How to start a record label

‘I’ve tried to stop buying records but it’s impossible,’ Claudio Lillo

So you want to start your own record label? You’d have loved the Edifeye discussion last night at the Apple Store, Regent Street. Good news if you didn’t make it along, you’ll soon be able to download a podcast from Apple. Held in a small area at the back of the store it was so busy many people had to stand. Strangely for a company that prides itself on its design chops, the discussion took place on a stage so large it prevented the first row of seats from being used.

Threfall, Lillo, Sykes, Moxon, Klimik & Read (l-r)

Hosted by Will Read and Liam Klimek of Edifeye, ‘Edifeye presents life in the music industry‘ introduced four guests who all had experience of starting their own labels: Emily Moxon of Brownswood, Ashley Sykes of Push & Run, Claudio Lillo of FIve Easy Pieces and James Threlfall of Madtech.

After everyone in the audience had agreed to give any recordings of their voice and appearance at the discussion to Apple in perpetuity, the talk kicked off with everyone telling how they had first set up their labels. Or at least everyone except James, who had just got a new job, had to stay late at the office and was a bit late.

Don’t do it for the money was a common theme, as was the belief you’ve got to have a passion for music. Running an indie label is a labour of love. Pay attention to detail, Claudio advised, musing that ‘having talented friends really helps.’ When it came to putting a first record out Ash had the good fortune that his godfather is a distributor. If you don’t have this advantage then it’s a case of getting in touch with PR people. It’s not hard, just time-consuming, Claudio said. Be prepared to give up a lot of time and expect delays, but it’s worth paying for PR in order to get your music heard by the right people.

Common problems encountered included over-pressing and delays, with Emily saying you should never risk more money than you can afford to lose, and that you shouldn’t be afraid to sell out of a record. Claudio pointed out that although vinyl is often the aim, there is no need to release everything on vinyl. He would restrict it to functional releases (for DJs) and collectable releases (for, erm, collectors).  For completely new artists he would do a digital-only release, and only if he thought they could sell more than 500 copies would he get a full-colour sleeve designed.

James advocated parties as a means of funding, although Claudio had been bitten by an unsuccessful event and was more cautious. Ash recommended good old-fashioned saving-up, whilst Emily’s Brownswood was backed by DJ Gilles Peterson – if you can get a superstar DJ involved with your label then that’s clearly the easiest way to go.

For musicians, Claudio felt that there was no need to send demos anymore. If your music is good enough then upload it to Youtube and it will be found.

Just do it was the message for anyone considering starting a record label, although as that slogan is taken by Adidas (or is it Reebok?) it was changed to Just go for it. Have patience, love the music and be nice to people. Oh and don’t forget it’s not just about the music – be prepared for a lot of something called admin.