I’m trying to decide whether to start my own label.
My main focus for the next year or two will be to work on and release 1) my own tracks, 2) tracks of mine, remixed by other people, and 3) collaboration tracks.
Putting out other artists, developing them, investing in them, supporting them...these are not explicit priorities right now, but they are potentially something that I have the resources and aptitude to do, at some point.
I also see the merit in creating a community of artists/creators when it comes to events, etc, and having a reflexive ecosystem that may be more interesting and a better foundation for growth than just one individual, as far as optics/branding.
On the flipside, I know how difficult it is to launch a release, let alone a career. For all my accrued knowledge as a keyboardist, composer, producer, and performer, I still feel like an infant in regards to the industry. My networking skills are not super strong, either.
Flipping it a third time, I am pretty smart and have some leadership skills, so it’s not something I couldn’t grow into.
But do I want to? Do I need to? Is it the best use of my time?

My friend, Ceci, comes from the tech world and now runs a label. She thinks that, with direct-to-consumer advertising, the age of PR and needing a label are both kind of phasing out. You can do it all yourself, or hire people yourself. She says the only reason I should start a label is if I want to get into the business of developing/supporting other people’s music.

My other friend, Josh, who’s a house music producer/artist has something closer to what I would call a vanity label. He releases mostly his own tracks, pays a PR company to get the word out and then he hires people to remix his work to create additional reach. He has put out one other artist perhaps in five or six releases. But he plans to one day scale up and be releasing other people with bigger names. One caveat Josh is that he’s extremely connected with his scene. He’s good at socializing and maintaining a lot of relationships. He’s a DJ and takes pleasure in digging for music, both past and contemporary. He finds respite in the admin of his label, as an ear break from production.
I think all my work time could be dedicated to piano and production and any respite would be spent with family, my partner and being in nature, etc...

I’m attracted to starting a label because it’s a way to centralize my activities, now and in the future, under one roof/one brand. I recently followed Josh’s model and hired two well-known producers to make remixes of a track I feel has particularly high potential. If I don’t start a label, I can still organize the same publishing agreement with the remixers as a label would; I can share everything on my artist page and hope the remixer will share on their own. I can hire advertisers or PR or content producers etc. But things remain kind of fragmented and there’s no roof to hold the package together, I guess, except me as an artist. (Which, perhaps, I still have a lot of work to do in inflating my own sense of worth there…)

Or, I can start a label, make this my first release. But then I have to start a new website and maintain a new instagram for the label and it’s hard enough doing it for myself as an artist. After that, maybe I would have to start doing A&R so that it didn’t seem like purely a vanity label.


I don’t mind putting in work wherever it needs to be put in, but I want to be sure it’s the right intention and direction…

I definitely wouldn’t mind investing in some artists in the next few years, I’m just scared I won’t be able to provide them what they need since I haven’t really figured out how to climb yet.
I have grown since my beginnings, for sure, but not on the scale I think most artists would be expecting if they signed. I can provide funds, but I feel like that’s not enough…
On the other hand, the logistics of continuing to expand, collaborate, hire people and eventually put on events, without having a house brand to go along with that seem much more complicated and less cohesive…

I’m looking for some advice from anyone who has experience with starting a label or self-releasing and growing as an independent artist.

By the way, I also have a studio that’s under renovation right now but is gonna be really cool when it’s done. For a while I was working on a program to give a way free studio time to artists. Now I’m thinking it could be cool to let producers use the space, for free, to develop a hang and create that ecosystem. In that sense it could be a different take on a label, more of a production house…? But yeah there’s still the issue of how to release my own music in the most effective and long-term-foundational way...

Thanks so much for bearing with me on this lengthy post!

Here's my music, if you're interested. (There's so much more in the works that I'm dying to get out!!)

I have helped starting a label for a friend and was part of the three people team for some years.

It's just a question of your own intentions and motivations. These should be clear...
Then if you are totally fine of not creating any money and only putting money into it and maybe many years down the road generate some reputation this is a worthwhile adventure.

I have to ask, and I am not trying to be negative but how do you think you will be able to start a label when your soundcloud has less than 100 followers?

You might be better advised getting a contract with an existing label which will have more established promotion practices and reach. Once your music and presence as an artist has some following then at that point you would be better positioned to start your own label.

As I said, not trying to be nasty but potentially realistic. Just because your music is on spotify doesn't mean anyone will play it.

I appreciate your realism. I actually recently did decide to reach out to some labels. I'm getting a great response so far, so I'm really excited about that prospect. But I will be giving away a decent chunk of earnings and at least some of the artistic control in the process. I'm OK with that trade-off for now...

What has been your experience shopping to labels and sharing your music and how have you grown your following?

Another dilemma that comes up with alternatives to starting a label, like shopping to established labels or self-releasing is, for example, tracks that I've produced for other people. One track in particular comes to mind that I really love that hasn't been released. I wrote the instrumental and a concept for the lyrics, he came along a little later and wrote the actual lyrics and sang it (we collaborated on the top line).

He has his own career that he's busy with so this song is more important to me than him. I plan to reach out and discuss with him soon. Sent an email a while ago, but I found out he was in the middle of an album campaign so that's probably why he didn't respond.

Point is, with my own label, these kinds of projects make so much more sense. I can release it on my label with his name in the artist column.
Yes, there's the option to make him a featured artist (i.e. Fireberg (ft. his name))
but when I listen to the song that's just not how it sounds. He's not just coming in for a hook or a verse. It sounds like he's the center. If there was a music video, he should star in it...

Perhaps this is representative of me being too willy-nilly with projects and not envisioning the whole path to release, before engaging in collaboration.

I'd say, at least half my tracks feel like they need vocals. I want to work up to the point where I can do my own vocals, but I'm just not there yet.

But I want to share the song!! It has my keyboard playing and demonstrates my production and songwriting and I think it could be a hit...
Just seems weird to be pitching a track like that to another label...

I am committed to using the resources of established labels for now, so that I can focus on my own creative content. But this is getting at my main intention for the label that I tried to express in the original post. How to have all my diverse output make sense under one roof, and not have to spread myself so thin. (Especially @ Sapro , because I already struggle so much with promotion...)

My music is designed to be able to be performed live: my following was increasing nicely in part from live gigs until the pandemic :(

I have had up to 5 thousand watching my lockdown streams on social media so my name is known but getting people to put their hand in there pocket to buy music is more difficult.

I did have a track released by a label during lockdown but as I produce uptempo techno, the time when there are no parties and no clubs is probably not the best moment to release stuff so I have held off offering them any more tracks.

I am probably not best placed to answer how to increase your following, there are tons on GS with bigger followings than me but i think one trick is to ensure that you are targeting groups (for instance on facebook) who are actually in to your sort of music. For me, there is no point punting my music at people who are into chill out for example.

Good luck with the labels!

I would start releasing some solid stuff and get a decent amount of real fans & followers first, before I start my own label.
Sadly it's how the world works today, the amount of followers you have will say if you are worthwile or not.
Again, that is the very sad truth.