5 ms·

I don’t get why artists even use record labels anymore. Is there something that Facebook/YouTube/iTunes etc doesn’t provide?

jseban 4y ago
Yes, a team of professional composers who call themselves "producers" who will "make suggestions" for how to change your songs from having potential, to being actually high quality music.
theflyinghorse 4y ago
Upfront funding to get you going. Recording, traveling, promoting all costs money. We're getting better with cheaper tools, and cheaper promotion platforms (tiktok and all), but still there is a need for capital
- dragontamer 4y ago
  >> The singer Halsey put up a TikTok last week complaining about her label’s obsession with TikTok. “I have a song I love I wanna release ASAP,” she told fans on the platform, “but my record label won’t let me. I’ve been in this industry for eight years and I’ve sold over 165 million records, and my record company is saying that I can’t release it unless they can fake a viral moment on TikTok.” ------- The article is talking about how Record Labels are no longer doing upfront funding. The artist has to become a viral sensation on TikTok __BEFORE__ the record labels put up the money for them.
  - octodog 4y ago
    That doesn't make sense. Halsey is already signed. She doesn't need the capital or really even the label any more. But at one point she did - so she signed away those rights and the record label is holding it over her right now.
  - ushakov 4y ago
    Oliver Tree told the same thing on a number of podcasts on YouTube they’re not gonna let him make an album unless he reaches a million followers on instagram and then changed this number to 6 million he just accidentally made a hit song “Life goes on” and only then was he allowed to make the next album
  - wombatpm 4y ago
    Authenticity. Once you can fake that you’ll really go places
latchkey 4y ago
It is a lot more complex than it seems from the outside. If you want to play a live show somewhere big (reach the most fans, sell merch and earn the big bucks), Live Nation owns the venue. Live Nation is Clear Channel and Ticket Master. Live Nation also owns radio, where your show would be advertised. The big labels all have deals with Live Nation. It is all super super shady.
- KevinGlass 4y ago
  If you're a popular enough artist you can still get to big venues, even on important dates. Vulfpeck, an independent funk band, played a sold out show at Madison Square Garden with no label and no manager and that was in 2019. Things are slowly changing.
- aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
  Who wants to build a competitor?
  - s5300 4y ago
    The entity you’re trying to compete against has enough money & reach to have your body dissolved in acid & dumped in the Mariana Trench within a few hours if they so feel. The incentive to do so as well. If you’re not already part of the family, your chances of successfully competing against is nil
  - latchkey 4y ago
    Competitor to what, Live Nation? It is a wide range of different businesses. There is nothing to compete with since you're competing with everything. Any time something infringes on one of their areas, they just buy it or put it out of business. Them being a global company makes it impossible to even get started. Case in point, check out Insomniac... Insomniac produces some of the most innovative, immersive music festivals and events in the world. Enhanced by state-of-the-art lighting, pyrotechnics and sound design, large-scale art installations, theatrical performers and next generation special effects, our events captivate the senses and inspire a unique level of fan interaction. The quality of the Headliner experience is our top priority. Insomniac produces 10,000 concerts, club nights and festivals for seven million attendees annually across the globe. Since its inception, Insomniac's events have taken place in 13 countries across five continents. The company's premiere annual event, Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas, is the world’s largest dance music festival and attracts more than 525,000 fans over three days. The company was founded by Pasquale Rotella and has been based in Los Angeles since it was formed in 1993. Little do they tell you... "In 2013, Insomniac entered into a creative partnership with Live Nation." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insomniac_(promoter) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insomniac_(promoter) Such a close creative partnership that LN hosts the jobs page for Insomniac... for example... https://livenation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/InsomniacExternalSite/job/Calabasas-CA-USA/Insomniac---Software-Engineer_JR-42798-3 https://livenation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/InsomniacExternalSi... If your record label isn't in cahoots with these guys, you aren't playing anywhere public. There is nothing that YouTube and TikTok can do to help you there...
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
VWWHFSfQ 4y ago
Facebook/YouTube/iTunes doesn't give your band a $200,000 advance and fund a tour schedule across the USA eastern seaboard.
- batiudrami 4y ago
  Perhaps they should rebrand to “angel investors”
- onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
  Record labels don't do that either unless you're already massively successful.
ruuda 4y ago
Renting a studio, musicians, engineers, etc.
imstate 4y ago
Yes, - Marketing - Industry Connections - Cashflow The majority of the modern Musician's job is marketing through social media. A label helps to alleviate that burden.
chiefalchemist 4y ago
I hate to parse words but the article isn't about artists. It's about pop stars. Corporate puppets. Literally, tools of the trade. Who gets the massive streams for the next release? It doesn't matter to label. That's the nature of pop music. There's always the next big thing right behind the current big thing, which pushed out what is not the last big thing. Artists? Artists don't play these type of games.
- skinnymuch 4y ago
  Edit: now that I skimmed the article, I overall agree with you.
bsder 4y ago
Money. It's neat that your song went viral on TikTok, but that didn't get you any dosh. So, your band just went mega-viral and you need to do a tour. How do you get Ticketmaster to call you back so you can book venues bigger than 100 people? "I just want to release songs" is great. Just release songs. Easy. Ah, but I see you want to release songs and actually not starve while doing so. That's a completely different problem. So, what are you willing to trade for that?
alar44 4y ago
You realize you can't just show up to a big venue with your gear and start playing right? It's like wondering why famousactor$ doesn't just make his own movies. Behind every artist there's like 1000 people behind the scenes making it all work.
shellfishgene 4y ago
I mean, it even goes the other way: I recently talked to someone who works for an "influencer agency", not sure what the proper term is. They sign up YouTube creators who have done everything themselves and became quite successful on their own. But they apparenlty see value in the agency managing their ad contracts, advising with video production, doing promotion, finding new topics to cover, and give them a good cut of their revenue. Sure, they probably don't sign over the rights to their content (or do they?), but it's a similar arrangement I think.
nikanj 4y ago
The label pays (via cash, favors, festival tickets, etc) for Spotify / radio stations / ads / tv-shows etc etc to play your song. Discoverability is a huge issue, more songs get made every year. How do you recon the ”Hot new artists” list on Spotify is created? There’s a ton of deals, payments and polics behind it - and getting placed on a list can make/break a career.

