Beepster
I've never done this myself due to never totally believing in my material. I'm doing it this time when my new album is done though. These little indy deals I've had since 1999 have been really good...but it's time to see if I really have it or not so I can retire and fade into the abyss gracefully knowing I tried with no regrets of any kind. :)
Best of luck, man. You deserve it... but don't retire. There are too many sweet licks to be played. ;-)
And that is definitely a solid plan. I'd like to take a course in entertainment law so I can sort things out on my own when need be but I'd definitely want a real lawyer with real contacts when and if I ever take the big leap. Gotta get a decent catalog together first though. You seem to have that covered and you certainly aren't lacking talent. You're gonna OWN shiz, dude!
\m/
Haha you're too kind, thanks Beeps. Well, time will tell. I've always had the connections, I just never had stuff that I felt would do anything major. Not that I have that now really, but there comes a time where if you believe in something enough, and the time is right, you have to throw all caution to the wind. At the end of the day, if I fail, I still have my Indy deals to fall back on which still pay the bills quite well.
At the end of the day, no matter who you are or how you get noticed, you'll need an entertainment lawyer to land the deal and finalize everything with a label. Why not go into it that way? The cool thing is, they bypass all the middle-men and A&R guys. They go right to the president of the label and say "I'm Fed-Exing this package....play it as soon as you get it." That there, is worth the price of the retainer fee because let me tell ya, getting your stuff to a major to where someone that IS someone will actually listen to it, is 90% of the battle really. This is why they always say "no unsolicited material accepted". You go through an attorney or someone with credible connections, or you don't do it at all.
We all owe ourselves the chance in my opinion. I figure it this way...I've been heavily involved in music since my first wedding band I played in at 11 years old. If I lost 5k as a retainer fee and the attorney couldn't get me a deal, I think I'm worth that investment. I'd probably even try it again with another attorney if I failed. There comes a time of course where you need to know "When to say when" but, I'm sure I'll know when that time is. :) I've done the work on my end...it's in Gods hands now...and of course the hands of the attorney and record labels. LOL! :) Thanks man.
-Danny