well said 
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Start off as the child of a rich Hollywood exec
Get a job on the Disney channel
Leave and start to dress in a more āmatureā fashion/find drugs/partying
Release debu album
Collect Grammy
Develop drug problem, or go into doing kids film sound tracks
Retire at 23
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I think for bands, it makes more sense because getting professional studio time is still expensive, plus if you ever want to do vinyl releases, same thing applies.
My friend from Malta who records bedroom pop under the name JOON just got signed by a US label called ITALIANS DO IT BETTER. Sheās no amateur and in fact runs a small mastering business and works as a sound designer, but she cited being able to reach an audience outside of her own network (Malta is tiny) was a huge motivation. On top of that, the label owner mixes everything for her, then they get in their own mastering engineer and take care of marketing. So basically, she can concentrate on writing music, and when the world situation calms down, Iām pretty sure theyāll get her over to America for some shows.
Hereās her debut single if youāre interested:
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got some mo, warpaint, daughter vibes from this. Great vid.
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When I was djing weekly I worked to put stuff out on labels because it helped getting gigs, having a label after your name. Such a different playing field now with anyone being able to set up a digital label for very little. Means its easier to get onto a label though getting onto established labels is still as hard
Doing it yourself has more feeling of accomplishment and down to you to promote and sell it
So basically getting on a label doesnāt hold the same prestige as it once did imo unless on a respected or popular label where you are picked over tons of promos sent to them
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Not necessarily asking for detailed insight in a post, but maybe you have some resources to point people to - how would you set about distributing and promoting your music for yourself?
Iām just starting out making music and I donāt know where to start to get more than a few dozen people to listen to my stuff.
Distrokid if you want your music on Spotify, Apple Music etc.
Having a YouTube channel with your music/videos/gear rants and instagram that you actively use and market yourself on will get you followers naturally.
Labels looking for new artists will naturally gravitate to these kinds of channels and will be looking for people with an already established fanbase and who use these channels well and can do their own marketing.
Invest in what you produce by getting a short run of tapes or vinyl made and send them out to DJās and āInfluencersā. Everyone loves a free vinyl! Do something special with it, make it stand out 
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Nope. My stuff was never gonna appeal to many people though and I managed to get radio play without it (and make a few sales) so Iām not too fussed. Happy to keep plugging away doing my own shit and whatever will be will be
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Honestly, its about who you know. Not what your music sounds like, or even if its any good.
If you live in a place with a scene, that has regular events, and a big population, then that is where it will happen (what ever āitā is )
As for online stuff, again, as has been mentioned already, labels are basically irrelevant now that spotify et all, and things like distrokid exist. None of that existed when I recorded for the first 7 inch I appeared on.
The things that labels used to do for you, they dont do that any more. So why bother chasing them? Do it yourself.
And yes, as has already been mentioned in this thread, any label that is worth being on, they will find you, not the other way round. I dont know how that happens it just does. I said yes to some of them, no to some of them. In the end none of it mattered, i still need a day job to pay the bills, my music isnt popular, I dont have many fans. And all of that is totally fine. I make music for my own reasons, to suit myself, and explore my own creativity. I am old enough and jaded enough to just simply not care about the music industry anymore.
Like Steve Albini said, āThe record industry as it was, doesnt exist anymoreā
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Itās a sad truth it seems, but the positive is that there are so many ways to easily produce music with tons of gear / software options and distribute it to the masses with a plethora of services. Though itās just as easy for everybody else to do the same. The market is saturated, so you have to be awesome at what you do and create your own buzz, otherwise your not going to get noticed.
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Thatās awesome. Love that label; they completely nail a certain aesthetic and sound. Johnny is a hardworking dude. We had Glass Candy down to Houston for a couple shows in the 00s and they were always super cool and easy to work with.
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Event managers/groups may be the alternative to record labels now days.
Getting yourself on the set list for your favourite festival, tour, whatever, is what Iād be doing today if I wasnāt already over it.
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Aye it! I think it was the festivals that killed my enthusiasm for the whole thing. 3 years of doing that just made me want to puke into my porridge.
Back in the 90ās it was what we did to get on record labels and onto radio, so yeah, overdoing it was necessary. Thank god record labelās are dead.
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Agreed with all the above, better to do it yourself (or with friends) than wait for the approval of a label.
The āfriendsā bit is important, hopefully you have some. I know quite a few people who are good at video for example, which I donāt have the skill or patience for. There are probably as many frustrated video makers as beat makers out there who will work on a vid for free if they like you and your song. Iāve found the hardest bit to be marketing, which no one! does for fun.
Anyway Iām hardly a raging commercial success, but Iāve been releasing my own music for eight years, Iāve had certain opportunities and realistically achieved as much as I would have on a label in this small market despite an utterly half-arsed approach to publicity. Ten years ago I was in a band that was signed for a while, a label with a good rep, and it actually sucked having to wait round and sit on music because they didnāt have their shit together.
Psychologically, the validation, the approval is what we crave. Try to free yourself from that. Remember: there is very little connection between the quality of your music and your profile. There are many quality artists that none of us have ever heard of. Also: there are artists that may seem like relatively ābig namesā who donāt benefit from it in any practical sense. I know some people in the improv/noise kinda scene who get any number of reviews in the Wire, namechecks from Thurston Moore, whatever, but it doesnāt pay the bills and theyāre still playing to ten people. So learn to trust your own judgment, be harsh on your own output, but when youāre sure itās ready, put it out there with Buddhist serenity, knowing that its ultimate fate has little to do with its inherent quality.
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This right here is some next level advice, this really hits it on the head @brisket. I appreciate this outlook.
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Hereās an experience I had. Maybe its of some use to someone.
A few years ago I decided to upload a quick video of me dicking around on my octatrack just for fun. I made a few. I posted that vid on here, maybe a shared to a few mates on facebook. Through those youtube clips I recieved more positive feedback and engagement with an audience than any gig or label release I ever did. Ever.
Some of those vids led to offers of gigs, regular nights at regular events, label releases and so on. Sadly I live in Australia, far far away from the source of those offers.
But, I guess the point of the tale is this, through such menial things as youtube, you have direct contact with an audience. Labels dont do that, gigs donāt do that (the audience is usually intoxicated anyway). So perfect your craft, work on your skills, and just put it out there. You maybe surprised at the results. Bandcamp, youtube, soundcloud, etc. Use them.
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Agreed. And you never know ā when something goes viral for (from the artistās POV) no reason, you already have a bunch of other stuff uploaded that people can check out. Same goes for attracting labels. A&R is pretty much all online nowadays 
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I think a lot of labels just look for artists themselves on Soundcloud or Bandcamp.
A few of my tracks got picked up for a split release. The label head just found me on SC, and we talked for a few months as he went through my stuff.
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Also, I used to co-run this little label/music collective:
Basically we just find artists, release their stuff, and give them full revenue. Feel free to send demos to the Pr0gramma SC.
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