Starting a diy label/distro, need advice!

Started by michaelcopeland, August 01, 2014, 02:12:01 PM

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michaelcopeland

Title pretty much says it all. I don't know what I'm doing but I think it would be fun. Advice on getting it started and equipment I need would help a lot!

jer

I wouldn't recommend it. No one buys physical media any ore and bands can do all their releases on their own these days.

It's a bummer because I was fun doing it back in the day, but now it's just not worth it.
Anti-Creative Records sells some things.
http://www.anti-creative.com

Graphix


jer

I meant *it* was, but yeah I was pretty awesome.
Anti-Creative Records sells some things.
http://www.anti-creative.com

Anna Karina

Can't wait for the new Rio de la Muerte album to finally come out.

kw

Quote from: michaelcopeland on August 01, 2014, 02:12:01 PM
Title pretty much says it all. I don't know what I'm doing but I think it would be fun. Advice on getting it started and equipment I need would help a lot!

there is a lot that goes into it. are you doing it digital only? cds? tapes? vinyl? figure out what you want to do, then look around to see how much they cost to get made. typically tapes and cds are pretty cheap, but you're still looking at hundreds of dollars per release. you can always do the uber-punx label and burn cd-r's and make packaging... some people really value those, but don't expect to sell a lot as, in my experience, people tend to want something a bit more substantial if they are going to spend money on it... otherwise they can just download it for free?

just make sure you are doing it for, as you said, fun, and don't expect to ever make a dime on it... more importantly, be okay with treating it like a cigarette habit. it will cost you a lot more than you think, and eventually you should probably quit it, but you'll probably enjoy it for a while.

michaelcopeland

Thanks guys! I'll definitely take all of that into consideration. And yea, I know that it's going to cost me more money that I'll make, that aspect doesn't really bother me

orangeslsrecords

hey send me an email, I run a diy label in upstate NY I can send you some resources to do releases on the cheap if your interested

rabbit

Quote from: kw on August 02, 2014, 03:34:32 PMjust make sure you are doing it for, as you said, fun, and don't expect to ever make a dime on it... more importantly, be okay with treating it like a cigarette habit. it will cost you a lot more than you think, and eventually you should probably quit it, but you'll probably enjoy it for a while.
this is a nice way of looking at it.

i'm going to do it myself too probably- though only really with the main intention of getting my own music out there. i'll probably see if i can scrape up enough to put other people's out too some day, if ever i meet anyone who makes great music and doesn't have a better option elsewhere. but for me at least, it'll be worthwhile purely because it'll be a means of getting my own stuff out there.

murray

I think the most important part of this is that whatever (awesome) bands you're covering, make sure they play all the time and tour as much as possible.
It's never cool when you create a bunch of tapes or cd's and they start stacking the walls.