jseban 4y ago

Yes, a team of professional composers who call themselves "producers" who will "make suggestions" for how to change your songs from having potential, to being actually high quality music.

theflyinghorse 4y ago

Upfront funding to get you going. Recording, traveling, promoting all costs money. We're getting better with cheaper tools, and cheaper promotion platforms (tiktok and all), but still there is a need for capital

dragontamer 4y ago
>> The singer Halsey put up a TikTok last week complaining about her label’s obsession with TikTok. “I have a song I love I wanna release ASAP,” she told fans on the platform, “but my record label won’t let me. I’ve been in this industry for eight years and I’ve sold over 165 million records, and my record company is saying that I can’t release it unless they can fake a viral moment on TikTok.” ------- The article is talking about how Record Labels are no longer doing upfront funding. The artist has to become a viral sensation on TikTok __BEFORE__ the record labels put up the money for them.
- octodog 4y ago
  That doesn't make sense. Halsey is already signed. She doesn't need the capital or really even the label any more. But at one point she did - so she signed away those rights and the record label is holding it over her right now.
- ushakov 4y ago
  Oliver Tree told the same thing on a number of podcasts on YouTube they’re not gonna let him make an album unless he reaches a million followers on instagram and then changed this number to 6 million he just accidentally made a hit song “Life goes on” and only then was he allowed to make the next album
- wombatpm 4y ago
  Authenticity. Once you can fake that you’ll really go places

latchkey 4y ago

It is a lot more complex than it seems from the outside. If you want to play a live show somewhere big (reach the most fans, sell merch and earn the big bucks), Live Nation owns the venue. Live Nation is Clear Channel and Ticket Master. Live Nation also owns radio, where your show would be advertised. The big labels all have deals with Live Nation. It is all super super shady.

