Loading ...So You Want to Own a Record Company…….
If you have ever questioned the wisdom of record companies you are not alone. If you wonder why they sign the bands they do and not the ones you like – join the rest of us in the Indie movement. Major labels operate on a bottom line rules basis most of the time so they sign the bands they can mold and focus group into hit makers. It’s way more about the money than the talent. But hey, it’s business and that is the way with most businesses these days. The shareholders come before the product or the employees in the decision making process.
That was why the indie movement was born. Not waiting for a major label to discover them, Indie musicians went ahead and made their own cds to sell directly to fans and bypass the whole corporate structure of the Music business. Most bands either signed with very small labels or created their own. They pressed their own cds and sold them at gigs or through their own websites or cdbaby. The good part of this is their music was their own presented the way they wanted to present it without some record company producer changing everything around to put his own mark on the music. It also made for a grassroots loyalty among fans that no record company could ever create.
But there are some things the deep pockets of a record company can do. Promotion and distribution can really move sales. If no one had heard of you or if they can’t find you in record stores you lose sales. The first thing you need is promotion. Indie bands can do their own promotion but it is expensive. To raise money for promotion indie bands have to think outside the box – luckily that is something they already do.
One band in particular has a great way to raise money for a PR campaign. They have set up their own record company and are offering their fans a chance to be a part of it. The band is the Celt rock band Ceann and this venture is called Prophet Eater Records. Fans and other interested parties can donate to the company and thus become A & R reps. That is almost like owning your own record company but with none of the hassles. They are offering special perks to everyone who donates.
I think this is a great idea. It gives fans of Indie bangs a way to push their band to the next level. Hardwork on the part of the band can only take them so far. At some point they need real promotion to further their careers. For more info about this please go to http://www.propheteater.com/ I hope something like this can become the wave of the future for Indie bands and I wish Ceann the best of luck in this.
Ceann has played at the rowdier – er finer venues and even at Steelers games. We featured them in a post last week. If you haven’t heard them before listen to their music and then go check out Prophet Eaters Records at the link above.
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