The Industry indie VS Major.. are they the same?

[eMDe]

I went through entertainment law at foothill.. and have read a bunch of music business books.. and it seems like the idie business is almost seperate from the "major's". The indie business doesn't worry about alot of the "major" industy rules.
For instance.. I would turn down someone who wanted royalties for a beat or feature because hardly anyone asks for em. How can i pay out royalties when the majority of my sales are out the trunk?

it's almost a whole new business..
We DONT rely on radio/video play.
We DONT do BIG shows.
We DONT sell 100's of thousands of units
but we also
DONT need to spend $500K for promotion
DONT worry about royalites (as far as beats and features)
DONT need to sell 100K units to recoup.
WE DONT EVEN NEED DISTRUBUTION TO MAKE $!
why kiss ass to these shady distributers and get 7$ a unit when you could push em out the trunk for 10-14 and sell 1000 in your own town?

Any thoughts on this?
*Waits for HERESY to jump and disect this thread like the conversation surgen he is*

 

[BIG J]

You takin' That This Quarter eMDe? What teachers did you get?

I feel you, Indi Versus Major, there is a Big difference, most of the material they give you is on a major scale.

 

[HERESY]

EMDE I ACTUALLY AGREE WITH YOU. WITH ME ITS NOT THAT SIMPLE. I FEEL THAT MY "MESSAGE" IS WORTH *MORE* THAN ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY. I CAN SIGN OVER 100% OF "TIP TOE IS BACK PUBLISHING" AND GIVE THE LABEL 100% OF THE SALES. MAKES ME NO DIFFERENCE. NOW THEY AR ENOT GOIGN TO "TAKE" IT UNLESS I "GIVE" IT.

I WILL BE RELYING ON RADIO. I AM IN THE PROCESS OF SECURING MONIES FOR VIDEOS. I NEED TO BE INVOLVED WITH SOUNDCAN BECAUSE I WANT TO PUSH BIG NUMBERS.

NOW WITH ALL DUE RESPECT IF YOU HAD TO LEARN WHAT YOU JUST TYPED IN SCHOOL THEY NEED TO CHANGE THE CURRICULUM(I KNOW THAT IS NOT HOW YOU SPELL IT BUT IT WILL DO FOR NOW). ANY HUSTLER CAN TELL YOU THAT.

WHY DO YOU NEED A DISTRIBUTOR? DOES IT HAVE BENIFITS? SAY SOMEONE IN NORTH CAROLINA HEARS ABOUT YOU. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SLANG A CD TO THEM?

I ACTUALLY ****WANT**** TO SIGN WITH A MAJOR OR AN IDIE LABEL WHO CAN PUSH AT LEAST 50,000 OR MORE UNITS. I WANT TO SIGN AS AN ARTIST. I DONT WANT TO BE "INDEPENDENT". MY MESSAGE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MONEY.



:H:


PS YOU HAVE SHADY PEOPLE IN EVERY ASPECT OF THIS GAME. SHADE TREE RAPPERS. SHADE TREE COMPOSERS AND PRODUCERS. SHADE TREE MANAGERS ETC ETC ETC.

 

[eMDe]

WHY DO YOU NEED A DISTRIBUTOR? DOES IT HAVE BENIFITS? SAY SOMEONE IN NORTH CAROLINA HEARS ABOUT YOU. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO SLANG A CD TO THEM?

Key word here is NEED. I was saying we dont NEED a distributer. Of course it is great to get signed.. but i was saying you don't NEED it to make money. We dont NEED a video. But sure if it happens GREAT.

I ACTUALLY ****WANT**** TO SIGN WITH A MAJOR OR AN IDIE LABEL WHO CAN PUSH AT LEAST 50,000 OR MORE UNITS. I WANT TO SIGN AS AN ARTIST. I DONT WANT TO BE "INDEPENDENT".

Well most of us do as well. But the problem is it is VERY hard to break into the "inner cirlce" wihtout the connections needed to get signed. I'm not saying you dont have them, but for most of us it was very hard to juct jump up to getting signed. Working up from indie status is how it works.

NOW WITH ALL DUE RESPECT IF YOU HAD TO LEARN WHAT YOU JUST TYPED IN SCHOOL THEY NEED TO CHANGE THE CURRICULUM(I KNOW THAT IS NOT HOW YOU SPELL IT BUT IT WILL DO FOR NOW). ANY HUSTLER CAN TELL YOU THAT.

I was just bringing up comparisons between indie and major.. not bragging about knowledge on the business because i still have much to learn.

