Getting signed...

[Apex Beat]

Whats the process? Do you get paid on contract or does it go on how many of the track are sold? Does it cost you anything? Not got any plans for releases though lol, just wondering. Also, when you send them the finished track, do they remaster it? If so, I assume they give it to a professional, I dont think obviously you can send them a horrid production and they make it into the next number one, but to what extent to they er, make it better - if at all? Cheers.

[Patrick DSP]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/general/getsignedp01.shtml

some helpful hits.

[Komplex]

Whats the process? Do you get paid on contract or does it go on how many of the track are sold? Does it cost you anything? Not got any plans for releases though lol, just wondering. Also, when you send them the finished track, do they remaster it? If so, I assume they give it to a professional, I dont think obviously you can send them a horrid production and they make it into the next number one, but to what extent to they er, make it better - if at all? Cheers.

there basically are no rules except for the ones people make for their own labels... so you'd probably have to get in contact with the label you're interested in and find out how they want to do it...

[eyes without a face]

doesnt really work in the old fashioned "were gonna sign u up to our label exclusively" way..... more often than not its friends with labels or label owners u get to know thru gigging, or sending demos or links out, hookin up with them and working things out....

as for payment, haha, well, not everyone pays these days for a record release, which is another debate altogether i think.... really depends on the label, the amount being pressed, the market for release (for those doing non-techno, or other electronic, releases)...

i think the level of payment recieved/requested/offered differs from person to person, on both a personal relationship and business levels... eg doing records for a friends label where payment isnt really an issue is different from doing a record for a say a bigger label who may just come in and say "we wud like an ep, we can pay so much advance etc"

tis a funny one

[tocsin]

Whats the process? Do you get paid on contract or does it go on how many of the track are sold? Does it cost you anything? Not got any plans for releases though lol, just wondering. Also, when you send them the finished track, do they remaster it? If so, I assume they give it to a professional, I dont think obviously you can send them a horrid production and they make it into the next number one, but to what extent to they er, make it better - if at all? Cheers.

Everything varies. But, you are always paid based on sales. Only difference is you might get an "advance" against predicted sales. It's doubtful that any small labels will be dumping a lot of money into a mastering process. However, the track will go through some mastering to make it palatable for vinyl.

[eyes without a face]

not strictly true re payment against sales, i know guys with labels who have made one-off payments for an ep and artists who've asked for a one off payment depending on their current financial situations.... things are alot more flexible with things such as that these days what with the ever-growing amount of labels and relationships between label owners and artists...

re mastering well that depends on the label and what cutting house they use, and the engineer of course... alot use Curvepusher for Lauries expertise, correct me if im wrong....

[Apex Beat]

What do curvepusher do exactly? Can you send them say a 5minute track and get it pressed to vinyl? Or just remastered for vinyl? What about getting the record distributed? In a few years, I'd quite like to set up my own lable you see...

[Ritzi Lee]

What do curvepusher do exactly? Can you send them say a 5minute track and get it pressed to vinyl? Or just remastered for vinyl? What about getting the record distributed? In a few years, I'd quite like to set up my own lable you see...

if you want to start a label, first thing you need to do is to find a distro;
before you even think about mastering / pressing records... it saves money anyway if you don't want to loose some.

present your pre-mastered tracks on CD.
Setup a nice PR text for your new label.
And go on and promote your stuff at distro's.
If you approach a distro, do it in a personal way.
Try to find the right person.

When you're in, you know what to do.