Checklist for Starting Your Own Label

Okay, these are the factors making it an opportune time to start growing your own indie label. But opportunity alone does not equal success. As mentioned at the start of this chapter, great music, business smarts, and a load of perseverance are also required. Do you have what it takes? Check it out.

• Great Music. Don’t even think of starting a label without great music. This may be your own music or that of bands and songwriters you know. Just be sure you’ve gotten enough feedback to know you’re onto something special. How do you get this feedback? Ask! Get input from at least ten people you respect on what makes you or your artists different from others. Write a summary of the best original qualities, and try to think of ways you can enhance them. Originality is an all-important key to success. Look for it, and when you find it, nurture it.
• Business Smarts. Starting your own indie label is probably the ultimate entrepreneurial venture and, as such, demands a good amount of business know-how. Any skills you can acquire in project planning, bookkeeping, marketing, product development, writing, contract negotiation, and office management will go a long way toward insuring your label’s success. Organizations like the Small Business Administration can be very helpful to young business start-ups in need of resources and information (see chapter 4).
  
  Apart from the music, money will be the most important ingredient in launching your label. Some start their labels on a shoestring and end up very successful. But most ventures will require a minimum capital outlay of $3,000 to $10,000. Anything less and you’re shooting yourself in the foot before the race begins. Banks and investors will be reluctant to capitalize such a risky venture but a well-thought-out business plan (and a good credit rating!) could make the difference in garnering the support you’ll need. If you’re a woman or a minority your chances of obtaining a loan are much greater. Look into grant opportunities too. A lot of grant money goes unclaimed each year and your chances are as good as anyone else’s.
  
  As a one-man or one-woman record company executive, you should be prepared at the beginning to wear a lot of different hats. Take stock of your strengths and weaknesses, and those of any partners you may have. Starting your company will be the easy part. Keeping it going will require long days and even longer nights. It will mean learning how to be a self-starter, taking risks, being creative, being calm amidst chaos, and taking responsibility for your actions and decisions.
  
  It’s the rare artist who can function alone effectively as businessperson without some conflict with their creative side. This is because the very qualities that make one the most sought after writer, producer, or musician may spell difficulties when applied to running a business. This is not to imply that business cannot be conducted creatively. It can and it should be. It simply means that the artist needs to strike a balance between the two, and should perhaps consider teaming up with a partner who can contribute those skills with which the artist needs help. If at all possible, the roles each individual will play should be clearly defined in advance with as little ambiguity or overlap as possible (see sidebar for some partnership guidelines).
• Perseverance. If you’re planning on starting your own record label you will hopefully be thinking long-term. Overnight success is extremely rare in this business. Persistence and holding onto your unique vision are the golden keys that will often unlock future rewards.
  
  It’s important to remember that artists who are currently charting and labels that are “suddenly” news have usually been plying their respective trades a long time without fanfare. Joseph Brooks could have given up after the song he believed in was rejected three times, twenty times, fifty times, a hundred and thirteen times! It was only on the hundred and fourteenth attempt that a music publisher saw his song’s hit potential and “You Light Up My Life” went to #1 on the pop charts in 1977, earned a Grammy award, and made Joe Brooks a multimillionaire.
  
  Brian Epstein had a vision, but every record company in Britain, save one, passed on the Beatles. He stuck to it, picked himself up after each rejection, and finally landed a deal with an EMI subsidiary. The rest is history. Persistence and vision are the energizing factors common to both.
  
  Trend-analyst John Naisbett’s book, Global Paradox, has a provocative subtitle that has some relevance to this topic: “The Bigger the World Economy, the More Powerful its Smallest Players.” Our world has become friendlier to small business. The climate is right. With the right combination of talent, information, and energy, you too can become a powerful player in an industry dependent on small companies for tomorrow’s sounds.

Further Resources

Naisbett, John. Global Paradox: The Bigger the World Economy, the More Powerful its Smallest Players. New York: William Morrow & Co., 1994.

Sweeney, Tim and Mark Geller. Guide to Releasing Independent Records. New York: Prentice Hall Trade, 1998.

Rappaport, Diane. How to Make & Sell Your Own Recording. Jerome Hedlands Press, 1999.

Schreiber, Norman. The Ultimate Guide to Independent Record Labels & Artists. Pharos Books, 1992