/biz/ - Business & Finance

IDK would /mu/ be a better place to ask for getting money or is it just music snobbery? I haven't been there in a couple of months.

>>24882585
good luck OP, hope you can find success doing what you enjoy

>>24882634
/mu/ is mostly just listeners, and the occasional "music industry vet" who tries to give me his backhanded advice.

>>24882681
Thanks, anon!

>>24882585
let me listen to your tunes OP

/mu/ would be a better guide. All the best man

Idk man we don't actually know how business works here but good luck OP, buy some chainlink after you sell some shit

>>24882585
i make music and im looking to release some stuff, mind sharing what exactly 'starting a record label' entails? thx

>>24882585
get your shit on bandcamp

>>24882737
>>24882816
Here you go, anons.

https://arouralrecords.bandcamp.com/album/music-for-vending-machines-1-2

>>24882585
This is waaaay out of my field of knowledge. Only advice i can really offer, is to make sure you make a reasonable profit with the prices you're setting to make the whole endeavour worthwhile. Also, if there is further interest in your stuff then you need to try and make as much money as possible during this time frame, it may not last forever.

>>24882827
cool man i don't know anything about the music industry but good luck

>>24882827
Have I been trolled?

>>24882827
Yeah maybe work on some dynamics bro. Pads going on for 8 minutes...come on

>>24882793
I'll go into some detail for you, anon.
I basically started my label for multiple reasons;
> Just to have a sort of "name" and medium to release my work under
> To have a professional way to market my music and physical releases
> Being able to incorporate a business aspects into my music
> Building a fan base (focusing on one certain genre of music)

Those first two two are the main reasons why I started my label. Before this, I was a soundcloud streaming, no name artist. Now I've got multiple press releases, radio play, and (possibly) a physical distributor. I''m not saying I've "made it," but starting this label has been the best thing I've ever done for my music career. I won't lie to you, I also wanted to make some money off of my music. I lost my job at the start of March, and needed a way to make cash.

After sending out press kits for my first album, I immediately got some hits. All because I was now behind a label with a web presence, and not some random guy shilling his soundcloud profile. I made sure to present them in a professional way, and I sent fuck tons of emails, all over. I probably sent over 100 emails to different music blogs and reviews for that one release. I'll list what I did to "start" my label below;
> Created a website with a shop
> Registered as a business
> Started a bandcamp
> Created an email address using my labels name ("memorycolorlabel@gmail")
> Created press kits and spam emailed them out

Basically all you need to do is make yourself look presentable, and you'll start to make some progress. Hell, I even created some non-existent Japanese sound designer and added him to my album credits, all so it would look like I wasn't just doing it myself. Advertising is also very important, I recommend Instagram ads, as they reach a lot of people. I also even paid a popular ambient YouTube channel to post my music, which really helped with publicity. Try your hardest to get your music ANYWHERE you can, I hope this helps, anon.

>>24882827
woah this music is weird

>>24882827
oh shit I've seen you on /mu/ a few months ago! glad you're getting more successful.

>>24883021
Post your stuff

>>24883204
Thanks, I have some more contemporary stuff here if you'd like that more.

https://blrd.bandcamp.com/album/a-rose-garden-in-summer

>>24883228
Thanks, anon :)

Know nothing about the music industry but it seems like its a good sign, Why waste your time contacting someone if you have zero intention of buying their stock? Good luck op, hope you can make money doing what you love.

>>24883352
That's what I thought as well, thanks anon <3

Friend is a musician, comes to me for basic accounting/business help sometimes, so you're in luck.

"What are the chances he'll buy some of my CDs."

High. It depends entirely on how much you tell him the prices are, but I will say this much- the amount of physical product he'll order will be incredibly small, at least for a first order. Since the likelihood of anyone coming into his store being a fan of yours is near 0, there's no reason for him to believe a "fresh release" will garner much day-1 sales versus, say, a more established name. -If- you manage to sell decently well- and, ideally, he sold out your stock in a readonable timeframe- you should expect not only repeat sales for this record, but a good business relationship for any future material.

Now of course, the obvious question: "What should I say my price is?" I can't give a number because I have no idea what your costs are, but I can decently give a ratio: Between 2-3x the cost of each physical copy, including any shipping fees (though if you do build up a good relationship later, you can potentially negotiate future shipments to be paid by him/other businesses when going overseas). I would argue you should go towards the lower end because you seem emotionally invested in this deal, but do NOT go lower than double. "Exposure" is almost never worth it when it comes to retail, and businesses will A. Be suspicious and predisposed towards thinking your music is cheap and unsellable and B. Be less open to negotiations about future upticks if you were previously selling to them at near or, god forbid, below cost. Don't sell yourself short, kid.

