5 ms·

Anyone know how much it costs to start a small indie record label? Or how much capital existing ones started with?

by stevenj 15y ago

jamesbritt 15y ago
That's a good question. Depends on what a record label is supposed to do. Some things that come to mind: Curation, publicity, managing (if not actually providing) distribution of recorded material. Seems an MVP of a record label could start with next to nothing if you know how to promote on the cheap. A more involved label might front a musician the cost of pressing physical material (CDs, vinyl) , maybe arrange tours (for those so inclined). Maybe help hire a decent producer when needed. Anyone here work with or for, or own, a label?
- tyler_ball 15y ago
  I'm by no means an expert but I know that most record labels begin as partnerships or individual endeavours. They start with one or two releases from either their own band or friends. Sub Pop and Electra Records[1] are great examples of this. I have a friend who's putting together a vinyl compilation of some bands he's shot videos for and I think he's able to do a small pressing for under $1000 including mastering the recordings and sleeve printing. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektra_Records http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektra_Records
- elektronaut 15y ago
  I'm in the process of starting one, mainly for the purpose of publishing my own band. What you need is an artist, a distributor and a handful of cash. A record label is in the business of creating and marketing the actual product, and the minimum cost is the price of pressing and shipping the records. The label might also front the money for recording, mixing, mastering, and hiring a designer to do the artwork. Booking, management and live promotion is usually a separate business area, but with indie music you'll often find bands, labels and promotion overlapping quite a bit. The tricky part is of course getting your product in the hands of your customers. Selling them online is one option, but if you want to get the records into stores, you really need to partner with one or more distributors. They take a percentage of the price (20% is a good number), and have established channels for promoting, selling and shipping the product. We're doing the first release on a shoestring budget. We've recorded and mixed everything ourselves, and traded services with a designer and photographer. I haven't gotten a quote from the pressing plant yet, but I've budgeted $500 for professional mastering and around $2000 for the first run of 500 12" records. CDs are alot cheaper (about half, I think). We need to sell around half to break even, Add in the costs for professional recording, mixing, artwork and promotion, subtract the money for the artist and the margin for the distributor and record store, and you'll see that you'll have to sell ALOT of records to make a decent profit. A couple of thousand unit solds is a big success for a small artist. Bigger labels will invest in artists expecting that most of the releases will be losing money, hoping to score a hit once in a while that will turn a profit. Starting an indie label in 2011 is not exactly a brilliant career move unless you're exceptionally savvy, but it's a fun and not too expensive hobby.
Jgrubb 15y ago
There's a million ways to skin that cat. In my own humble opinion, the very least someone could do for an artist and call themselves a label is to print up the physical product and/or help the artist negotiate the details of the distribution of the digital product. You can print up 1,000 on DiscMakers for a little over $1,000 last I looked, and only "labels" are allowed to put stuff on iTunes (last I looked). Of course, most bands could afford the cost of printing, it's the process and cost of marketing that most bands don't have. That's the main attraction of a label of almost any size these days.
- elektronaut 15y ago
  Usually, you don't work with Apple directly unless you're a sizeable label. There's a number of services that will publish your music on iTunes and other online stores. I've used TuneCore (which costs about $50/year per album), CD Baby also does this.
  - Jgrubb 15y ago
    so you're the other musician on HN, eh? Nice to meet you. I know of some very small labels that have their catalogs on iTunes. Perhaps it's more a function of how long they've been around or the stature of their artists or just having connections at iTunes. I've never personally used either TuneCore or CDBaby, but my impression has always been that those are outlets for DIY artists and you wouldn't need a "label" to get you on there.
    - elektronaut 15y ago
      Heh, same, I'm betting there's lots more on here. CD Baby in particular is very geared towards DIY artists, with the whole physical distribution deal. They will also market your music. TuneCore focuses solely on being a mediator between an artist or a label and the online music stores, which is great if you're doing digital-only releases or handling your physical releases through a proper distribution channel. They have big name users like Nine Inch Nails and Aretha Franklin. I've gotten the impression that most music labels here in Norway handle their digital distribution through Phonofile[1], who have deals with the major international online retailers plus a few scandinavian ones. The amount of artists who are self-releasing is rapidly growing as the tools become available, and I'm excited to see which business models will emerge. The future of the music industry is in investment, marketing and management. The idea of treating it like manufacturing and selling of goods will die along with the CD. [1] http://www.phonofile.com/ http://www.phonofile.com/

Anyone know how much it costs to start a small indie record label? Or how much capital existing ones started with?

by stevenj 15y ago

Anyone know how much it costs to start a small indie record label? Or how much capital existing ones started with?

