Chord Records

Have you ever dreamed of starting your own record label independently with no major label distribution. We'll now you can since we are in the the digital age of music. Major record companies are scrambling trying to catch up with the internet, but this leaves a great opportunity for you the music entrepreneur. Ok, so where do you start when you have decided to run your own record label?

1. Come up with a catchy name for your own record label and find an inexpensive graphic designer to design an upscale looking logo for you. Go to Google and search after other record label logos and start there. Remember this is your brand and identity for your own record label so make sure it looks professional so an artist will want to sign with you.

2. Set up your business structure for your own record label, are you going to be a LLC., Inc., or you can simply go down to your local city hall and file for a DBA license for your own record label.

3. Find a great artist with great music to represent. This can be the tricky part because like sports you can't teach speed, its the same with the music industry either you have a good ear for music or you don't. When signing an artist to your label always get an entertainment lawyer to review your contracts and make sure the artist you are signing has a great single and a great album ready to promote. I don't advise paying for studio time if your budget is low it's ideal to sign an artist with their own production capabilities so they may just hand-in their project to send to the distributor. Also, let your artist know upfront your financial situation to avoid what I call the "Daddy" syndrome many artist have. What that means is when an artist signs with your record label they now believe it is your responsibility to take care of them and all their financial needs, this is a recipe for disaster so let them know upfront your financial situation, or give them a small advance upfront and let them know this is all the label can afford to pay you until the record sells.

4. The contract, is very important and when I sign an artist I usually will put out two singles and give them a two album deal with 3 option periods. What is an "option renewal period"? An option renewal means that if the artist's music doesn't sell the way the record label wants then the label has the right to keep the artist or drop him from the label. This is important because what if the artist sells BIG and a major label wants to pull them away from you, you have those option periods this will lock in the artist, and the major label will have to negotiate with you and can't steal your artist.

5. Distribution: Distributing an artist in the old days was very expensive because a label had to pay upfront for the manufacturer to press up say 100,000 or more CDs to be shipped out to retailers before the release date. NOT ANYMORE! Everything is digital now CDs are obsolete. Usually Mp3's and wav files are sent to digital distributors like Itunes or rhapsody. You can usually find a digital distributor that will handle all this for your and pay you 90% to 100% royalties via paypal every 30 days. When doing digital distribution it usually takes 6-8 weeks for your album to reach all the digital stores so plan your release accordingly.