Beverly Hills 310, Inc. :: 310 Entertainment


	Well, well, well, so you're feeling brave, like a maverick. Congratulations. You have finally come to your senses. You have finally figured out that you will make more money as an artist selling 50,000 records on your own record label, than selling 500,000 units as an artist signed to a major record label. As stated in "Recording Royalties", an artist will receive between 12 percent and 14 percent of the suggested retail prices of cassettes and albums and about 10 percent of the cassette royalty rate on CD's as compensation for their efforts of recording and album. In the LOVE opinion, these percentages are too low and you should explore the possibility of signing with an independent label. Their Rationale: Record companies blame low royalty rates on the non-success of nine out of every ten records released. That's their percent success rate, one that would be poor performance by any standard in any other industry. Take General Motors, for instance. If they designed and manufactured ten new cars, and only one out of those ten new designs sold and was profitable, they would be out of business. Our Rationale: Record companies do take most of the risk in the beginning. So it seems only fair that they enjoy the lion's share of the profits. The operative word here is seems. If the artist's time, energy and emotions mattered to labels, they wouldn't feel that they were the only ones taking risks. But in all fairness, the record company, by signing an artist, is in a sense giving the artist an unsecured loan. Both artist, is in a sense giving the artist an unsecured loan. Both artist and record labels devote their time, energy and resources to record, promote, market, and sell music. The label has money as their most valuable resource, the artist brings talent and creativity as a most valuable contribution. Which is more valuable? We say artist, because artist can exist without record companies, but record companies need something to sell. that something is the artist's product. Most record deals are negotiated so that the artist gets 12 to 14 percent of the profits and the record company gets the remaining 88 percent. The 12 percent an artist receives is just not representative of the amount of effort an artist puts into recording an album. It becomes blatantly apparent when compared to the 88 percent of sales the record company gets to keep. This is all the more reason to sign with an independent, small label. We think it's safe to assume that most of us feel we have the same one in ten chance of success as a major record label. The only difference is that unless you are independently wealthy or have investors willing to invest in you, record labels have more money available to get the job done. From my perspective. they also have more money to waste. While money is major concern when putting together an album, it is not the be all end all. Money problems can be overcome. At that point, the only thing a major label has over an independent is if a record is a hit, they can sell more because of their distribution network. The flip side of that is even if that same record were released on a major label sold more you should still make less if your released in on an independent label. With all things being equal, you'll make more money from the sales of your record released on an independent label than you would if that shame record were to be released on a label other than yours. That is, of course unless your record is a flop. And in that case, no one make any money.

Promotional and marketing artwork will include posters, postcards, hats, T-shirts, bags, cassette inserts, CD inserts, etc. These items can be costly and it would be wise to shop around for a printer and supplier that can provide these items at a reasonable a printer and supplier that can provide these items at a reasonable price. For instance, most cassettes and compact disks require inserts that contain information about that project. In some cases it will be to your advantage to have a printer supply these items instead of the cassette or CD manufacturer. You can make money for yourself taking charge of these items.

Promoting Your Product
The most effective way of promoting your product is to have your record play on the radio. In order for you to do that you will need to hire an independent promotion specialist to solicit and gain airplay for your music. Independent promoters are persons who use influences and relationships they have with radio programmers to secure airplay for records they are hired to work on. Radio programmers are the persons hired to decide what music will be played on the stations they work for Every radio station has one.

Independent record promoters are usually hired on a record by record basis, but a number of the more powerful ones have retainer relationships with the larger record companies. Independent promotion is expensive, costing $50,000 for a national independent promotional campaign for R&B material. The stakes are higher for pop music, therefore the numbers go up dramatically. These are also more pop stations, which also helps drive up the cost up dramatically. There are also more pop stations, which also helps drive up the cost of independent pop promotion. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars is not an unrealistic figure for national pop promotion.

While these prices may be out of your range. negotiating a deal for independent promotion in just your local area may prove affordable by comparison. this is assuming independent promoters will accept assignments from local bands. Our guess is that where there is demand there will be market. Gaining access to independent record promoters could prove challenging it itself. One way of finding them is to call local radio stations and inquire about who independent promoters are that frequent your area. Most stations should be happy to give you a few names. Understand that record promoters are simply a go-between for your independent label and radio programmers. Independent promoters usually have pre-established relationships with radio stations. They can make the difference between a hit or not, Independent promotion has a quirky reputation, but is a necessity any way you look at the picture.

After manufacturing, your product will need to be delivered to wholesalers and retailers in order for the general public too purchase it. This is called distribution. Distributors deliver product to wholesalers, who in turn sell the product to retailers. Retailers, of course, sell the product to the consumer. This is the most common way to sell merchandise, unless the merchandise is being sold through mail order or by some other means.

Record labels have cassettes and CDs manufactured and then distribute pick the product to either wholesalers, one stops, or record stores. The cost of distribution rages from 15 percent to 35 percent on sales. The more product to be distributed, the less cost of distribution. You will have to decide whether you want to have your product distributed by independent distribution or major distribution.

All the major labels have their own distribution network. Distribution done by major labels is called major distribution. One of the main differences between a major label and an independent label is that the majors have their own distribution. Independent labels rely upon either independent distributors or are distributed by a major record label. Major labels have more money to spend on advertising and marketing and this can be of value to you if your product is being distributed though their network. The downside to working with major distributors is that they will want a larger percentage of sales than an independent distributor. Major distributors also have a short attention span in terms of how long they will keep a record in their distribution chain if the record is not selling. Three months is the time period a record has to prove itself for a major label. If it does not perform well within that time it's pretty much dead in the water. Independent distributors have no affiliation with major record labels. They have fewer artists to distribute and are more likely to stick with a record for a longer period of time.

The newest and most exciting way to promote and sell your product is through on-line services such as American On-line, CompuServe. Prodigy, Microsoft Network Service and The Internet. On-line services are accessed using a computer, modem and telephone lines, and basically allows the user to connect to other computers and computer networks. Once the user is connected they may download, upload or simply access the information that is contained on the computers they are connected to. According to Leslie helm of the Los Angeles Times, America On-line boasts 3.7 million members, while CompuServe has 2.2 million, Prodigy 1.4 million, and the newly formed Microsoft Network Service has 525,000 members. Each of these services charges a monthly fee, and organizers all of the information by categories, they have proven to be an indispensable source of information regarding the record and entertainment industries. To learn more about on-line services ask us.

The Internet
The Internet made up of many different computer networks spread over the entire planet. Of all the on-line services it has the most promise for those looking to market and sell their products via computers. There is no charge directly to the user but in order to navigate this vast resource effectively you should sign up with a local Internet access company. Contact 310 Web Design Studio for details about Internet access in your area. In order to market and sell your products on the Internet you must have a commercial account and must also develop a web site, which is essentially your address and store front on the Internet.

For any other information feel free to email us. Thank you.