That's a good question. Depends on what a record label is supposed to do. Some things that come to mind: Curation, publicity, managing (if not actually providing) distribution of recorded material. Seems an MVP of a record label could start with next to nothing if you know how to promote on the cheap. A more involved label might front a musician the cost of pressing physical material (CDs, vinyl) , maybe arrange tours (for those so inclined). Maybe help hire a decent producer when needed. Anyone here work with or for, or own, a label?

tyler_ball 15y ago
I'm by no means an expert but I know that most record labels begin as partnerships or individual endeavours. They start with one or two releases from either their own band or friends. Sub Pop and Electra Records[1] are great examples of this. I have a friend who's putting together a vinyl compilation of some bands he's shot videos for and I think he's able to do a small pressing for under $1000 including mastering the recordings and sleeve printing. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektra_Records http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elektra_Records
elektronaut 15y ago
I'm in the process of starting one, mainly for the purpose of publishing my own band. What you need is an artist, a distributor and a handful of cash. A record label is in the business of creating and marketing the actual product, and the minimum cost is the price of pressing and shipping the records. The label might also front the money for recording, mixing, mastering, and hiring a designer to do the artwork. Booking, management and live promotion is usually a separate business area, but with indie music you'll often find bands, labels and promotion overlapping quite a bit. The tricky part is of course getting your product in the hands of your customers. Selling them online is one option, but if you want to get the records into stores, you really need to partner with one or more distributors. They take a percentage of the price (20% is a good number), and have established channels for promoting, selling and shipping the product. We're doing the first release on a shoestring budget. We've recorded and mixed everything ourselves, and traded services with a designer and photographer. I haven't gotten a quote from the pressing plant yet, but I've budgeted $500 for professional mastering and around $2000 for the first run of 500 12" records. CDs are alot cheaper (about half, I think). We need to sell around half to break even, Add in the costs for professional recording, mixing, artwork and promotion, subtract the money for the artist and the margin for the distributor and record store, and you'll see that you'll have to sell ALOT of records to make a decent profit. A couple of thousand unit solds is a big success for a small artist. Bigger labels will invest in artists expecting that most of the releases will be losing money, hoping to score a hit once in a while that will turn a profit. Starting an indie label in 2011 is not exactly a brilliant career move unless you're exceptionally savvy, but it's a fun and not too expensive hobby.

Jgrubb 15y ago

There's a million ways to skin that cat. In my own humble opinion, the very least someone could do for an artist and call themselves a label is to print up the physical product and/or help the artist negotiate the details of the distribution of the digital product. You can print up 1,000 on DiscMakers for a little over $1,000 last I looked, and only "labels" are allowed to put stuff on iTunes (last I looked). Of course, most bands could afford the cost of printing, it's the process and cost of marketing that most bands don't have. That's the main attraction of a label of almost any size these days.

elektronaut 15y ago
Usually, you don't work with Apple directly unless you're a sizeable label. There's a number of services that will publish your music on iTunes and other online stores. I've used TuneCore (which costs about $50/year per album), CD Baby also does this.
- Jgrubb 15y ago
  so you're the other musician on HN, eh? Nice to meet you. I know of some very small labels that have their catalogs on iTunes. Perhaps it's more a function of how long they've been around or the stature of their artists or just having connections at iTunes. I've never personally used either TuneCore or CDBaby, but my impression has always been that those are outlets for DIY artists and you wouldn't need a "label" to get you on there.
  - elektronaut 15y ago
    Heh, same, I'm betting there's lots more on here. CD Baby in particular is very geared towards DIY artists, with the whole physical distribution deal. They will also market your music. TuneCore focuses solely on being a mediator between an artist or a label and the online music stores, which is great if you're doing digital-only releases or handling your physical releases through a proper distribution channel. They have big name users like Nine Inch Nails and Aretha Franklin. I've gotten the impression that most music labels here in Norway handle their digital distribution through Phonofile[1], who have deals with the major international online retailers plus a few scandinavian ones. The amount of artists who are self-releasing is rapidly growing as the tools become available, and I'm excited to see which business models will emerge. The future of the music industry is in investment, marketing and management. The idea of treating it like manufacturing and selling of goods will die along with the CD. [1] http://www.phonofile.com/ http://www.phonofile.com/