@Big J I'm taking Entertainment Law with Anderson

 

[BIG J]

Anderson is a Cool Teacher, he's hella funny. He's been runnin' the commercial music program for years

 

[HERESY]

Key word here is NEED. I was saying we dont NEED a distributer. Of course it is great to get signed.. but i was saying you don't NEED it to make money. We dont NEED a video. But sure if it happens GREAT.

I UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING YOU ARE SAYING. IN SOME WAYS YOU CAN MAKE MORE MONEY WITH A DISTRIBUTOR BECAUSE YOU ARE HITTING MORE PEOPLE.

Well most of us do as well. But the problem is it is VERY hard to break out of the "inner cirlce" wihtout the connections needed to get signed. I'm not saying you dont have them, but for most of us it was very hard to juct jump up to getting signed. Working up from indie status is how it works.

THATS HOW IT WORKS FOR YOU. I WILL NEVER SELL A UNIT FROM MY TRUNK. IM NOT TRYING TO GO THAT ROUTE.

1.COME WITH A BUSINESS AND MARKETING PLAN

2.ID YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE

3.COME WITH PRODUCT

4.SUBMIT IT TO A LAWYER OR MANAGER AND LET THEM SOLICITE THE MATERIAL FOR YOU.

5.YOU WILL GET FURTHER IN THE "GAME" BY NETWORKING WITH "BUSINESS MEN" THAN NETWORKING WITH "ARTISTS".

I was just bringing up comparisons between indie and major.. not bragging about knowledge on the business because i still have much to learn.

NO I DIDNT MEAN IT LIKE THAT PIMP.

ONE OF MY HOMEBOYS.....WAIT 2 OF MY DAWGS ARE HELL BENT ON STAYING INDIE. CATS CAN GET SIGNED ALL DAY LONG. HOWEVER THOSE WHO HAVE DONE THE HOMEWORK WILL SUCCEED. WHY RELEASE AN INDIE ALBUM OR ANY OTHER ALBUM IF YOU DONT KNOW A THING ABOUT DEMOGRAPHICS AND WHO YOUR AUDIENCE IS?

NOW IF AN INDIE LABEL WANTS MY PRODUCT AND THEY CAN PUSH SOME NUMBERS COOL. ME PRESSING UP 1000 UNITS AND SLANGING THEM WONT WORK FOR ME.


IF CATS LIKE NELLY CAN IDENTIFY THE MARKET AND FULFILL THE NEED OF THE PEOPLE (AND PUSH 9 MILLION) SURELY SOMEONE CAN WALK OFF THE STREET AND DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. ICE T DID IT. NO KNOWLEDGE OF "BUSINESS" WILL HURT YOU.


YES I CAN SLANG 5000-20000 UNITS AND HAVE A MAJOR LOOK AT ME. THATS NOT WHAT I WANT TO DO. I WANT TO BE AN "ARTIST" AND THATS A DIFFERENT BALL GAME IN ITSELF.

NOW WILL A LABEL BE TAKING A CHANCE ON ME? YES. IF I SHOW THEM I KNOW THE BUSINESS AND I COME AT THEM WITH A BUSINESS PLAN WILL THEY BE IMPRESSED? YES AND NO. IF I SOLD UNITS BEFORE WOULD THEY BE ABLE TO REST AT NIGHT? MAYBE. WHATS YOUR MOUTH PIECE LIKE??????? BECAUSE WHEN ITS ALL SAID AND DONE THATS WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO COME DOWN TO.


I KNOW HOW TO MARKET "HERESY". I AM "HERESY". I KNOW HOW TO MARKET TO "HERETICS". I KNOW ABOUT THE GOLDEN AISLE AND WHERE I WANT TO HAVE THE UNITS PLACED. WORKING FOR FREE WITH A PROMOTER PAID OFF BIG TIME...........


I HOPE KEV SKI POSTS UP HERE SOON.


:H:

 

[eMDe]

I feel you heresy.
So in your case knowing the "major" tactics is necessary.. because that's the route you are going.

 

[HERESY]

^^^ KNOWING BOTH MAJOR AND INDIE TACTICS. A LOT OF THE MAJORS JUST SIT BACK AND WATCH HOW THE INDIES DO IT. SEE WE NEED SOME TYPE OF UNION. THATS THE ONLY WAY UP AND COMING ARTIST/INDIE LABELS WILL REALLY HAVE A ***LOUD*** VOICE.


:H:

 

[eMDe]

It is funny you say that becasue i was thinking of starting up a little group called "IMC" Independent Music Connection..
To help promote, Sell, and protect indie labels. It would take alot of work tho.. and i just dont have the time right now,,

 

[HERESY]

^^^^ we need something like that. especially with all these up and coming artist/producers.


:h: