I’m a small artist but do sign my work. I’ve been enjoying Lemmy for some time now and want to push this community to interact more and grow! So I thought one way I could contribute is to do a little AMA about what it’s like as a signed artist making house music :)
How big a deal is it (for you or relative to the industry in general) that you’re “signed”?
Any links to your work or anything?
For me it was definitely a big deal when it first happened! I was working alongside artists I listened to for years. However, these aren’t massive corporate labels, so I have the freedom to contract one song or EP to a label, and one to another, etc.
All of my stuff can be found under my name on basically all platforms :) Not sure if links in comments are allowed.
What does it actual get you being signed? Apologies if it’s impolite to ask about financial things.
No apologies needed! It’s not much and it depends on your audience as well as your label. I’m lucky where the labels I work with split 50/50 with the artist. However, that split comes after the distribution take. With my current numbers, I probably get paid out $100-150 each year. As your catalogue grows and your streams get higher, that does grow significantly with time.
Thanks! I was actually more interested in what the label does for you. I’m guessing they take care of distribution (sorry, I don’t really know any details about the industry, especially how it operates these days)? Do they do anything else? Marketing, touring?
Sadly the scene for this subgenre isn’t exactly big enough for touring and shows (yet, fingers crossed!). But yes, I finish my mix and send it in for them to handle mastering, artwork, distribution, and marketing within their own channels. They will provide the marketing packet with artwork, etc. a week or two before release so I can share on my own artist pages as well :)