Stay Independent or Sign with a Major Label?

It is natural for an underground artist to have the ambition to be signed by a major record label. While this is so, there has been a great awakening among underground artists as it relates to the benefits of staying independent.

 

Why Stay with an Independent Label?

There are two major benefits of working with an independent label. with an independent label, you can maintain a close business relationship with the team, and you can also get deals that are more artist-centered.

Independent or indie labels tend to have a smaller workforce. This makes it easy for you to develop relationships with the people at these labels that are working with you. Your concerns and requests go through far fewer channels when you are on an independent label than on a major label.

Small independent labels usually have less complicated contracts. This usually gives you an arrangement where you can see more of the money coming in from your work. The deals that you get from an independent label will naturally have fewer clauses that will result in the company having too much creative control of your work.

Why Sign with a Major Label?

Access to funds and organization are the two major benefits of working with a major label.

One of the main reasons that underground artists sign major labels is because of the great access to funds that come from these deals. Major labels have loads of money that they can use to invest in your music career. With a major label, you will benefit from large advances (which you must be wary of), fancy marketing, huge recording budgets, tour organization and financial support, and a host of other perks.

Major labels are also very organized. With a major label, they usually have detailed planning and scheduling in place. This gives artists a certain peace of mind knowing that everything is taken care of. You will not have to worry about things falling through the cracks with a major label.

 

Final Thoughts

The choice is yours to stay independent or go with a major label; however, if you want to be signed by a major label, you must develop a following and some buzz around your music. To do this, you must invest in your music career.

Instead of stealing beats or grabbing instrumentals off YouTube to make your songs, use your money and purchase quality beats. Purchasing quality beats will ensure that your talent gets the respect that it deserves. You also will not have to worry about facing legal action when your music goes viral. We recommend that you buy the exclusive license to beats when you purchase them so that no other artist can use your beat.

As you invest in your product and in marketing yourself, you will attract major record labels. If it is your desire to sign to a major label, we recommend that you ensure that the deal you are getting is worth it. Kanye West’s recent tweets have exposed some of the ills of working with major labels. You should keep them in mind.