On quite a few occasions I get asked about how to get logos and artwork done for a record label.

Where I have been lucky enough to have found several good designers to do art jobs for me in the past, I know it could be difficult to get the right person to do the job quickly and professionally.

So, I made a video for you that gives you a quick overview of how to use 99Designs.com, a freelance website where you get to post a contest/job to get your logo or artwork design done for you.

Further below, I have listed the 5 step process that will help you get your artwork done.

1. Sign up for an account at 99Designs.com

2. When you have decided what you want designed, write a brief describing what the job/contest is and choose how mush you want to pay for the design. To have a successful contest, make your contest as appealing as possible to attract the best designers.

3. Over your specified time period, you should have received several designs submitted from designers all around the world.

4. During this time you can rate the submissions and provide detailed feedback. Stay involve in your contest, give praises where praises are due – and also remember to keep it detailed.

5. At the end of the contest period, you choose the design you like pay the contest winner (or the designer) and you get the design transfered over to you.

Go and check out 99Designs.com and view the other contests that are posted.

Please leave your comments, thoughts or questions below. It will be much appreciated.

I often get asked how to effectively network in the music industry. I get the feeling that a lot of people get their time wasted by meeting shady time wasters.

Believe you me, I’ve been there many times. But, how do you sort out the wheat from the chaff? You need to meet people, but how do you build up a network of reliable contacts without wasting your time and energy, while at the same time moving up to the next level?

Well, hopefully, I’ve answered that question for you in the video below.

I take you through the 3 ways that have worked well for me over the years in this 12:55 second video that spell out to your how I leverage:

1. Networking at gigs and shows
2. Networking at music conferences
3. ..And networking online using social media

Download the mp3 by right clicking and saving - Get Your Music Heard – 3 Ways How To Network Effectively (Audio mp3 version)

Please leave your comments and insights below.

How do I raise money for my record label? That is one of the most asked questions I get asked from someone starting out.

Well, below I have done a 11.55 minute video for you that will give you 5 ideas on where to start.

I cover bank loans, savings, P and D deals, larger label subsidiary, and tapping into arts councils.

I also tell you the pros and cons of each of the different methods.

DISCLAIMER: The content in the video is by no means to be taken as legal or accounting advice. You are old enough (or you should be) to seek the advice from a professional and make business decisions yourself.

I found an interesting article in the New York Times and it confirms what I have been saying for the past few years. As the music industry (or should I say entertainment industry) has changed or is still changing, file sharing, social media and the like has blown the doors right open for independent artitst, labels and bands to take creative control and power to live out their dreams, while not being reliant on the majors.

The opportunities are endless in these times, you just have to be creative and think out of the box and come up with new concepts for marketing and connecting to potential fans.

The internet has made it a level playing field with all the different social media networking sites, which could enable someone in their bedroom reach out and connect with thousands of people throughout the world with websites like Youtube, Facebook, Myspace, etc.

If you haven’t seen my previous post about the new music business model, you should. It will get your creative juices flowing.

A proposition got put to me the other day to start a new record label. And even though I haven’t said yes or no yet, my thoughts are that if I do, It will have to be a “internet record label”. Why? Because cost to do marketing can be kept lower than it was in the past and the potential reach is global and not just local.

Yep, I know labels and artists have been doing this for a while now, but with some creative thinking on how to rise above the noise of what everyone else and their dog is doing, I feel that with the right artist I could have a pretty good crack at it.

Tempting as it is, at the moment I have a lot on my plate, so I’ll get back to that!

Anyway, back to the article I read in the NYT. What it says to me is that artists are thinking that getting signed is not all they should aim for (unless you create a huge buzz around yourself before hand, selling your goods while opening and touring on the back of well established artists like what happened to Drake from Young Money), but that their are other ways to get funding to do things independently.

That’s another reason I wrote about and showed you a tool that will help you build a mailing list.

If you create “that” buzz around you, build up and communicate with your fan base on a regular bases, stack the odds in your favor ’till you have the choice of getting signed or getting sponsorship or even going it alone.

Rest assured, whatever choices you make, the future looks bright for indies.

Please leave your comments below to let me know your thoughts on this.

This is a 25:55 minute video that takes you though a free tool that will allow you to get a bit of code and insert it into your website, myspace page and a couple other social networking websites – and build a mailing list.

