Things to Watch When Signing with a Label

Most musicians often feel that getting signed by or being offered a recording deal should be their ultimate goal. While getting a record deal is a great achievement for a band, a contract can lead to many bad things the band never foresaw or wanted.

These days a recording contract is nothing more than a big advance of money to be recouped by the recording company through sales of your product. If it doesn’t sell to expectation you still have to pay the money back somehow. Music companies are a business and they are there to make money not lose it. It is no different than going to a bank and getting a loan to market your music your self, except the recording companies have the methods to make the product sell, get airplay and distribute the product throughout the country or even the world. Recording companies loan you the money to make the music and get their money back by distributing it. Typically artists make a small fraction on CDs- most of the money comes through merchandise and tours.

If you can find a company who believes in the music and is just not into the business, that is great but keep in mind it is a business. They may try to change your sound in order to make it sell or kick band members out if it doesn’t it with a certain look.

A band gets a contract, gets some cash advanced for recording. The songs are recorded and completed but the record company shelves your act and you never sees the light of day but you cant take your product anywhere else because you are already signed. If you decide to play any live gigs or use any of the music you recorded, you have to give money to the recording company.

Many times after you record a song the company will change them around to make it fit with the label’s style and sound. You wanted to make a rock album but you got pop. You went from grunge to rap. But since the company owns your music they have the right to do that.

Beware the big advance of money, to make and promote your music. If it doesn’t sell you will have to pay the money back, with interest, just like the banks. How do you pay it back? Live gigs, touring, radio shows, shopping centres etc for the next ten years. How do all those artists who make millions of dollars end up bankrupt? All the bills they didn’t know they had to pay. They had so much fun, they never watched where the money was going. Read the fine print so you don’t end up like MC Hammer.

Increasingly recording companies are trying to cross media any act in anyway they can. They will market you anyway they can, and they will get you to do things to increase your and their exposure any way they can. You may end up on dog food commercial, on big brother or, god forbid, on Australian Idol. Many recording companies are just offshoots of the big media groups who control TV, radio, music, and the print media, and they will market you anyway they see fit to re-coup their investment in you. Most musicians have a short shelf life so companies want to maximize their profit now before the public listens to the next big thing. (Weve all heard of the sophomore slump!)

Remember that the music business is 95% business and 5% music. Try to go independent if you can, market yourself on the web and build your own presence in the world. The more successful you are in the beginning the more bargaining power you have with the recording companies. If you do get an offer, get a good lawyer. You don’t want to waste five years in piano bars.