*2* My Profitable Proposal For Those that Can Think In The FAST LANE *2*

[PopEmersen]

Why in the world is this 4 pages long?

 

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[hedgehog757]

Why would you want to close this thread? it started out a little ridiculous but it has some interesting points from people who have made it. Maybe others can learn a little from it.

 

[x9vjzs098u123rnl]

As a record label owner who's bootstrapped his company with a team of 3 other college students for almost a year now, I'm incredibly skeptical.

Having "performance technology" is not going to make your company successful. Maybe it'll make you feel a little cooler DJings parties for a couple friends, but it's not going to land you big festival appearances or thousands of fans. SEO is not going to grow your record label's reach. When people want to find new music, they don't do a search for "dubstep music" so they can see what there is to download. The music business is a relationship business: word of mouth, live shows, relationship building, and treating your fans well are the most important things. SEO software and performance technology won't help any of those (except actually executing those live shows, but booking them is the hard part)

Artists don't need record labels any more, they can do a lot of things on their own. What are you offering them that they can't get on their own? I know I could answer that question from my company's perspective, but it's an answer you'll need to come up with for your label individually.

What need in the MUSIC marketplace are you filling? What are you going to give consumers that Skrillex's label (OWSLA) or Dim Mak or Fool's Gold or Ultra or whatever else is out there ISN'T giving? How are you unique?

What's your business model like- how many revenue streams do you plan on having and what are they (because you will need A LOT)? How will you price your offerings and through what channels will you distribute them? Do you know the entire legal side of the business- from publishing (are you registered with BMI, or ASCAP? SESAC maybe?), to contracts, to sampling laws? What does your promotional calendar look like for a new release?

I'm asking you all of these questions and pointing these things out because I wish somebody had told me I needed to think about those things first. I jumped in head first, made some mistakes and failed to make a profit for almost a year, but thank god- with the help of some mentors/advisors/teachers who AREN'T in the music industry, I started to stop thinking that record labels were some exception to the things that make startups successful or the Fastlane Laws, and start thinking like everybody else.

You are not special.

Stop dreaming of getting famous and DJing to crowds of thousands, and start figuring out how you're gonna convince people that have BitTorrent one click away to pay you for music.

 

[Vigilante]

I speak for many on the forum when I say that the next person to bump this thread is going to get a swift kick to the nutsack.

 

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[CommonCents]

[video=youtube;gNiEp8xSzQY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNiEp8xSzQY[/video]


It's B-RAD from Malibu

 

[yaleinnovator]

As a record label owner who's bootstrapped his company with a team of 3 other college students for almost a year now, I'm incredibly skeptical.

Having "performance technology" is not going to make your company successful. Maybe it'll make you feel a little cooler DJings parties for a couple friends, but it's not going to land you big festival appearances or thousands of fans. SEO is not going to grow your record label's reach. When people want to find new music, they don't do a search for "dubstep music" so they can see what there is to download. The music business is a relationship business: word of mouth, live shows, relationship building, and treating your fans well are the most important things. SEO software and performance technology won't help any of those (except actually executing those live shows, but booking them is the hard part)

Artists don't need record labels any more, they can do a lot of things on their own. What are you offering them that they can't get on their own? I know I could answer that question from my company's perspective, but it's an answer you'll need to come up with for your label individually.

What need in the MUSIC marketplace are you filling? What are you going to give consumers that Skrillex's label (OWSLA) or Dim Mak or Fool's Gold or Ultra or whatever else is out there ISN'T giving? How are you unique?

What's your business model like- how many revenue streams do you plan on having and what are they (because you will need A LOT)? How will you price your offerings and through what channels will you distribute them? Do you know the entire legal side of the business- from publishing (are you registered with BMI, or ASCAP? SESAC maybe?), to contracts, to sampling laws? What does your promotional calendar look like for a new release?

I'm asking you all of these questions and pointing these things out because I wish somebody had told me I needed to think about those things first. I jumped in head first, made some mistakes and failed to make a profit for almost a year, but thank god- with the help of some mentors/advisors/teachers who AREN'T in the music industry, I started to stop thinking that record labels were some exception to the things that make startups successful or the Fastlane Laws, and start thinking like everybody else.

You are not special.

Stop dreaming of getting famous and DJing to crowds of thousands, and start figuring out how you're gonna convince people that have BitTorrent one click away to pay you for music.

You'll see for yourself.

 

[CommonCents]

B-RAD must be out executing and earning the money he needs, good for him!

 

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[Kak]

B-RAD must be out executing and earning the money he needs, good for him!

More likely passed out with a crack pipe in his hand.