Watch the video below, as I give you an overview on how to signup and it’s features (please note the video may take a little while to upload – but it will be worth it)!:

The reason why you will do much worse than use a tool/service like this, is because you can either use it on the web, or at your shows.

What I also like about this tool is that you can import the contact details you collect directly into your account by uploading them from a csv file (or excel spreadsheet).

Click here for the link to the website Scriggleit.com

IMPORTANT NOTE: It has come to my attention to which I have to admit I missed the terms of service, but scriggleit.com isn’t entirely free. It states that in they offer a NON-FREE service as well as free services. The Scriggler fan data collection utility and the Scriggle Kit electronic press kit feature are free only up until the trial period has ended. After which your account will stop until you pay for the subscription, if you wish to continue.

To be quite honest, this is a lesson to always read the small print.

To read the terms of service click here.

Non the less, this is a valuable tool.

If you have any questions or thoughts about this, leave your comments below. Your feedback is always appreciated.

I’m going to write a quick post about the formation of record companies and protecting your label.

You may not be at this stage as yet, but, this information will be relevant to you in the future.

This is part of the reply I gave to one email I received regarding what is the simplest way to incorporate a label…

“..There are few ways to do this. If you just want to register your  company name you can go down to the appropriate office in your local county. Counties vary in their procedures as well as to how much they charge.

“Check in your local phone book under the listing for your local government offices. Often a business certificate is issued through  the county clerk’s office. Also, get an application for a business license, follow the instructions, fill in and pay the fee..”.

The above answer applies to the US. Similar for the UK, Canada and Australia, however, the rules differ slightly. And it is also the  more time consuming way to go about getting it done.

Use the resources below. They will have all the useful info you’ll  need. Plus, they can also incorperate your company up for you.

USA - Incorp.com
UK - UK-plc.net
Canada - Bdc-canada.com
Australia - Incorporator.com.au

Disclaimer: Please bare in mind, that you should also consult your accountant and lawyer regarding this matter.

If you would like to find out how to register you record label in a step by step way and more, click here to learn more.

This post is important when you are starting a record label. Reason is, you want to start off with as much of the *boring* stuff in place as possible. Non-the-less, you will need to have the following from the start as it will protect you and your record label.

So, lets get to it…

Are you ready to get noticed?  You don’t want to start without joining the right associations.  Making sure that you are connected on a world wide basis with your record label will provide you with more options for protecting your music and getting your music out there.

Look into the associations that will protect you as an artist and your record label.  For example, if you are in the US, you will want to have a membership with ASCAP or BMI, in the UK MCPS-PRS Alliance, Canada SOCAN or Australia with APRA-AMCOS.  These will give you performance and mechanical rights.

The above associations will protect the publishing and mechanical rights for you or your artist. It will also pay you royalties when someone purchases your music whether physical or download, online or offline and when you perform your *registered* songs live on stage.

Generally, ASCAP, BMI, MCPS-PRS, SOCAN and APRA-AMCOS are very helpful when you are looking for information. They will give you advice and contact details for all the associations that you need for when you register as a member.

If your budget is big enough or you can find the resources to make  promo videos, you will also want to join your country’s video licensing association. These types of associations organize the licensing and broadcasting of your promo videos on a worldwide basis when they are aired on the TV. This means that if a TV channel (terrestrial, cable or satellite) plays your video (say MTV), you will get a royalty fee for every time it is aired.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: Ask your legal representative to point you in the right direction for the relevant associations that you need to join*.

Join a good digital distribution company. Digital distribution companies work just like normal CD and record distributor companies, except they distribute online. You will need to have the relevant ISRC codes in place when registering your music with these distributors. The ISRC codes are obtained when you register your individual music tracks with your mechanical rights associations. The good thing about these online distributors is that they can get you world wide distribution for your songs.

You can also look into other country specific areas that work as associations to help and protect record labels.  These will allow you to get out there, stay protected and have a back up when you need it.

Stay tuned!  We will be bringing you more information on how to make your record business thrive!

To learn about how to start your record label and get it up and running, click here to get it step by step. Or post your comments below, please…

Here’s part 2 of Setting Up Your Company Structure:

This post will follow up from the last email, helping you to lay the foundations for your record labels success.

Recruiting Help

Once you start to run as a record company, you will realize that there is a lot of work to be done. It will continue as time goes by. Even if you could, you don’t have to do this alone.  Making sure that you set up an internal structure that works for you will allow you to have more man (or woman) power to help you or your company move in the direction that you want to proceed in.

