The Pursuit of a Record Deal

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Do  you want a successful, stable and rewarding music career?  Would you like to know exactly what record  companies, producers, and management companies are looking for when seeking out  new artists?  There are many great  musicians who are not able to build a successful music career because they do  not know what it is these companies want from them.   You  probably already know that record labels, producers, entertainment lawyers, and  managers seek artists who have a lot more to offer than talent alone.
 What they want from you is a “total package”  which includes many things, but the two main factors are: adding more value (in  terms of money and/or opportunity), and reducing potential downside risks to  the music company. I  am going to tell you more about these two elements of value and risk in this  article.
Record  labels, managers, and successful bands, are looking for artists who think in  terms of mutual benefit.  You must think  in this way before any company in the music business will want to work with you  and invest their money and resources into your career.
 Imagine you are in a band, trying to get a  record contract.  Obviously you know what  YOU want from this deal (access to the record company’s resources that will be  used to propel your career forward, attract new fans, sell more records, make  more money, go on tours, etc.) But have you thought about what THE COMPANY  wants (besides the obvious)? Imagine for a moment that you are the president of a record label.
 Would you take $250,000 of your money and invest it into a band  that is good and has marketable songs???   I don’t know about you, but I certainly wouldn’t do this, UNTIL AND  UNLESS it was clear to me that my investment into the band will not be a waste of money, and will bring back substantial  returns.  It’s highly unlikely that a  $250,000 record company budget will be enough to take a band anywhere  significant if that band is ‘only’ a good band with marketable songs.
It’s  going to take a lot more than good talent and good marketable songs to get the  type of serious commitment and investment from a label which is needed to  advance your band’s future over the long term. It takes a partnership (not  merely a contract and a budget) to make this happen.What about  you? Do you  have what the music industry is looking for in professional musicians?  Take  this survey and find out if you can become a successful business partner of any  music business company.
Here are  a few things you need to think about when approaching any company in the music  business:Key mindsets you need to acquire: Here  Is How These Mindsets Help You: The  good music business people expect you to know how the music industry functions  BEFORE they begin to work with you.  They  get tired of answering basic questions about how things work.
 While the companies could teach you these  fundamentals, they would prefer for you to learn them yourself.  The reason they want this is because it saves  THEM time (and resources).
These  music companies prefer not to waste their time teaching you about the music  industry, general business, mental attitudes, image, stage presence, logistics,  etc.  At first glance, this may seem like  an inconvenience for you, but it isn’t.
  It is in YOUR interest to see these resources spent on promoting your  career, helping you sell records, tour the world, attract more fans, make more  money etc.  If instead, a big chunk of  money and time was spent on teaching you what you should already know, who do  you think loses the most?  YOU do!  This is because the company’s resources  SHOULD be spent on helping you achieve what you could not do on your own (and  learning the fundamentals of the business is not one of them).
Let’s  say that your band was put on tour by a record company, but the management  believes that your band does not know how to conduct yourselves on and off  stage. They will require you to be coached in these areas (and believe me, they  WILL).
 If rehearsals take an additional  week (at the rate of thousands of dollars per day), then money will be spent on  this new expense instead of being invested into other aspects of your tour,  record and career.  Remember, this extra  money will need to be paid back to the company FIRST before your band sees any  profits from the tour OR your record (yes your label will require to be  recouped for all expenses).
Many  new bands feel a sense of ‘entitlement’ and think it is the tour manager’s job  to coach the band how to conduct themselves on and off stage. This, as already  discussed, costs the band and the label a lot of money.
However, when you see  yourself in a win-win partnership with the label, then you know that it is in  everyone’s best interest to take the initiative to prepare yourself in all  possible ways before money is spent. If you are not prepared beforehand, you  are creating a higher investment risk for the company you work with!   Here are  the most important things to remember from this article: Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com .