Hi all

I wondered if anyone has any experience of setting up a label. The main
thing I'm interested in is how I can set a label up and release a song so
that it is available to be downloaded and would count towards a U.K chart
position.

Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

Martin Noakes

http://www.rapcointelpro.com/Start%2...rd%20Label.htm

Try this site for information.


Martin Noakes wrote:
Hi all

I wondered if anyone has any experience of setting up a label. The main
thing I'm interested in is how I can set a label up and release a song so
that it is available to be downloaded and would count towards a U.K chart
position.

Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

Many thanks in advance

Martin Noakes

Martin Noakes wrote:

Hi all

I wondered if anyone has any experience of setting up a label. The main
thing I'm interested in is how I can set a label up and release a song so
that it is available to be downloaded and would count towards a U.K chart
position.

Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

In the UK, you must first register it with MCPS. You will be very lucky
to find a name that hasn't been used before, so you may have to ask them
to clear it with other labels using the same or similar names - and wait
some considerable time for a reply from the legal departments of the
companies concerned.

You will need to declare a catalogue number for the first release and,
again, it must not be easily mistaken for anyone elses numbering system.

If you want to sell by download, rather then by CD or DVD, you will fall
foul of the most abysmal muddle. Either you have to buy an extortionate
quarterly licence (and pay even more if you exceed your download quota)
or ...
....well nothing really, because they haven't got their
copyright act together for small individual producers. It is quite
understandable if some small companies currently decide to go down the
illegal route simply because of the difficulty and financial burden of
trying to do it legally. Even if you own the copyright on the songs and
performances, in practice you will have a hard job claiming exemption
from a licence.

You may find it better to sell your songs through an established
download site, rather than setting up your own. That way the licencing
hassle and costs are spread over more downloads and, in any case, they
won't be your problem.

If you want royalties from 'air-play', you also need to register with
P.P.L. This will nowadays mean an encounter with the CatCo web****e
and software; OK if you are a Microsoft and Flash user and want to
spend all day on broadband just to get a simple job done - to hell with
everyone else, including the disabled.

MCPS may also refer you to CatCo, but there are ways around this if you
want to retain your sanity.


All the other things you need to know are common to setting up any other
business:

Inland Revenue
H.S.E.
Sale of Goods Act
Statement of Trading Terms (always state "English Law in English
Courts")
Name and address on the product (unless you register with Companies
House)


Good Luck!

--
~ Adrian Tuddenham ~
(Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
www.poppyrecords.co.uk

Martin Noakes wrote:

I wondered if anyone has any experience of setting up a label.

Yes, but unfortunately not in the UK.

The main thing I'm interested in is how I can set a label up and release a song

Thats the easy part.

so that it is available to be downloaded

Thats not so hard either

and would count towards a U.K chart position.

*Thats* where your Problem is.

The Question is, why? Do you have a tune that is already selling like
hotcakes at gigs on CD-R and you think it belongs in the charts, or
have you recorded something with Magix Music Maker that your mum thinks
is great[1] and now you see yourself on an unstoppable fast track to
superstardom?[2]

Any advice on this would be much appreciated.

Depends a bit on your answer to my Qs above. On the whole, if you are a
newcomer, I would forget the charts thing and try uploading a couple of
tracks to one of the myriad MP3-sites that run internal charts. This
will give you an excellent Litmus test as to whether your tunes are
really going to burn or sink. It might also give you contact to
existing labels that might be prepared to release or license your tune
without you having the hassle.

Wíthout wanting to discourage you, the chance of a complete newcomer
really lighting up the charts (even in these days of low sales) is
pretty slim, and its mostly a waste of time aiming for that. If you
want to set up a label, do it for its own sake (and for the music) and
concentrate on that, rather than chart positions.[3]

andy M

[1] Hard Lesson Nr.1 - Your mum, your girlfriend and your mates have NO
IDEA about music, unless they are already successful artists or work in
the business.

[2] Hard Lesson Nr. 2 - Selling 100 copies of something to your mates
is easy, selling those same disks to 100 complete strangers is
extremely difficult.

[3] Hard Lesson Nr. 3 - Good marketing beats good tunes 90% of the
time.[4] Good marketing costs money.

[4] Hard lesson Nr. 4 - Noone really cares if you can play or not.[5]

[5] Hard Lesson Nr. 5 - Last year most majors made more money selling
ringtones than singles with the same melody. Think about that for a
while before wanting to "be in the charts".