There are many one person record labels that will choose to do everything alone when they are starting out.  However, if you are interested in having a working environment that helps you to meet full capacity, then you will need to approach the situation a little differently.

A good working environment that combines with a correct business structure should start with putting in place the legalities of working with others. Things such as payroll and partnerships should be defined through legal help or by setting agreements, contracts and working standards with others.  Make sure you seek advice from your legal representative and accountant before you reach to this point.

Once you have done this, you can recruit help or staff for your business.

Finding other musicians or like minded individuals who want to be a part of the deal or who are interested in becoming a part of your record label can help to take some of the burden off of your shoulders.  Dividing up tasks such as  admin, driver, coffee maker to engineering, mastering, pre-mixing and or recording, etc, will provide you with much needed help, so that you can concentrate on the parts of the business that you are good at, like making sure all the parts of your business is running like it is supposed to .  Going solo will mean having to wear many hats and could become very demanding.

Plan out exactly how you want your record company to be run and tell whoever works along side you to follow the company plans and goals. This will enable a professional working environment and will allow you to drive your label in the direction towards success.

If you missed part 1 of Setting Up Your Record Label Structure, you can catch up by going here.

Until the next time, stay tuned!

“How do I start a record label?” That is one of the most asked questions when someone comes up with the crazy idea that they would like to start selling their music.

That’s the question I had nearly 9 years ago. I had no experience in either setting up a business or even any experience about the music industry. I’m just a music fan.

I’m not a musician of any sort, nor could I write lyrics. As I mentioned before, I just like music. Sorry I mean “love” music.

So, when the idea of starting a record label came up I was weary and excited at the same time, as any one in their right mind can just imagine that selling music is not the most stable of career choices.

One of the many experiences I quickly learnt about starting a record label all those years ago was the spiraling costs of every thing you do. Especially when you’re just starting out. It was expensive to get a contract drawn up, expensive to book studio time, expensive to release a record and not to mention marketing costs (if you knew what you was doing).

And if you’re on a tight budget, you’ll start to wonder where all the money is going to come from to get you to be successful. Before you know it, you end up sounding like some hopeless dreamer that family and friends tell to get a “proper” career (God forbid)!

Now, I know many people juggle normal life with life as an artist quite well, but eventually something will have to give and ultimately one thing or another suffers.

So, what do you do? That is the million dollar/euro/pound question. What I did was segment my time between my day job and my time building my network of music industry links.

Yeah,I know, that might not suit everyone, but that is what worked for me.

Once you have go good handle on your time and you need to get some rest as also, you need to prioritize what it is you are trying to achieve – Are you doing this as a hobby, or do you want to get serious?

This, my friend is what I will leave you to think about for a minute.

At least until next time…..

Before you start selling your music or any of your labels merchandise, you have to realize that you are not only a musician, but also a company. I would say that making the music is 20% and the business side is 80%. Knowing exactly how to set yourself up as a company and having a company structure will allow you to get the most out of your record label.

Use the steps below as a guideline to help you get on your way:

• Have you registered as a business yet? The first step that you must take to building your company structure is registering with the government or relevant business registration organizations. When doing this, you will have different options for the type of business you will be running depending on what your budget is like and what you long term goals are. This will be defined by whether you have partners working with you or whether you want to pay taxes with a specific set-up. You can always use a consultant to assist you with this part or can find information on your government’s main website or business names registrations website for help and advice when trying to decide what route you want to take.

• Where is your development plan? This will get you to the next step of laying the foundations of your company. Your development plan will include business plans, maintenance plans, marketing plans and financial plans. All these will be needed to be a part of the company setup. When you set up the structure and take the time and steps to put those plans in place from the beginning, you will have a clearer view of where you are heading. You will also want to find ways to make sure that your music stays within copyright and music licensing laws before you start to sell. You will either want to get help from the relevant music organizations or advice from a lawyer in order to get the help that you need, so you don’t fall outside of the law.

With these basic steps, it will be easier for your company structure to take off running and to reach it’s full capacity.

Stay tuned! We will be bringing you more business tips that every recording label has to know!

In the mean time, if you’d like to get the full picture and startup and run your own record label, check out “Start Your Own Record Label – The Ultimate Assist For The “New Ere’ Indie Label