Getting
signed is what most artists aim for. It doesn’t matter whether it rap, rock,
RnB, Kwaito, House etc. Underground artists work their whole lives towards the
goal of being signed. It has come to my attention that most artists especially
underground artists do not have a clue on what being signed to a record label
means. This creates issues because young artists have misguided expectations
about record deals and sometimes end up signing deals which do not benefit them
and they end up being what we call record label slaves. This article will
explain what it means being signed in a general sense.
There
are a number of deals/contracts that’s artist sign in the music industry, for
example, record deals, management deals, agent deals, publishing deal, endorsement
deals and distribution deal, but the most basic one is the record deal. But you
can’t hope to understand, what is a record deal without knowing what is a record
company/label
What
is a record company/label?
A
record company/label is a firm/business/enterprise that aims to make profits
from selling music and other music related products. Record companies usually
have the word ‘Records’ after their name for Example, Bad Boy Records, Cash
Money Records, but this is not compulsory as we have seen record companies with
alternative naming such as GOOD Music, Young Money Entertainment and OVO Sound.
There
are major labels such as Sony Music, Columbia Records and Interscope Records to
name a few. These are the biggest record labels and they operate worldwide.
Other record companies operate under these record labels, For example,
Aftermath Records (by Dr Dre) and BadBoy Records (by Diddy) operates under
Interscope. The reason why smaller record companies work with major record
companies is because major record companies are international and have licences
to distribute music world wide. Such partnerships make it easy for smaller
record to focus on other important things and leave the heavy lifting (paper
work) to major companies.
Independent
record labels also exist. These labels usually do everything themselves or collaborate
with small time distributors or management companies on a short term basis for
a specific project. For example Top Dawg
Entertainment, Funk Volume, Family Tree and Kalawa Jazz.
What
is a record deal?
A
record deal is a contract/agreement between a record company and an
artist/composer which gives the record company rights over the music made by an
artist. In simple terms, a record deal is a partnership between a record
company and an artist. The artist makes the music, and the record label sells
it to the people. The record label owns the music. Contracts are not the same,
they are negotiated. Usually an artist would have a 4 album deal with a record
company. This means the artist must make 4 albums for the record company.
What
does it mean to be signed?
Now
that you know what a record company is and what is a record deal, It will be
easy to understand what being signed means. Being signed basically means you as
an artist are a partner with the record label. It means you work for the label
and the label works for you. It means the labels own your music/compositions.
No contract is the same, different artists have different contracts, depending on
the negotiations. What normally happens is, a record company will gives you a
sum of money likeu 400 000. You will have to use that money for everything
related to the production of the album, like buying beats, booking studios,
paying for features, transport cost and sample clearances. Furthermore you
might be required to record more than 50 tracks(Slave) and the label will
choose the ones that will make a profitable album. This is where beef between labels and
artists usually begins. It caused by the fact that an artist might want a
certain track to be on an album but the label might not allow it. Depending on
the contract, but in most cases the label has the final say. When the album is
out, the labels takes their money back, so the money they gave you is like a
loan or capital. All the album sales will cover the cost of production then if
the sales are greater than the cost of production then there will be profits
which the label and artist will share depending on the agreed upon percentage.
For example, the artist and label might split 50/50 or 60/40. However there are
other parties involved like booking agents, managers which also get a share of
the profits, so the artist might end up getting 20 or 30 percent. Listen to ‘Macklemore
and Ryan Lewis- Jimmy Lovine’
Hope
this opens your eyes a little bit about record labels and getting signed. This
is just a general idea about record companies, there is more to it than this
and more politics, I just want to open your eyes a little so you know what you
getting into.
Look
out for an article about the advantages and disadvantages of getting signed coming
soon. Otherwise download the new single by Genius Muzik Gang- Ngeke Ulunge Lana (DOWNLOAD)
Article by:
Mthobisi Cebolenkosi Mahendula, 2015
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