hi,i was wondering if many people that use elektronauts actually managed to get signed with a record label,its something i would like to do and id love to hear of your positive experiences and success stories
good topic, I would be interested as well
Its over rated. Iāve been on maybe a dozen over 20 years? Distribute your own music for free yourself.
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yep. and you should consider to pay some third party distribution for streaming your content on all platforms, which is basically a modern record deal 
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some small releases of single tracks on minor labels. Nothing worth to mentionā¦ Didnāt bring any advantages over releasing it myself. There are so many small labels. Guess you have to get on a fairly known one to profit from their relationships and connections
so would you say that it didnāt help you to meet people, improve your skills, and your music in any way?
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Good question.
For me personally, it did not help me meet people.
I dont think being on labels helped improve my skills, my own motivation did that.
Has my music improved over the years? Shit man, thats not for me to say.
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I guess it depends on what music youāre making and how big you want to be.
If youāre making underground drill music, a YouTube account with a bunch of subscribers is way more important than a record deal.
If youāre making the sort of music that already has a niche audience there are probably better ways of engaging with that audience than signing up with a record label.
If youāre making pop music and want help with marketing and distribution, probably best to try to get a record deal, but good luck with that.
Most of the ācoolā labels donāt take demos anymore, so theyāll only notice you by the time youāve already got a bit of buzz about you, by which point Iām not sure theyād do anything for you that you canāt do for yourself.
Work hard, build an audience, create networks for yourself, use available platforms to sell your music on your own terms.
*Iāve never had any involvement with record labels, nor have I tried, so all my advice is basically bullshit, but it feels good to talk.
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Probably the best advice on this thread
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Okā¦
I was hoping that getting on a label would make things more real than sending tracks in the internet void. To meet people who care and give you criticism and a technical support. But maybe things arenāt done this wayā¦
Regarding skills, Iām glad for you if your motivation is enough to get you where you want. For me, I feel that Iām limited and I would learn a lot from others
Iāve been get contacted by a small label for a small EP(3 tracks).
They loved the music and wanted to make a digital release. Itās always nice to be there, we talked a lot about the mix and how to get it better, so I worked for it( Iām not a mixing guyā¦but we learn each paceā¦), and that is positive, but I donāt think it will sell anything more than what Iām doing for myself(soā¦no salesā¦;-)) and I donāt think they have any good music industry contactā¦ motivation was ok for some weeks, butā¦well, all continues as sameā¦ soā¦itās always on yourselfā¦
I like the spirit 
Joke aside, I take the āknow your stuff and what you want to do with itā adviceā¦
Donāt you think it sucks to have to do everything by yourself? Who can be good in creating things but also mixing, advertising, graphics, etcā¦?
So youāre tracks were already released somewhere when the label got in touch with you? and you worked again on it with their feedback?
I think it sucks, all I want to do is music 
. But as far as I can tell, most labels expect you to deliver a finished product anyway. They wonāt do this stuff for you. Times are gone, where sending in simple demos was the way to contact them.
Make connections. The internet can be a beautiful place for that, forums, youtube etc You might find people that want to collaborate. People who like doing artwork or videos etc and are looking for musicians they enjoyā¦
I remember there was a lot of experience shared in this thread as well
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Thanks, Iām going to read this
More or lessā¦my tracks were on youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZhf9P3g8PXtcASWuh19Row/videos) they fall in love with one track, and then they proposed to release 3 tracksā¦ My tracks are mixed and mastered by me, and iām not a proā¦so yes, I remixed with some feedback and then they mastered somewhere by a proā¦ The EP is coming end of month. You need to make your own promotion and be confident one day you will be seen by someoneā¦ But the market is, like earth, overpopulated 
Anyway, I donāt think we will earn any money, even to pay the masteringā¦hahaha!
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If you are highly marketable enough for a label to notice you all that anyone in this world is going to do is take advantage of you, whether thatās one of the million small unknown labels that want to use you to start themselves off or a big label that wants to rinse you dry. Record labels are a product of a different time, forget about it. You have the internet for all that now.
If you feel like youāre sending music into the void youāre doing it wrong imo. I completely get it cause I felt the same way too. You need to get out there and work with real people. Donāt just be one of a billion soundcloud accounts jamming links everywhere. Donāt bother occasionally posting videos to an empty Instagram expecting anything other than another random producers put a ā
this slaps, hey check out my trackā in the comments once a month. You want real interaction, get out and meet real people, in real life. Not right now obviously, but when things stabilise. Make consistent content, make interesting videos. Play small gigs, talk to people, collaborate. Slowly work with someone bigger than yourself each time then when youāve built a decent base people smaller than will come to you. If you want a label for the networking at that point you are the label. Then if you ever really hit the big time a real label will be in contact with you soon enough
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Yeah, I think I gave up finding a label for my music, Iād much rather spend my time making music and sharing it, than trying to create artificial relationships with people I donāt know in the hope they will release it for me.
I realise now that the only aspect that I would really appreciate is having someone give me objective criticism and helping me edit my stuff. And I can find the communotary aspect here!
But other than that, I believe now that those stories from guys reaching out to label, getting signed out of the blue and enjoying a success story are rare exceptions, otherwise they are mainly friends stories, so get out and connect in real life I guess
Interesting subject
Speaking generally, I think many people are still motivated by the status symbol of being signed, which is one way they hook you in on deeply shitty contracts. There have been some famous horror stories of label mistreatment over the years, and Iāve heard a lotttttttt of bad stuff first hand from friends in bands. But Iād be extremely interested in the flipside of this: Has anyone got any feedback of labels with a really positive reputation for nurturing talent and having musiciansā best interests at heart??
Otherwise, yeah putting yourself out there (real world or virtual) to connect with scenes, co-operatives, musical support groups of whatever kind will likely get you what youāre hoping for, keeping control of your work, without needing to sell your soul. The shift away from the need for corporate promotion is an extremely welcome one, but I guess for people not so comfortable with self promotion, progress could be a bit tricky.
No, I love it. Itās all so easy these days.
In fact, Iāve just finished the first draft for the artwork of an EP Iām going to be uploading to Bandcamp in the coming weeks. It took me about 20 minutes with a cool photo a friend sent me and some free image software on my phone.
As for mixing and mastering, fuck it, just do what I do and slap ālo-fiā in front of everything. Or send it to http://hermetechmastering.com/ for a damn good seeing to.
Youāre a member of the best forum in the world for DIY musicians. If you want help with anything, ask here, someone will be able to help you out.
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