How some crappy labels (owners) think?

[::BLM::]

Exposure on digit astal sales is hugely overrated btw. Vinyl gets you heaps more attention to be honest, while in digital you drown inteo the massive pools of releases that come at you every day.

There are a ton of releases for sure, but from a producers point of view if you get a release in the top 10 of Beatport you will get some gigs out of it. Look at that Maya Jane Coles for a huge example of this.. All hype came from Beatport and now she is everywhere including a new RA mix. I'm certain that I dont get as many gigs as i would like to because my music does not sell well in the digital world. I find anything thats a bit deeper then normal (dont like to say it, but more underground) doesnt sell so great on the digital sites.

Bet nobody can name me a new artist that came through and is playing out each weekend that releases only on vinyl? There are plenty in the digital world, that just do digital only releases. This argument of vinyl gets better promotion for the artist is dead now. Maybe before, but now I find it doesnt matter. The people playing vinyl are well in the minority now, I cant remember the last time I went out and someone other then me played vinyl. All the promoters in London other then Sud and few others play off digital formats, so unless you release on this format they will miss you.

[LouisVee]

What I meant is that if you release vinyl only, you will in a way punish everybody who trully support your label by downloading legally your tracks.

I used to be a hardcore 100% vinyl dj, but not anymore. And I don't want to be penalised because of thiefs!

[::BLM::]

I agree with you. Fans are fans.. Who cares what format its on.

[PsyTox]

. All the promoters in London other then Sud and few others play off digital formats, so unless you release on this format they will miss you.

Well, most big names in our genre get the promo files anyway, and we're not in London, if I can believe my stats, we sell mostly digital in USA and vinyl in Germany. as I said, I'm not going to abandon digital, but just give vinyl maximum priority again. It's not like we make tons of money, so the advantage is of course that we can experiment with what fits best for us. So far, for us it seems that vinyl works best for us, and if I see that friends of us sell +1000 vinyls before they even think of putting downloads up, I guess it's worth exploring.

And as far as gigs go: we throw gigs ourselves (starting a monthly club night soon, summer festivals, the works) so I guess that gets exposure for mr and miss artist too. I believe that this is where labels are moving towards anyway: not just a place to release music, but a complete package of release, promotion and gigs/bookings to offer the artist. And it's fun

[::BLM::]

who sells 1000+ vinyl? We Play House? Thats only some of them, not all. Plus that label has a lot of hype around it, so no point in comparing a hyped label with a non hyped. Patrice Scott sold 600 on our label, but on his own he sells a lot more. People buy into labels and this is exactly what has happened with WPH.

And as far as gigs go: we throw gigs ourselves (starting a monthly club night soon, summer festivals, the works) so I guess that gets exposure for mr and miss artist too. I believe that this is where labels are moving towards anyway: not just a place to release music, but a complete package of release, promotion and gigs/bookings to offer the artist. And it's fun

Yep, this was said the other day. More money for the label too if they are looking after the bookings, which can be pumped back into promotion for the artist.

[PsyTox]

oh, but if I sell 300 I'm already happy, I'm even making money at that point. So, in my mind it's already mission completed.
So I figure, when I reach that point I can indeed release it digitally, as it doens't matter anymore.

But if I release it digital and vinylized on the same moment, I end up with 100 vinyls unsold and the music plastered all over the net and digital sales of close to nothing.

Of the two, I prefer the first But feel free to disagree, I can only say how I see it.

If I would sell as much vinyl as WPH, well, I guess I'd be throwing parties every week

[::BLM::]

Have you been selling less then 300 vinyl then? Why do you think that is? Since we moved from Intergroove our sales have increased so much. We were selling 300-400 and now we do 600-800.

[steevio]

personally i believe in collectivism and co-creation and taking business out of the equation.
one of the best ways you could get exposure, gigs, networking for gigs abroad in the UK right now is to play at Freerotation, which is non-profit making. it is only a modest sized party, but the effect its had on promoting underground artists is increadible.

this year we start our fairtrade booking agency, where 100% of fees goes to the artist. as a promoter i find booking agents to be a real pain in the arse, i'm not going to go into the details of why that is, but i book everyone for Freerotation directly and i manage to handle all the arrangements including flights and transport for 60 artists without breaking sweat, but when we used to deal with agents it was an absolute shambles.

because i promote a popular event, i get hundreds of emails every day from booking agents, and as far as i'm concerned its spam, i never read a single one. as a promoter you know exactly who you want to book, and in the age of the internet it should not be difficult to get in touch with an artist without someone taking 15% for the privilege, and bumping up the fee.

i think labels should provide booking facilities free of charge as part of their service to the artist. its not a difficult job, alot of it can be automated.
i would never dream of taking money from an artist for getting him gigs.

his gigs are promoting your label.

collectivism is the way forward for underground music.