Who Needs A Label?

With promotional budgets shrinking at most major
labels and competition intensifying for their limited new signings, more and more artists are wondering if signing at a large label is what's best for them (even if the opportunity does present itself.) Many bands are deciding that they would rather make their own records and keep all of the proceeds rather than fork over the majority of their earnings to a label. Those who do sign with a label are often finding that they are expected to do most of their own self promotion anyway, and are beginning to wonder if the cut they pay to the label is worth what they are getting in return.

Lenny Waronker, former head of Reprise and Warner Bros. and the man responsible for signing the Doobie Brothers, Rod Stewart, Neil Young, Nelly Furtado and many others, put it this way: "There’s... artists that have sold...records and they own it. They own the whole thing so they can make ten bucks a record and if they sell 60,000 records, you can add it up, it’s a lot of money, and it’s a great thing because it allows artists to make their mistakes and take their time and learn."

Ultimately, it is always better to make your record and get your music heard, than to procrastinate holding out for a deal. As Waronker continues, "People still buy records, people still are interested in records, and whether they’re buying them or stealing them they want music in their lives. So I think the key thing is what it’s always been and the one thing to stay with which is quality. If you have a great record, if you have great music, it’ll get heard, and somebody will grab it, figure out a way to pay for it hopefully, and that’s the goal more so than ever before because there was so much competition."