10 Things You Must Do To Attract A Record Label Deal

Many artists are still battling with not being able to signup with a record label when in reality, they have or can create all that is needed for them to own their own record labels to advance their music careers.

Below are 10 Vital Things You Must Set In Motion To Start Promoting Your Songs Like A Record Label Or Possibly Attract A Record Label Deal/Contract;

1. Network with Like minds and Have an Understanding:

Majority of the artists that I have come across would prefer to be alone and do their things like a lone ranger, but this attitude is not a good business decision. As an unsigned artist, you should look out for artists who are as talented as you are and form a team.

The idea is to work faster and smarter, for instance, it will be wiser to make an appearance as a band when you attend shows and events as this will help all of you collectively and individually.

Two heads are better than one, you all can refine yourselves better and do things better because someone will always be more informed within your team over one particular challenge or the other and together you can deal with situations, challenges as a team.

When it is just you as one artist, many challenges may leave you clueless and frustrated.

2. Setup A Facebook FanPage.

This is very necessary and important for your group, band or team. Your Facebook Page should always be updated with recent happenings concerning members of your team with respects to new releases, future events to be attended, collaborations with other artists who are not on your team.

To promote your page at this particular time will be very easy since you are a group of like minds and you all are required to take turns in inviting your Facebook friends to like your Label's Fanpage. The name of this page should not be the name of an individual. Your page name should be created via a unanimous decision from all members of the team. This is your Label, you should own it already and stick to it.

3. Register Your Record Label with the Corporate Affairs Commission.

It is time to make things official, reach out to the government by registering your Label as a legal business entity. With as much as N20,000 you can register a business name for your label.

With a legally registered document representing your Record Label, you are more open to numerous business opportunities than when you are running solo without any Government representation or proof of existence. With A C.A.C document, you can easily get a sponsor for your Label.

4. Register A Website for Your Record Label.

Now that you are existent on Facebook, having created a Facebook page for your Label, and you are also officially present in the business world with C.A.C documentation, it is time to create a presence in the IT Space. Register a website to promote your music and that of other artists.

Remember that all the above will not be possible without team work, doing the above will cost you a fortune, but as a team of like minded artists, you can simply contribute to get things done and when you don't need funds but action to be taken, you jointly take action to as well.

There is power in numbers.

With A Corporate Website that displays information about your Label and Also Displays the Works of Other Artists, you can start making money for your Record Label but that is not all.

5. Start Monetizing the Songs of Your Artists

We have many music distribution companies right now, many of which will charge an instant fee, hidden fees or yearly fees to submit your song, but part of the purpose of this article is to enable upcoming artists hit limelight without too much expenses and for this reason, I will be recommending Magroove for your digital music distribution and monetization processing. There are no instant payments, hidden payments or yearly payments whatsoever and they only take 5% from your earnings unlike most who collect 9%.

6. Create A Youtube Channel for Your Label

I understand that you may not have videos yet to monetize but the whole idea is to be ready for when the videos start dropping or when you can start producing good content quality videos for your artists respectively.

It is time to use your numbers again, let's assume that your entire team is 10 in number, you can individually scout for subscribers to make up for the minimum amount of subscribers required to become a Youtube Partner and easily monetize your videos. The idea behind working as a team, band or group is to effectively utilize the strength in your numbers.

Which videos you may ask?

You can convert the best songs amongst all members of your team to Lyric videos and upload them to your channel. By doing this, you can easily decide which video to produce based on subscriber reviews, shares and comments.

7 Think like a Record Label

Record labels want music that has the power to make them and their
artists stand out. So, although you’re free to make the music you want
to make, be realistic about the commercial possibilities of it.

Try to strike a balance between your artistic vision and how marketable your music is. Make music keeping your specific audience in mind.

8. Make connections with Other Record Labels

Meeting people face to face is much more
effective than sending email after email. You need great people skills
to succeed in the music industry so try going to industry conferences
and masterclasses to see how well you do at striking up conversations.

You
could also network with other people that may help you, such as
managers and lawyers. These people might be able to give you feedback,
advice or even work with you on a long–term basis if they think you’re worth it.

9 Be active on Social Media

Implement a great marketing plan to reach people
online. It will also expand your fanbase to help increase your online
stats, such as Facebook likes, Twitter and Instagram followers, YouTube
subscribers, your followers should be authentic and engaged at all times.

10. Work with a manager

You ideally want to spend your time being creative with the
songwriting and recording of music. A good manager handles all the
business side of things and helps artists get signed to a record label.
This tends to be why a lot of artists become successful. A manager can
be your best friend or it could be someone that already has experience
in the industry. The important thing is that they believe in you and
genuinely want to help you with your goals.

To further give you a workable strategy on how to get signed up to a record label fast, I will recommend this book;