If you have any other questions I'll try to answer before I pass out.

>>24883931
>>24883931
Thank you anon, I really appreciate it. I gave myself 20% of the production+shipping costs when I sent him my prices. I know that's probably pretty low, but if he's buying just a few, It's not a very big deal for me. I will be making money at least. Goodnight, and thanks for your advice friend.

>>24884002
If you already did it then there's nothing to be done, but I do sincerely hope it works out for you. You obviously are in this business for the experience more than the money, so as long as you're satisfied with yourself then all you need is enough to buy vittles. Try to remember what I said for other inquiries, and feel free to post an update whenever you get word back/sales. Know that somewhere, an anon is genuinely proud of you.

>>24884175
Appreciate it, anon. I've saved your advice on my desktop :D

>>24882758
Musician here. I've been on /mu/ a bunch over the years, starting from when I was a kid who didn't play any music up to now, as a singer + producer + keyboardist (not a real pianist but I know synths well), and they're really shit for music business stuff and general advice on how to advance as a musician due to the typical bullshit you see on 4chan communities that turn into generals and crap like that. It's a major autism fest and most people there exhibit shit attitudes, which obviously comes with the territory, but it gets worse than normal and just isn't healthy when you're trying to learn the business. If anything I would expect it to be less shit here where people who have business opinions but lack the same autism a "creative" would have from /mu/, is going to be a better discussion, even if it's only marginal. Just go to /prod/ or /guitar/ on /mu/ right now, the crowd looks mentally ill like the kinds of musicians and fans you see on any town's local indie music circuit. (Or at least, to me, /mu/ posters resemble the hippie weirdos who infest my town's indie scene that I play in). The shit they say is just really bad to think about all the time too, hence why I left it. It's like taking investment advice from /biz/, I'm sure someone is gonna have something good to say every now and again like the PRQ guy from yesterday, but it's hard to distinguish what's good from the autism without doing a lot of your own research anyway.

Sorry that I got off on a bit of a tangent there, but you get the idea.

>>24882585
You sound like a douche and a larper since the music industry got crippled. People aren’t touring and people aren’t buying music right now. Anyways, don’t think you made it because one shop might carry your music. That’s what’s supposed to happen as you network

Can you make them into NFT’s and sell them on rarable?

>>24884637
Personally, this is what I wanna look into doing

>>24884624
What the fuck are you even talking about? Take your meds.

>>24884624
bitter retard detected

>>24882827
Far out brah

>>24882827
good shit but the deliberate white noise on the first track is sort eh

>>24882585
Are you 60? Why are you even entertaining the idea of selling g CDs to little mom pop music shops? What year do you think this is?

Distribute your music online. Use Tunecore. 100% of your effort should be focused online. Forget press releases.

Social media (yt) + website + Tunecore/similar Distro service. Reach out to influencers. Buy shoutouts.

You’re going about this like a fucking grandma.

>>24882827
good luck anon

>>24882827
Pretty sick keep it up

>>24882585
>I even created some non-existent Japanese sound designer and added him to my album credits
What happens when the Japanese record store owner asks for an introduction?

>>24882585
>CDs

>>24887101
You idiots really think it’s the fucking 80s don’t you.

>>24884676
There is not much to it. You can set a price and a % on resale value. But surely there is more you can do around licensing use and publishing. Use the token as permission to allow users to reuse in art/advertising/BGM for YouTube videos

>>24887243
t. never been to Japan

>>24886067
Yes goy, ignore the physical, only engage with the abstract. Oh and definitely only do what everyone else is doing, that's the surest way to success. Idiot.

>>24887339
>thinks he can compete or gain traction going store to store peddling dead media
Stay broke faggot. Absolutely positively NGMI status.

>>24887306
Uh what?

>>24882585
keep your contract flexible if you don't have the bargaining power.
have sex.

>>24887462
Already did, mouthbreather. Don't worry - you'll be rewarded with a more comfortable wagecage soon.
And read the OPs posts more carefully next time, you'll see he's following up multiple avenues, not just muh dead media.

>>24883170
Congrats dude, this sounds great. Did you use submithub to reach out to blogs or did you do it manually? What does your press kit entail exactly? Also, at which point did you feel that your music was good enough to market it?

>>24883170
Based as fuck

I have already bought cvr token on token sale with great bonuses and you will stay poor without brains to understand why this will become brilliant