Guitarhacker
Read Danny's reply in this thread...post #13 http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2717531
Distribution is expensive when it's done right. If it was as simple and inexpensive as hiring a company for under $100 to "distribute" worldwide..... everyone would be in on it.
I'm sure they offer a legit service but on the other hand, record labels are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on just one MAJOR artist who is known. Certainly, a record label doesn't just throw money away on their own distribution channels...... do they?
My thought is this: If you have something worth distributing, there is a label somewhere who will sign you and like Danny pointed out, they pick up the tab.
without a label, as a totally independent musician, it is still possible to make a very comfortable living selling your music..... but you must be pro-active in creating the buzz, creating a demand for your music, and finding ways to get the product into the hands and Ipods of the fans.
Pomplamoose is one group that has done this very well. http://www.youtube.com/wa...amp;feature=plpp_video
they created the market and sold to it. even landed a car commercial as a result. read their story.
Hi Herb
Thanks for mentioning that 'other' thread.
I had read Danny's excellent contribution to that thread "Making Money out of Music' (a question people have been asking for over a century) and the sad reality is; due to the nature of the beast (Music Business) = being 'truly' successful regardless if artists/writers are signed to a major, indie or straight-out self-released under their own LLC publishing/label name is no easy feat; no easy feat being an understatement....
Sadly I know of many incredibly talented artists/writers (friends) who lost just about everything for reasons such as;
(1) extremely stressful and long hours involved which led them to dangerous drug habits and eventually led to divorce; marriage breakdown.
(2) got themselves in so much debt they lost everything including a breakdown of their marriage (divorce).
I'm talking about truly gifted ((very talented)) artists/writers who poured an enormous amount of their time and work,
who have collected music awards and
who were all signed to a label. Point is; not all artists/writers go on to be 'truly' successful and as the old saying goes; it takes more than talent.
That is the sad reality. At the end of the term a lot of artists/writers probably would have made more money in less hours with far less stress as; a sales manager working 40 hours a week in a department store.
I did mention earlier on in this thread (and in other similar topics/threads), in regards to self-released indie artists; it's very important to have very good
marketing plans (and other strategies such as; perform live), professional artists who have been performing live for many years but are unsigned and/or run their own indie label can also have good 'connections'. There are ways to build up relationships 'connections' in all areas of the music business but it takes time, effort and having a good sense/knowledge of business relationship skills. The trade off for that effort; the artists/writers have more control and can work around 'their' schedule and it's like that old saying;
teach a person how to fish and you have fed them for a lifetime. You simply can't release an album then sit back all comfy and cosey hoping for the best because there are literally thousands of new releases every week thanks to great advancements in technology and the Internet which has made it all so convenient and easy for literally 'anyone' to release an album =
Over-Saturation of the music scene to the point of madness; competition is incredibly fierce and ruthless.
Of course most labels especially the majors have connections AND backing ($$$) but not all artists/writers signed get that sort of support 'entirely' compared to other fellow artists and is why you only see a fraction of artists/writers that may appear to go on to become truly successful. So the question remains; at the end of their term success does not necessarily mean contentment in life such as; family; marriage; love; all things that money can't buy!
The first thing artists/writers should ask themselves before diving into the Music Business is; do you truly believe in your writing and musicianship skills and are you prepared to be on-call 24/7 and work extremely hard for hours on end to the point that you might very rarely have the time to spend with your family?.
Look at past greats; famous artists such as; Buddy Holly, Jim Morrison, Sid Vicious, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, Michael Jackson, just to name a few who all died young and then understand the enormous pressures (stress) and oh well I guess you know what I mean!
Anyway, sorry for the rant!
There is a boat load of talent on these forums who pour a lot of time, money and effort into their craft; I truly wish them all great success!
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