only four major labels. It is obvious who needs who. The Label has a million
other bands that they could sign instead of you.
Ten years ago there was virtually nothing you could do about it. Nowadays with the advent of the
internet and websites like CD Baby and my space.com to promote yourself on, you have a tremendous
chance of making a living
with your music.
R.I.A.A. LIST OF RECORD LABELS
| Distributed Labels of Reporting Companies |
Fontana MCA/ Nashville Fontana Motown Fontana Mt Hip-O Fontana Poly. Atlas Fontana Uni Records ForeFront Forefront Label Forefront Label 3rd Party Forster Brothers Entertainment Four Winds Foxy Brown - Bad Boy Friday Records From Rags to Riches From the bottom, Inc. Fubu Fugitive Records Furious Records G Love and Special Sauce Gangland Record Corp Gangsta Advisory Garden City Garmex Garmex Records Garth Brooks Gasoline Alley Gazillion Records Gee Street Geffen Geffen (Tracs) Geffen Catalog Transfer Geffen Catalog Transfer (Fontana) Geffen Goldline Genie Ent./Lightyear Getting Out Our Dreams(Urban) Gfunk GG&L Music Ghetto Youth Intl Ghostlight Giant Records Giant-Step Records Gili Music Glassnote GMA Music GMP Records Gold Circle Gold Seal Gold Star Golden Books Gomer Records Good Time Jazz Goodfellas Entertainment Goodnews Gospel Gospo Centric Gotee Records GR Entertainment Graham Colton Grammy Nominees Proj Grand Royal Grand Royal Catalog Grandstand Granite Grateful Dead Production Grateful Dead Records Great Performances Green Linnet Greenhornes Greenhorse Records, Inc. Grindhouse Groovin' Records Groovpix Ground Zero Group - Argentina Group - Brazil Group - Centre Group - Chile Group - Mexico Group - Other Group - Spain Group - USA Group - Venezuela GRP GRP (Verve) GTS GTS Video Guardian Studios Guitian G-Unit Records Gunz Music, Inc Guts & Grace Halfnote
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PRA Records Praise Gathering Prawn Song Premier Entertainment Premium Premium Latin Prestige Priority Frontline Catalog Priority Special Markets Priority Special Mkts Catalog Prisma Private Music Procan Proclaim Proper Prorey Prority Prosthetic Records Protel PSM Records Psychopathic Records Punk Core Pure Records Pure Springs Music Purple Ribbon Entertainment Push Records Pussycat Dolls JV Pyramid Pyramid Media Pyramid Media Group Q&W Quango Records Queen Latifah Quinlan Road Ent. Quiet Storm Records Qwest Records R.A.L. R.A.L. Video Radio Universal Radioactive Records Rainman Ramex Random House Rap A Lot 2K Records Rap A Lot Virgin Catalog Rap-A-Lot Rap-A-Lot 2K Records Rap-A-Lot dist. Catalog Rap-a-lot Distributed Rap-A-Lot Virgin Catalog Rasheeda Rawkus Entertainment Rawkus Records RAY BOLTZ MUSIC Ray Boltz Spindust Razor & Tie Razor & Tie Direct Razor & Tie Label Razor Sharp RB Entertainment RCA Records RCA Records Nashville RCA Special Products RCA Victor RCC Records Re: Think Real Music Real World - Catalog Real World Records Rebel Records Rebound Records Red Ant Red Boy Records RED Dance/Epic RED Dance/Sony Japan Red Hot Organization RED Ink/ATC RED Ink/Epic RED Ink/Pias RED Ink/SMI –Belguium RED Ink/SMI Two Tier RED Ink/Trust Kill Red Seal Red Sky Entertainment Red Star Refuge Records Reincarnate Music Rejoice Relapse Records Rendezvous Reprise Reserved Resound Respek Records Restless Records Reunion Reville (Nashville Star) Rhino Rhino Classical Rhino P&D Rhino Records Rhino Video Rhino Video/ Rhino Rhino/Warner Bros. Rhino-Sire Rhyme Syndicate Catalog Rhythm Safari RICA Songs For Life Rick Rubin Entertainment Rifkind Entertainment Right Minded Records Rising Tide Nashville Risky Business Riverbend Riverside RMM RMM Records Roadrunner Records Inc. Robbins Entertainment Roc A Fella Catalog Roc La Familia Roc-A-Fella Records Roc-A-Fella Shawn C Roc-A-Fella Video Rocket Records Rocketown Records Rockstar Games Rockview Records Rodven Rodven (Intl) Rodven/Prodiscos Rodven/Quality Rec Rodven/Tejano Discos Rodven/United Prod Ron Smith Rough Ryders Records Rough Trade Rounder Rowdy Records Diary of a Mad Black Woman RPM / Legacy RPM/ Columbia Ruff Ryders Ruffhouse Ruffhouse Records/ Ovum Ruffhouse Records/ Roc-A-Bloc Ruffnation Music Rufftown Ent. Rust Records Ruthless Records RX Records Ryan & Joey, Inc. RykoDisc SAI Records Saja Records Sambora Samplers Sanctuary Savoy Savoy Jazz Savoy Label Group Scratchie S-Curve Records - Capitol S-Curve Records - EMI S-Curve Records Capitol S-Curve Records Catalog S-Curve Records Distributed S-Curve Records EMI S-Curve Records Virgin S-Curve(1) Records Distributed Sea Creatures Sea Records Seaview Secret Mountain Secret Sun Recordings Sega Seiko Matsuda Seismic Records Selah SEON Serca Music Serjical Strike
Copyright ©2003 Recording Industry Association of America.
