Setting up and running a record label is a dream business venture for many musicians and creative entrepreneurs. Independent music is a fast-growing sector of the industry with massive potential for the future, but many budding music moguls simply don’t know how to start a record label and run it as a successful business.
The essentials of starting an independent record label
First of all, it’s important to draw up an achievable business plan, setting out the goals you want to achieve during a specific time period, whether that’s signing a certain number of artists, putting on a series of shows or generating revenue through merchandising or other potential streams.
To get your label off the ground, you’ll need official registration as a limited company. You’ll also need to arrange business banking so you can manage your finances effectively. It’s important to secure a web domain for your label too, in order to give your company a professional and legitimate online profile.
Creating legally-binding contracts and signing new artists is the most complicated and expensive aspect of starting and running record label as a business. Essential contracts can range from Sound Recording Licenses, Merchandising Agreements and 360 Deals, to Management Agreements, Artist Development and Synchronization Licenses, each with their own unique purpose and implications. Hiring lawyers to write these contracts for you can be incredibly costly, but there is another option designed to make it much easier and more affordable to run an independent label.
The record label of the future
Setting up and managing the many aspects of a new record label can be complicated and often expensive. There is, however, an innovative way to fast-track these crucial first steps and kick-start a career in the music business as a record label owner, without an in-depth knowledge of business management. It’s called Record Label in a Box.
Record Label in a Box is the brainchild of brothers and business partners Lee and Matt Parsons, CEOs of Ditto Music, one of the world’s leading independent music distributors. Launched earlier this year in the USA, UK and Australia, it’s already helped over 1000 people establish and run their own record label as a business.
Described by The Times newspaper as “A one-stop shop for musicians and budding record label moguls”, Record Label in a Box is a unique package containing everything you need to set up and run a successful record label, so you easily can start signing artists, releasing music and running promotional campaigns, helping aspiring label owners get down to business straight away.
From company registration and business banking, to website set-up and contract creation, everything is pre-arranged for you. Ditto Music spent a year with a legal team creating artist-friendly contracts that can be easily customized and amended using an innovative Contract Wizard, giving Record Label in a Box owners a head-start in the music industry.
Not only does Record Label in a Box offer all of the basics when it comes to starting a new label, but owners will also have access to a personalised online management suite, where they can monitor and manage their earnings with advanced royalty software, discover invaluable promotional opportunities and access a personal networking calendar highlighting to important local, national and international music events and opportunities.
Making your record label a success
While Record Label in a Box offers everything needed to officially set up and effectively run a record label, it’s down to the owner to make their business a success.
The most important practice when running an up-and-coming label is networking. As a label owner, you’ll need to make influential contacts, establishing connections with promoters, festival organisers, artist managers, musicians, tastemakers and other music industry figures in order to get the word out about your artists, generate hype around your releases and start making a real impact across the music world.
Ditto Music and Record Label in a Box can provide the tools and advice you’ll need to start making waves in the industry, but it’s down to you to make the most of them and take control of your own career if you’re to turn your start-up into a successful and profitable record label.