KevinGlass 4y ago
If you're a popular enough artist you can still get to big venues, even on important dates. Vulfpeck, an independent funk band, played a sold out show at Madison Square Garden with no label and no manager and that was in 2019. Things are slowly changing.
aaaaaaaaata 4y ago
Who wants to build a competitor?
- s5300 4y ago
  The entity you’re trying to compete against has enough money & reach to have your body dissolved in acid & dumped in the Mariana Trench within a few hours if they so feel. The incentive to do so as well. If you’re not already part of the family, your chances of successfully competing against is nil
- latchkey 4y ago
  Competitor to what, Live Nation? It is a wide range of different businesses. There is nothing to compete with since you're competing with everything. Any time something infringes on one of their areas, they just buy it or put it out of business. Them being a global company makes it impossible to even get started. Case in point, check out Insomniac... Insomniac produces some of the most innovative, immersive music festivals and events in the world. Enhanced by state-of-the-art lighting, pyrotechnics and sound design, large-scale art installations, theatrical performers and next generation special effects, our events captivate the senses and inspire a unique level of fan interaction. The quality of the Headliner experience is our top priority. Insomniac produces 10,000 concerts, club nights and festivals for seven million attendees annually across the globe. Since its inception, Insomniac's events have taken place in 13 countries across five continents. The company's premiere annual event, Electric Daisy Carnival Las Vegas, is the world’s largest dance music festival and attracts more than 525,000 fans over three days. The company was founded by Pasquale Rotella and has been based in Los Angeles since it was formed in 1993. Little do they tell you... "In 2013, Insomniac entered into a creative partnership with Live Nation." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insomniac_(promoter) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insomniac_(promoter) Such a close creative partnership that LN hosts the jobs page for Insomniac... for example... https://livenation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/InsomniacExternalSite/job/Calabasas-CA-USA/Insomniac---Software-Engineer_JR-42798-3 https://livenation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/InsomniacExternalSi... If your record label isn't in cahoots with these guys, you aren't playing anywhere public. There is nothing that YouTube and TikTok can do to help you there...

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

VWWHFSfQ 4y ago

Facebook/YouTube/iTunes doesn't give your band a $200,000 advance and fund a tour schedule across the USA eastern seaboard.

batiudrami 4y ago
Perhaps they should rebrand to “angel investors”
onlyrealcuzzo 4y ago
Record labels don't do that either unless you're already massively successful.

ruuda 4y ago

Renting a studio, musicians, engineers, etc.

imstate 4y ago

Yes, - Marketing - Industry Connections - Cashflow The majority of the modern Musician's job is marketing through social media. A label helps to alleviate that burden.

chiefalchemist 4y ago

I hate to parse words but the article isn't about artists. It's about pop stars. Corporate puppets. Literally, tools of the trade. Who gets the massive streams for the next release? It doesn't matter to label. That's the nature of pop music. There's always the next big thing right behind the current big thing, which pushed out what is not the last big thing. Artists? Artists don't play these type of games.

skinnymuch 4y ago
Edit: now that I skimmed the article, I overall agree with you.

bsder 4y ago

Money. It's neat that your song went viral on TikTok, but that didn't get you any dosh. So, your band just went mega-viral and you need to do a tour. How do you get Ticketmaster to call you back so you can book venues bigger than 100 people? "I just want to release songs" is great. Just release songs. Easy. Ah, but I see you want to release songs and actually not starve while doing so. That's a completely different problem. So, what are you willing to trade for that?

alar44 4y ago

You realize you can't just show up to a big venue with your gear and start playing right? It's like wondering why famousactor$ doesn't just make his own movies. Behind every artist there's like 1000 people behind the scenes making it all work.

shellfishgene 4y ago

I mean, it even goes the other way: I recently talked to someone who works for an "influencer agency", not sure what the proper term is. They sign up YouTube creators who have done everything themselves and became quite successful on their own. But they apparenlty see value in the agency managing their ad contracts, advising with video production, doing promotion, finding new topics to cover, and give them a good cut of their revenue. Sure, they probably don't sign over the rights to their content (or do they?), but it's a similar arrangement I think.

nikanj 4y ago

The label pays (via cash, favors, festival tickets, etc) for Spotify / radio stations / ads / tv-shows etc etc to play your song. Discoverability is a huge issue, more songs get made every year. How do you recon the ”Hot new artists” list on Spotify is created? There’s a ton of deals, payments and polics behind it - and getting placed on a list can make/break a career.