How to get signed to a record company
You are competing against 100,000,000′s for a record deal.
In The Muscian’s Guide to World Domination, I go into great detail about understanding the record label signing process and offer a collection of strategies that will increase your chances of success as a musician. As it’s the month of giving, I thought I would post some of the information from the section on record labels here on the blog to help you with one of the most frequently asked questions in the music industry.
Essentially, the solution is very simple – a record company is a business that is looking to sign musicians that will earn them money, so all you need to do is appear like a good investment, right?
Not quite I’m afraid! It would be wrong to assume that every single record label manager shares the same thought process, instead, there are a variety of criteria that record label A&R people will take in to account when looking for new artists, such as:
- How unique is your music?
- Is your music marketable or in demand?
- Is your music going to be marketable for a long period of time or a short one?
- Where are you located?
- How experienced are you? Have you been signed before?
- How motivated are you?
- How easy are you to work with?
There are many more factors taken into account (that I go into in The Musician’s Guide to World Domination), but essentially your aim as a musician is to tick as many of these boxes and present your music to the record company as the perfect investment.
So lets be practical, what can you actually do right now to help you get signed to a record company? I would say that the easiest solutions to the points above are:
- Gain experience (touring, promoting, recording, meeting labels)
- Gain knowledge (learn what works and how to get places instead of learning from mistakes)
- Gain motivation (discover quick wins to keep you interested in working hard)
Starting to look like a vicious circle?
If you’re struggling in this position, I strongly recommend reading The Musician’s Guide to World Domination as it offers a range of quick wins and long term strategies to help you not only get signed to a record deal, but get the right deal for you.