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Going For Self - A Guide To Putting Out Your Own Records |
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Written by Crate Digger
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Wednesday, 31 January 2001 |
Although every couple of years, a major record label decides to
invest some money in a homegrown hip hop artist, for most budding
talents, the most likely method of getting your records on record shop
shelves is to release your music independently. It has become part of
rap folklore how artists such as Master P, Too Short and Wu Tang Clan
started off on their roads to riches by pressing up their own records
and selling them from out of the
boot of their cars.
Now, for those of you who are inspired by these tales and fancy going
the indie route with your hip hop career, here are a few tips to set
you off on the correct path.
(1) KNOW YOUR STUFF
Before you get started, make sure you know what you are getting
yourself into. Go to your local bookshop or library and try and find
out as much as you can about the music business and how independent
record labels are run. Will Ashurst’s book ‘Stuff the Music Business –
The DIY Guide to making it,’ published by MPG Books Ltd, gives detailed
information about the day-to-day issues you will encounter; and the
britishhiphop.co.uk website provides a
useful breakdown of the process involved in pressing up your own vinyl.
Also, make as many contacts as possible with people involved in the
record industry, from DJs and local club promoters to owners of
specialist record shops. They will often be full of useful information,
so ask them questions and make notes.
(2) LOOK AFTER THE PENNIES
Although it’s unlikely that you will have large sums of cash to play
with, you’d be surprised at what can be achieved with a modest amount
of money. The key is to make every penny you spend count. The best way
of doing this is putting down on paper a plan of what you intend to do.
This plan could be the strategy you want to use for a single record
release, or it could be a five-year business plan for an independent
label that you want to set up. Whichever type of plan it is, it must be
an honest and realistic reflection
of what you are trying to achieve, because you are going to have to try
and stick to it. Budget carefully and pull in as many favours as you
can to help you reach your goal. If you are thinking of starting up
quite a large operation, but you are too strapped for cash to launch
it, you can always approach your bank for a small business loan.
(3) BE ORGANISED
If you want to be taken seriously with what you are doing, you need to
be organised, act businesslike and set up a base from which to operate.
Whether you use your mum’s spare room or your girlfriend’s flat as your
office, it will need to have a directory-listed telephone and fax line
installed exclusively for your business’ use. You will also need to
arrange
an email address and a post office box to use for correspondence.
(4) PULL YOUR PROJECT TOGETHER
Set a realistic release date for your record and stick to it. You will
need to makes sure that the material you are going to release is
marketable and of good quality because you are going to be competing
against other rap records from the UK and abroad. If you don’t have all
the emcees, producers and DJs that you need for your record, then
you’ll need to find them by asking friends, talking to your contacts
and putting word out on the street.
When it comes to getting your material recorded, you can get quite a
professional-sounding recording in a home studio on relatively cheap
equipment. However, if you do not have access to recording facilities,
you will need to approach a professional recording studio. Discuss the
recording schedule with the studio well in advance to ensure that you
can
have the amount of recording time you need and when you need it.
You will find it cheaper to work in a pre-production studio until you
have a good solid track. Once this is in place, you can then upgrade to
a studio that will give you a good mix down and master. Make sure that
all the vocal parts of the tracks are well rehearsed beforehand so that
when it comes recording, you reduce the amount of studio time you use
and subsequently have to pay for.
Once the recording, mixing and mastering have been completed, you will
then need to find a record manufacturer who will take your master
(usually in the form of DAT) and use it to press up your 12”s. It is
best to be conservative and only press-up a small amount of records to
begin with. If the initial response to your record is good, you can
always do a re-press to meet the demand for your material.
Finally, if you don’t know any artists who can do the design for the
record sleeve, try and tap some of the talent at your local art college.
(5) GET YOUR RECORD OUT THERE
Some record manufacturers also deal with record distribution, so it
might be cost-effective to have a manufacturing-distribution package
deal with one of these companies. However, if your record manufacturer
cannot handle the distribution side of things for you, they should be
able to point you in the direction of companies that might be able to
help. Also, talk with record shop owners and check the record sleeves
of artists with a music style that
is similar to yours to discover who distributes their material. You
will be able to find out the contact details of these companies in the
Yellow Pages and in music journals. Send them copies of your material
and follow this up with phone calls to see if they are interested in
distributing your record.
If you are unable to get a distributor on-board, all is not lost. You
can approach record shops directly, and they will usually be happy to
take some of your records on a ‘Sale or Return’ basis. Other methods of
selling your records include setting up a mail order service and
selling records at your live shows. Alternatively, you could take to
the streets with a bag full of vinyl and a personal stereo so you can
pounce on passers-by, play them your tune and try persuade them to
purchase copy right there on the spot.
(6) PROMOTE YOUR PRODUCT
Choose a geographical region (which preferably includes your hometown)
and aim to saturate it with your record. Before the release date of
your record, you will need to get copies of your tunes to as many
influential DJs as possible. This will involve hanging around
nightclubs and record shops, plus using your contacts.
Send copies of your material to local and national hip hop magazines,
web sites and radio DJs who are most likely to be interested in your
music. Make sure you include with your record, a press release, a brief
biography, and photos to let them learn a few things about yourself. If
you do not receive any response within two weeks of sending your
material, follow it up with a phone call. If you do not feel confident
about doing this, there are
press companies around that can help you to get your records in the
right people’s hands and to start creating a buzz on the scene about
your act, but these companies do charge for the services they provide.
Approach local rap promoters and try to arrange for some PAs and live
shows for you to help build your rep and promote your record. Get
flyers, postcards and stickers printed with your act’s name, your
record label’s logo, a photo and the record’s release date clearly
displayed. You will need to get these all about town: on record shop
counters, at bus stops and train stations, at nightclubs and
restaurants, and in the reception of beauty and barber salons. If after
doing all this, you still have some cash left over, you can always
place adverts in hip-hop publications, but doing this is usually quite
pricey.
It is also a good idea to use the Internet to help promote your record
releases. Set up a web site to provide your fans with useful
information about yourself and your material. Your site could be set up
so that fans can listen to your tunes, discuss your music and buy it
through a mail order service. A web site can also be used as a point of
contact for promoters who want to make booking enquiries about you and
your act.
By the time you have completed all of your promotional activities, you
should have built up database of useful contacts and supporters that
you can use in the future, and you also should have created a
reasonable level of interest in your record. Hopefully, this interest
will transform into record sales.
(7) MAKE IT HAPPEN
Now, this may all sound like a lot of work for you to do, but remember
- it’s you who gets to keep all the benefits of all your toil. You get
to retain full control of all aspects of your music, and through your
actions you are promoting yourself as an artists who is serious about
their music career.
If you follow all of the advice provided, hopefully you’ll make your
money back on your first release. If you’re lucky, you’ll make a tidy
profit you can use to fund a second release and start to build up some
momentum. Who knows, a few releases down the line you might get
approached by a major label who are impressed by your endeavors and
want to sign you. It’s really all up to you to put the effort in and to
make your records a success.
So, are you ready to go for self?
Website: www.britishhiphop.co.uk
Website: www.independentpressing.com
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