Tuesday August 9th, 2022
Hey, it’s TJ Miller, you want some game? Let's Tip Unda The Hat!
For the best indie music from indie artists, click, and follow Independent Artist Of The Week Unda The Hat. This week, Mercy Club. Be sure to hit the like button and follow this amazing group of indie artists. They will be major soon!
This week, to deal or not? - Let’s go -
There’s an old saying that says, “if you stay ready, you ain’t got to get ready!” Meaning, everything you do should be preparing you for what you want to do next as an artist. With that said, BB King said “never make your move too soon.” So there are two questions for you; are you ready for a deal? And is having a deal better than being independent? I guess if you think about it, anytime is a good time to pitch your music to a label, right? I mean we see all the time on tiktok where someone shoots a basketball from the top of a building and makes a shot in the hoop from over 200 yards away….anything is possible. But you can burn a relationship by submitting something that is not ready, or if you submit a song that is almost there and they say, what else do you have? And your response is well I’m working on some stuff… go ahead and kiss that one goodbye.
I’m the guy that likes to play the odds and tries to see what is the best possibility of success. What are labels looking for? If you stay indy and you submit to film,tv and ad agencies, what are they looking for? You could take the old major label approach that says throw it all on the wall, and let’s see what sticks. However, this is a haphazard way to use your time and efforts and could be very frustrating. The reality is most labels are looking for a decent size “real” fanbase, and not fanbots on social media. It’s easy to discover what’s real and what’s not by the level of engagements. You got 2,000 views and 3 comments? Yeah you probably bought those, and labels know it. They may say they are looking for that “one song,” but the reality is, they want artists that have a nice size catalog, of more than one album's worth of work. This is not your grandfather's record business. They expect you to come to the table with a ton of finished product, big social numbers or a relationship with one of their known producers or current signed artist. Now don’t get me wrong, there are always exceptions to the rule, so don’t take this as an absolute, just best practices for you to play the odds like I said earlier. With a smaller company there is probably no advance, but closer relationship with the owner(s), you get a bigger slice of the publishing pie, and will probably own your masters. Of course being totally independent it’s just you against the world. You will need to understand a much larger part of the business side, which can take away from the time you spend making your art, but it’s all yours. You will need to hire a team to help you get over certain hurdles
So why would you want a deal? Major labels are global and run their own publishing and distribution. They have money, and the fact that they may offer a sizeable advance on your earnings is a real possibility as well. The promotion machine is going to be like nothing you’ve seen before, your song on radio and video shows everywhere. But there is always staff turnover and you might be out with the staff that brought you in, so keep your head on a swivel and keep churning out music that got you there in the first place.
This week's #IAOTW - Independent Artists Of The Week - Mercy Club. The duo that moved from funk to faith as former funkateers with George Clinton, that are now concerned with the message of grace and mercy.
Click on their name, scroll down, click the picture to find out more about these funky inspirational artists.
For more information on this or to hire Unda The Hat as your brand or label consultant send a message via undathehat.com. See you next Tuesday.