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 Wednesday, October 26, 2005 Sound recording2003 The Canadian sound recording industry experienced its worst financial performance in six years in 2003 in the wake of bleak sales, declining new releases and a huge drop in profits.
In total, Canadian labels reported just over $708.7 million in revenue from the sale of recordings. This was 17.7% below the level in 2000 and 20.5% below the peak in 1998. It was a hard year for Canadian artists whose sales plunged 20.0% between 2000 and 2003 to just under $110.4 million. Despite this decline, however, their share of the market remained stable at roughly 16%. That is because sales by foreign artists fell 17.3% to about $598.4 million. Rock and popular music genres were still by far the most popular. But their share of the market dropped as consumer tastes shifted slightly to classical, country, jazz and blues.
Smaller record labels, that may produce as little as a single release, tend to enter and leave the market rapidly. The sound recording industry consisted of 300 recording companies in 2003, down from 331 in 2000. Recording companies issued 5,619 new releases in 2003, down from 6,654 in 2000. Of the total in 2003, only 904 belonged to Canadian artists, the first time in over five years that their output fell below the 1,000 mark. Total employment in the industry fell from 3,305 people in 2000 to just over 3,000 in 2003. Companies cut mostly full-time staff and increased the number of freelancers. Combined salaries, benefits and freelance fees declined 8.5% to $153.5 million.
Company profits combined totalled only $30.5 million in 2003, less than one-fifth of the level just three years earlier. Their combined profit margin fell from 11.9% to 2.6%. Not all news gloomy: Music-themed DVDs growingNot all the news was gloomy. While sales of recordings spiralled downward, record labels sold music-themed DVDs in growing numbers. Sales of music-themed DVDs and videos, such as those of concerts, far more than doubled between 2000 and 2003. Even so, total sales of these DVDs and videos accounted for only 4.5% of total revenue, so their impact on the industry was minimal. However, it is one example of future revenue streams that record labels may be able to pursue. Downloading songs as ring-tones for cellular phones may also be a future revenue source, as could royalties from music used in video games. Canadian-controlled companies hang inForeign-controlled companies continued to dominate the sound recording industry in Canada in 2003, accounting for about 85% of total sales. These companies had net sales of just over $600.0 million, while Canadian-controlled firms had net sales of $108.7 million. Sales of music declined for the industry as a whole. However, Canadian-controlled firms suffered smaller declines in sales than their foreign-controlled counterparts, mostly due to their sales of Canadian artists' recordings. Sales by Canadian-controlled firms of all artists' recordings fell only 3.1% between 2000 and 2003, compared with a 19.9% decline for foreign-controlled firms.
Sales of Canadian artists' recordings released by foreign-controlled companies, however, took a downturn in 2003. Foreign-controlled companies sold only $44.2 million worth of recordings by Canadian artists, accounting for 40% of all sales by Canadian artists in 2003. Meanwhile, Canadian-controlled companies sold $66.1 million worth of recordings, increasing their share of the market of Canadian artist sales from 46% in 2000 to 60% in 2003. Organizational and structural changes resulted in increased revenues, expenses and employment among Canadian-controlled firms. On the other hand, foreign-controlled firms faced large lay-offs. Between 2000 and 2003, their work force fell by about one-fifth. Canadian-controlled firms continued to rely on freelancers as a source of labour. They employed 1,434, with just under half of them full time. Both Canadian- and foreign-controlled firms ended up with a similar bottom line: much lower profits and decidedly lower profit margins. In fact, Canadian-controlled firms were left with almost no profit margin (0.5%) compared with a profit margin of 7.1% in 2000. The profit margin for foreign-controlled firms also fell, from 12.7% to 3.2%. Sales of rock and popular music in slumpBetween 1998 and 2000, music sales in Canada fell 3.4%. But in the subsequent three-year period between 2000 and 2003, they fell at a much faster pace of 17.7%. This overall decline in sales raises questions about factors such as illegal file downloads and swapping song files. Other possible factors in the decline include competition for the consumer's entertainment dollar from an array of media, ranging from computer games to movies to cell phones. According to the Survey of Household Spending, Canadian households on average spent almost $464 on rental of cablevision and satellite services in 2003, but just $118 on pre-recorded audio and video cassette tapes, compact discs and DVDs. The decline in music sales had a particularly hard impact on rock and popular recordings, which progressively lost market share during the six-year period. In 1998, rock and popular music accounted for 73% of total music sales. By 2003, this proportion had dropped to 67%. Companies sold $472.7 million worth of popular music and rock recordings in 2003, but this represented a 24.1% decline from 2000. During the same period, other categories increased their market share, in particular classical and related music, jazz and blues and country and folk music. Sales of classical recordings totalled $55.6 million in 2003, up 5.8% from 2000, while sales of country and folk recordings jumped 9.1% to $47.9 million. Sales of children's music rose 6.9% to $13.9 million, the smallest of all categories. Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3115. Selected data from the Sound Recording Survey are now available online in table format in Sound Recording: Data Tables (87F0008XIE, free). Special tabulations are available on a cost-recovery basis. For more information, or for enquiries on the concepts, methods and data quality of this release, contact Client Services (1-800-307-3382; 613-951-7608; fax: 613-951-9040; cult.tourstats@statcan.ca), Culture Statistics Program, Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics. |
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