ARTIST SERVICES AND COMPETING WITH MAJOR LABELS
Artist services revolve around building the branding of an artist and facilitating the creation of art, this practically looks like providing, marketing services, digital distribution, sync licenses or business enquiries for industry creatives. Various artist service companies are at a level where they are more than capable of delivering favorable services to artists without the help of a major label. This means they can work directly with the artists, managers or labels to provide them with everything needed to take their music to the desired goal.
One of the ways in which artist driven services have competed with major labels is noticed more in how much money artist services will save the artist money compared to major labels. Musicians no longer need a substantial amount of money to make or put out a record. For example, through the many legitimate digital distribution platforms you’re able to reach a larger audience without having to leave the comfort of your own home…result. Also, the cost of it is nothing in comparison to the manufacturing of physical CDs.
All you need is a ready-to-go digital copy of your track to upload on a digital distributor’s platform and you’re good to go. Services such as these allow artists to venture into deals which broaden their revenue streams in growing segments of the music business. For example, retaining copyright reforms and earning a bigger share of sales revenues has become more of a glamorised option for artists. This by no means undermines the benefits of working with a well established major label but helps provide an option for individuals who prefer to take the latter route.This is in comparison to some major labels who may prefer to manage all revenue streams themselves with the respectful job of distributing the relevant incomes over various departments.
Other common services available to creatives looking to finance their own content include marketing, promotion and press. An artist may need such platforms in order to get the overall artist branding message out as well as releases. Services aimed at marketing music enable artists to engage with fans whilst amplifying their reach all within the comfort of (you guessed it), your own home. It’s not to say that you can not adopt this approach once assigned to a major label but it gives you an advantage of having the first and final say and being able to interact directly with fans which in the past has proven to boost customer relations.
On the other hand, record labels have always been noted to be one of the top investors in artists overall careers, which some may say is inferior to anything else. Major labels combined have around 7,500 artists across their companies and thousands more signed onto independent labels. This challenges that although artist service platforms provide so many options and control for creatives, investment opportunities are never far off with major label/independent labels who are always looking for new talent. Although where labels used to risk it all in order to invest in an upcoming artist, there attention has been driven towards seeing stats and figures of the success of an artist before even thinking about investing.
To summarise, every label and service is different. There are areas of investment that usually appear more than others whether it be funding a record, tour support or promotional costs. All of it and more is needed to break an artist into the major recording industry and dependent on your personal choice and preference the options can be varied. This can be whether you choose a major label to help fund this dream or if you’re like the majority, a service that will help compete and reach many platforms, providing comfort and flexibility right in the comfort of…(well you know the rest).