How to make a label?

[rob sparx]

register releases with the MCPS to

lol like any small label is going to pay MCPS ppl are lucky to get an advance these days that dissapears if MCPS get their greasy hand on your money sit on it for 2 years then give it back to you minus an admin charge for doing....fuk all!

well they should! any label that isn't paying MCPS are cowboys, they clearly are not concerned about their artists interests and i'd fuck them off and release with someone more professional.

I do this full time so I know how things work in the real world - do you really think small labels are going to want to pay hundred of £ out on a tune before its even been made? And what do you think artists would rather have, a small advance or to see that small advance going to MCPS instead of themselves as smaller labels usually can't affford to pay both. Its a different story if all your music comes out on larger labels who routinely pay MCPS but many of those labels will make you sign with their publisher anyway so whether you are a member of MCPS or not is irrelevant as a non member will still collect MCPS via the publisher. Also given how little sales are these days its likely that a lot of your income will sit with MCPS for years which makes it impossible to get enough money to work as a fulltime producer unless you are writing cheese (which I doubt many people on this forum are going to want to do).

I'm just trying to make ppl aware of the potential problems they can face by joining MCPS and also the potential problems labels can have when an artist who has released loads of tunes on their label and been paid fairly joins MCPS or a publisher and retrospectively collects their MCPS thereby bankrupting the label! Don't you see the problem? A label wants to pay their artists 50% of profit (standard agreement) whether MCPS is involved or not so if they have already paid that to the artist and the artist years later wants a whole load more money then its actually the artist that is ripping off the label as the label would never have paid them as much money in the 1st place had they known MCPS would be involved.

fair enough.

i do it full time too, although i got on the MCPS straight away so there wasn't any retrospective collecting of monies.

hadn't heard of the whole 'label being hit for 10 releases in one go' thing - but i was always under the impression that pressing plants would refuse to cut if you didn't have proof of MCPS?

still though, i've released on over 20 labels over the years and in my experience, the ones who don't pay MCPS have been the same ones who tell you your track did 500 less than it did, or that they spent 300 on promotion for a run of 1000....

Pressing plants wont press if the artist is a member of MCPS and has informed them of the release but if the artist isn't a member then there is no fee. People I work with are perfectly happy to pay MCPS but I've chosen not to join as its a choice between getting advances or paying the fee.

[rob sparx]

Hope we haven't put 'whoami' off starting a label

lol I don't think its a good idea to start your own label unless you've got some releases under your belt from other labels first and you have enough links to do a decent job promoting the label.

[planetmu]

MCPS are wankers.

[rob sparx]

MCPS are wankers.

Glad u guys think so too shows its not just the small fish this problem affects! BTW would love to do some stuff on your label at some point got some seriously deep beats on the go let me know if your interested.

[s.t. holdings]

Contary to what has been said earlier in this thread S.T. Holdings take any new label that has good tunes, has a plan and is organised.

Re MCPS: Any label, distributor or pressing plant with any credibility will adhere to the need for relevant copyright licenses to be in place.

MCPS are not to be feared. They are more than willing to advise and assist artists & labels on how things should be done. For instance if your an artist releasing your own tracks on your own label, set up an exclusion.

[abZ]

Contary to what has been said earlier in this thread S.T. Holdings take any new label that has good tunes, has a plan and is organised.

Re MCPS: Any label, distributor or pressing plant with any credibility will adhere to the need for relevant copyright licenses to be in place.

MCPS are not to be feared. They are more than willing to advise and assist artists & labels on how things should be done. For instance if your an artist releasing your own tracks on your own label, set up an exclusion.

I was told the same about Beatport but they accepted me. You may be hearing from me some time next year!

[abZ]

Hope we haven't put 'whoami' off starting a label

lol I don't think its a good idea to start your own label unless you've got some releases under your belt from other labels first and you have enough links to do a decent job promoting the label.

Only if you plan on making yourself the main artist. I know a few label owners that don't even produce and I actually think in some ways they have an advantage. Mostly because they have more time to concentrate on promoting rather than spending days in the lab.

[faun2500]

Get good songs.

Get an idea of label name/logo/artwork/ and basically a game plan.

Take it all to a distributor.


You don't do mastering (for vinyl anyway) pressing/promotion etc.. untill you got the distribution. Then you get a release schedule planned and the artwork made.

[hpuk]

Sausage Tunnel Records

Waste of a post. Not even funny. Why don't you give us a break with your attempt at wit and post something constructive for a change.

I dunno .... i snickered

[WhoAmI - NXT Records]

alright gameplan:

Artwork done.
Tunes done.

1. Bell distro like nu-urban + STholdings
Tell them i am paying for the pressing and mastering and that they shud have a listen.
2. Get em mastered at Transition
3. Press
4. Agree release dates with distro for adequate promo time
5. Promote to shops and sites
6. Move onto next release.

NXT001

WhoAmI?
a. Looneys
Apathesis
aa. Looneys Remix

Am I missing anything?

[WhoAmI - NXT Records]

It seems i am not missing anything.

Time to promote!
See you in the underground.