For those of you entertaining the idea of starting your own independent label, ArtistsHouseMusic.org has a tremendous amount of educational resources from some of leaders in the industry. This is a guided tour through some of those materials.

Let’s start with the foundation. George Howard, former president of the storied Rykodisc label and founder of Slow River Records, has prepared a series of articles to help you get you on the right path to starting an independent record label. First, George describes the fundamental differences between the majors and indie labels in his article “What is a Label?”

Next up, George provides practical insight with a 35,000 foot view of the start-up label in Part 1 of his two-part series, “Starting a Record Label.”

“Starting a Record Label, Part 2,” examines the types of legal forms of ownership you will need to confront for your new label.

Syd Butler, founder and President of French Kiss Records, talks about the importance of bands touring. He believes that if a band doesn’t tour the label crashes.
He also believes that the label must be sure a band’s records are in stores along their tour circuit so that a fan who doesn’t have money at a show can buy the CD later at their local record store.

Syd also shares his experience in learning the distribution game and the many challenges that go along with that business for an indie label. He explains the need to have a sizable catalog to get picked up by a distributor. He also discusses how expensive listening stations and store placements can be for indie labels. Syd continues to make the case for touring and talks about the fact that record stores can return all products that don’t sell. So, if a band isn’t touring, no one will care about the CD that is sitting in the bins and will ultimately get returned.

Next up is Michael Caplan, President and co-founder of Or Music, an independent record label based in New York. Michael shares his thoughts on what it takes to run an independent label. He focuses on four to five artists per year and like most independents, he handles all A&R, promotion, marketing, sales and manufacturing for his label.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little indie-label focused tour. ArtistsHouseMusic.org has many more articles and interviews on the subject of starting and running an indie label. Type the word “indie” into the search box for more resources and information.

Good luck with your own indie label pursuits!

Debbie Cavalier
Debbie Cavalier is the dean of continuing education for Berklee College of Music’s online extension school, Berkleemusic.com