What is a record company? Basically, a record company is a business responsible for putting out music. Typically, they are the ones who sign on new acts then help them create their records and get those records out to the fans. Learn all you can about the record label business before you actually start.
What does a record company do? The record company might also help with tours and will work with the bands management to do promotions, marketing, and more in an effort to help the band create a solid reputation and a strong fan base. Most of record companies also have a label under which they release their music. Some of the larger firms have multiple labels to represent different genres.
One of the first challenges of starting a record company is going to be money. Setting up a record company does require some capital. Now the best way to do this is to hit up potential investors, including other music lovers, friends, family members or take out a bank loan to get started.
A second challenge is finding acts to work with and if you are already in a band, you probably have at least one customer. Regardless of your musician status, you should start going to as many local performances as possible to look for talent. Do not just work with anyone because you need to establish a reputation for high-quality entertainment if you are going to be taken seriously.
Before you start, the many things you will need to know in advance is that having a record company can be a lot of work. You are going to be doing a lot of work, and you will not see much in terms of an investment return for a long time. You should also realize that digital distribution is a good way to get the music to the masses but you will also have to spend a lot of money setting up a site where you can do this.
If you go through the online music stores, you will be lucky to earn a few pennies each time a song is purchased. And that is even if you can get into their stores. These days musicians have to work very hard to earn money for their music. You also must legally protect your compositions or songs through copyright. You do not want someone to 'rip you off' and take credit for your original music. If you are not recording your own music but want to promote others' music, they must also find out how to protect their original songs.
The best way to be successful is to start networking with people who can help you early on. For example, if you cozy up to someone in music distribution, you might have an easier time getting your acts taken seriously and introduced to a wider audience. You will also need relationships with studios that might cut you a break on the charges of recording the albums, and you will probably want to start getting to know some of the local agents who could alert you to rising talent in the area if you want to promote other artists besides yourself.
by Kirk Rolsett
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