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The Best Label
This article is in response to a request made by honorthefallen on Feb 15th, 2009
In your opinions, which indie label out there is the best. All around the best. Best Line Up. Best record Sales. Treats their bands like bands and not just a money maker.
-------------- My response!
This is a tough question for a few reasons.
1- A lot of labels treat each band differently.
The same label may treat one band really well and another one not so well. They might treat the same band completely differently from one album to the next. This can be because of the band's size, the band's sales, personal relationships, or anything else you can think of. I've seen one of the top bands on a particular indie label get treated improperly and pushed to the side because the label's focus was on different bands. Is it to be expected that the label treat everyone the same? absolutely not. But if they're giving one band a serious advantage (helping them buy on tour tours/tour support, giving them more money for recording, promotion, etc) and not giving another band the same thing, they shouldn't treat the outcome of album sales the same.
2- Line up is a matter of personal preference. Does anyone else remember Drive Thru in 2002/2003 at their peak? It was the pop punk kid's dream label. Each label goes through motions as do many bands. Right now, some indies are really branching out (see: Epitaph) and signing bands all over the spectrum.
3- Which brings me to my next point. This industry is ever changing. What's up one day is down the next. That's the twisted beauty of it. There's only so much that stays constant and that said, it's impossible to judge the trends, reactions, etc.
4- Records sales aren't the only thing that should be considered when trying to determine how good of a job the record label is doing. Merch sales, tours, publicity, street teams, promotion... that all should be factored in. And sometimes, it's not the label making this happen. Sometimes it's management, sometimes it's the band, sometimes it's a street team. Just because a band is on a label and a band is doing well doesn't mean it's because of something the label did... as well as just because a band isn't doing well, doesn't necessarily mean it's something the label did (or didn't do).
I don't have an answer for this question. Just wanted to put my two cents in about why I don't. It's a good question, but a hard one! I honestly think there's too much to factor in to determine anything. Some bands are going to do well no matter if they're on a label or what label they're on. Some bands won't do well no matter what, either.
Comments
Excellent article! We think that bands are WAY to worried about getting signed so they "don't have to work hard anymore." I believe the second you say "alright, we don't need a label, lets do this ourselves" is the second you become a legit, sign-able band. Once again we loved the article!
