Label info/sales stats (considering labels to send demo to)

[infiniteB]

II am soon going to be looking into get my music to hip hop labels (independent and major). Before I let a representative know the labels I am interested in, I want to do some research myself. I want to know sales statistics (by artist and the labels total, monthly, annually, past 5 years; independent record store sales, major outlet sales, downloads), as well as tour stats (performance dates, sales, etc), as well as any other info,stats, and contact info I can get. Any suggestions for a source (I know this may vary due to the variety of size and type of labels I may be interested in...
Any help would be greatly appreciated...

[infiniteB]

?

[infiniteB]

bump

[matthews]

I would answer but I don't really know what your asking...

I'm guessing you make beats for hip hop artists? If that's the case you need to shop your stuff around and see if anyone has any interest. If they do, they'll purchase the track off you. It's very rare that they'll give you a royalty type deal, especially if your just starting off. They'll just want to buy the rights out completely.

I have a buddy who produces pop music for some very reputable mainstream artists (pussycat dolls, Down With Webster, Boi1da) and he sold his last track (w/vocals) for 10K and got a TINY royalty percentage for the first time. We're talking lead single off an album.

If your looking to actually be an artist yourself though, thats a whole different ball game (dont worry yourself with the logistics of the business, just make music and worry about getting signed, let the label handle everything else).

As far as contacting people, just make a list of all the labels that you know of, that you think your music would fit well with. Then, use google to track down contact details. Send them emails, share music with them via soundcloud, hell, mail them out a demo and call to follow up. Persistence pays off. Presentation is everything. When your sending stuff out, make sure its professional. All your tracks should be 320 mp3's or wavs, with ID3 Data and zipped in one archive. Also, it doesnt hurt to put together a nice looking press kit with some decent pictures and a biography.

[infiniteB]

I produce and rhyme for myself, and am in the middle of a self-produced demo/EP/LP... I'm pretty sure that my lyrics and rhymes are on a rare level, and my music is up there as well. (I'm only saying this to give you an idea of where I'm coming from, or where I feel I'm at). I will be approaching agents soon, who have contacts with labels, hoping to get signed to a record deal as a producer, lyricist/MC, and live performer (MC , also live electronica-like performances with drum machines, sequencers, synths, etc.)
I want to do research on labels that I am interested in getting my music to. Major and independent labels both have their plusses and minuses, so I would like to research the stats (sort of like Billboard, I guess, would have info on Arista or Sony) of all the labels (small and big) I'm interested in. This tells me the labels ability to sell records, how many, and how often, as well as what artists do well with them; tells me how they promote and tour; tells me about my possible future job/contract security; etc... I guess sort of like "pre-screening" labels that I feel will fit my need and philosophies, that I can respect, and that may have people of similar veins already working and doing well with them.
There has got to be some type of resource....

[infiniteB]

I would answer but I don't really know what your asking...

As far as contacting people, just make a list of all the labels that you know of, that you think your music would fit well with. Then, use google to track down contact details. Send them emails, share music with them via soundcloud, hell, mail them out a demo and call to follow up. Persistence pays off. Presentation is everything. When your sending stuff out, make sure its professional. All your tracks should be 320 mp3's or wavs, with ID3 Data and zipped in one archive. Also, it doesnt hurt to put together a nice looking press kit with some decent pictures and a biography.

thanks... this is the plan, give or take, so i want to narrow down the field for the reasons and ways stated above.

[c33]

I'd just focus on making good music and -if you're looking to get signed- hoping that the right label will be interested in YOU. They've already got plenty of artists interested in them. There is very little job security in the entertainment industry, and there is no guarantee your album will sell (especially these days), no matter how much time you waste trying to compile sales stats. Obviously you'll find it varies from artist to artist, album to album, within any given label.

Bottom line: You're way ahead of yourself. Just send the demos. You'll be lucky if you have multiple offers to choose from, but you need offers before you need to worry about which is the best label to sign with.

[infiniteB]

I'm hearing every word that you're saying, but one of the major ways to get offers is to make your music noticed by / sent to specific labels. Interest in sales figures is not a guarantee of security nor money, nor am I necessarily looking for those things first. However, it will give me an idea of whether or not a label does its job in promoting, is currently active or just riding off the artists of the past, is aware and up to date with its current markets, etc... I am not trying to get "ahead of myself", just trying to do a little research about, for lack of better words, a "potential employer", as would anyone who is considering interviewing for a company, who wants to know "room for advancement", "health benefits", "dress code", "company philosophy", "ability to work on key projects", etc... The more I know about a potential label, the more I can customize my approach to them, or lean away from them... Also, I am confident that if I reach them, they will be interested in my music. Therefore, I am, although with infinite room to learn and grow, still being blown away by many others, somewhat "picking my labels", based upon a variety of factors, their sales statistics being only a fraction of those factors...

[matthews]

I can't speak on hip-hop....

But for electronic music (house/techno/minimal), this genre isn't widely supported by the "big" labels, its promoted and distributed by independent labels. If your lucky and plug away for a bit and manage to get a bit of notoriety, its possible to have limited vinyl runs of your releases pressed, or even a CD put out, but the reality is that 99.9% of this genre's sales are done digitally. This is done by a few major online sites such as beatport or junodownload. For each download on beatport, you'll make about $0.30. For the majority of artists that make this type of music, it isn't possible to survive on digital downloads alone. They solely act as a way to boost your profile so that you get bookings/gigs, that's where you make your money.

If this is the type of music you make, you surely already know which labels your sound will fit into already. Send them your stuff. These types of labels are actively seeking out new and interesting music and will be happy to release your work if they think it fits with their direction.

Also, I can tell you that the bigger labels in this genre (MINUS, B-PITCH, SAVED, DEFECTED, CR2, etc), will definitely NOT release your music if you've never put anything our before. These are the big boys, they receive hundreds of demos a day, from people who have been releasing for years. You need to find smaller independent labels that have a good reputation (their are many), and get them to take a chance on you. Then, you need to promote the shit out of the release yourself. Once you've done this for a while and have a decent back catalogue built up, the big labels will be more inclined to listen to what you send them and seriously consider it for release, granted they like your work of course.