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| totziens |
 Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 8:34 pm Post subject: Setting Up a Record Label? |
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Joined: 27 Feb 2005
Posts: 1210
Location: Petaling Kurang Berjaya
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I believe many of you may have thought about setting up a record label/distribution company like I do. Perhaps many of you may still dream about it like myself. Being fed up of my "cruel commercial" job, I have been thinking about this over and over for the past few years - I have to admit that so far it's NATO (no action, talk only)
I think I would like to voice out about my idea here. At least someone can help criticising if my idea is not logical.
To be realistic, I don't dare to say that I can afford to set up a record label which is non-profit making. The reason is I have a family to feed. The company should start up in a small scale and perhaps on part-time basis. Perhaps it should start up as just a DIY distribution company. It should be a bands' label - meaning bands should be given the freedom to do what they want to do and all copyrights should belong to the bands. The label should not control the bands' creativity and focus too much on generating money. Profit sharing should be encouraged among bands and record label. I predict that initially the company may not generate any income due to various expenses of setting up the company and the money spent on promoting the bands. The cost should be covered up by the record sales, gigs, etc at later stage. I understand that setting up a studio is very costly. Perhaps at the beginning the recording should be done at any studio preferred by the bands. Links or connection with international indie labels should help too.
I know that I am lack of exposure in this industry. I may not be able to do this by myself. I hope this will not remain a dream forever...
Pls feel free to comment/criticise/add your opinion/just say something....if you think that I am out of my mind, pls feel free to let me know  |
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| GryMlock |
| Posted: Tue Mar 15, 2005 9:02 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 24 Nov 2003
Posts: 3699
Location: Agombak Ago go!
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i think the main problem that the labels are going to face is still in the area of distributions.
one of the idea that has been brought up to me is to have at least 1 jamming studio in each state to work together and be our partner outlets. I bet issues concerning the CD sales would surface in the long run. But putting that aside, I think it will work better than selling it at gigs.
(well actually the initial idea was to set up a jamming/recording studio in each state, but i doubt we would dare to invest on that lah)
so that's my idea concerning distribution
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| totziens |
| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 11:01 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 27 Feb 2005
Posts: 1210
Location: Petaling Kurang Berjaya
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I also think distribution is a problem. I was informed regarding this by a band member of an Indonesian band - they could not find a distributor in Malaysia although they would like to expand their market. Therefore I think distribution is a good start to set up a label - this is the most wanted service in the scene. Perhaps several distribution companies (with indie attitude) or various branches in various states could be set up and all of them may work together to form a network. If I were to do this, I think I would like to look for partners in Penang, Ipoh, JB, maybe Sabah/Sarawak and one of the states in East coast. Ok, I guess I am dreaming again...let's not talk about such a big scale business. To tell you the truth, I am thinking of doing distribution in Klang Valley as a starter ...basically it's a one man task...I'll just distribute the albums all by myself during weekends.....then see how it goes. What do you think?
Actually my home state is Perlis although I have been living in Klang Valley for more than a decade. I remember there was a studio in Perlis almost a decade ago, it did not last very long though. I doubt the studio was good in terms of quality but at least there was a studio. Nowadays I am not sure whether there's any studio in Perlis. It's hard to set up studio there because not many bands exist. Furthermore, people in smalltowns don't have the spending power of city folks. If you do well, copycats will emerge and eventually the competition will kill everyone in the same business sector. In other word, it's not easy to set up business there in general. So, I doubt having a studio in every state is feasible. However, if you're talking about Klang Valley, Johor, Perak, Penang,....I think the hope is there. In addition, setting up a studio is costly and not many normal people like us can afford such a risk.
Please feel free to debate. I admit that may not be 100% accurate. I would really appreciate any feedback and opinion. |
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| theFlyingElk |
| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 4:23 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 27 Jul 2004
Posts: 121
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IMO setting up a distribution through the internet would be easier to start. you could start a shop at ebay or yahoo for example. sure you have to pay a fee but it comes with loads of services and its more secure than setting up your own website (which i think is more expensive to setup). And you dont have to have agents all over the country to carry your stocks and could work this out on your own time.
And now with payments options like paypal and maybank2u i think it could work. I think the most important thing is having stuff that sells and people who are willing to part cash for it. I know most of you would think, abis camna dgn orang yang tak boleh access internet? and my answer is its ALREADY 2005 MAN! and you could go a step further and maybe advertise your distro in your local magazines or maybe partner up with your local music forums or portals for ad space to promote your distros
and the best part for all this is... you can keep your day job well probably not until they caught you for that daily excursions to the post-office. hehe.
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| totziens |
| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:18 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 27 Feb 2005
Posts: 1210
Location: Petaling Kurang Berjaya
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That's a pretty great idea, theFlyingElk. Thanks a lot.
How come I have never thought about it? I guess I must be stupid or what...it makes an IT guy like me sound like a big moron...hahaha.
I agree that internet is a great marketing tool. In this country, most of the people are still reluctant to purchase anything via internet. I have to admit that I am one of them.
I can tell you my reason - I am unhappy about the courier service in Malaysia. Most of the time, the delivery guy doesn't turn up after you make an appointment with him to deliver the parcel. This problem happens many times to me. I end up collecting the parcel myself everytime at the post office (it's also not the nearest post office...I have to go all the way to KL Sentral from PJ). If you think the post office is bad. Another private courier service is worse, I made appointment a few times in a week, the delivery guy didn't turn up at all. Due to long holidays, they included holidays as the number of days the item was not collected. So when the holidays were over, the item was already returned to the sender. |
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| GryMlock |
| Posted: Wed Mar 16, 2005 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 24 Nov 2003
Posts: 3699
Location: Agombak Ago go!
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but paypal still doesn't allow withdrawing to local banks. right?
and maybank personal account doesn't have the e-payment feature. if u're just selling your products, your band releases for example... then it wouldn't be much of a problem. The last time I checked, we need to pay a certain amount, monthly and have a running business for at least 2-3 years..If I'm not mistaken lah.ElkTerbang, how does ebay malaysia & yahoo store deal with payments? can we setup a store, and accept payments via our maybank2u (personal saving account)?
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| theFlyingElk |
| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 9:08 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 27 Jul 2004
Posts: 121
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yeap,paypal cant withdraw cash hehe unless you have friends in the US that have a bank account but i think MEPS is starting up some sort of paypal-ish service here in Malaysia dont know if that could work out.
with maybank2u we could just transfer the cash with our personal account using the inter giro thing. yeap sure direct debit is a bit shady but i think if you provide the necessary information and run a tight business to the customers im sure people have no problems trusting you.
and there's a lot of courier services here in Malaysia like nationwide whom i had the experience of using before. they have a tracking number that could be checked on their site and the delivery time is about 2-3 days (depending on the location). i dont really know about the other services.
in my opinion most of the people in malaysia is a weird bunch, they'll gladly pay sums of money for ringtones and RM1 per msg chat on 8TV but are fearful to spend cash on the internet. i guess that we are so use to the 'chinaman' way of doing business that place less priorities to the consumers that we become afraid of being cheated or something.
Not really sure how this article could help you totziens but it is a good read nevertheless
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=291832 |
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| jaaroquai |
| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:49 am Post subject: |
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Joined: 30 Sep 2004
Posts: 208
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Delivery?
Alaa..cari la mat despatch. Sepupu ke, sedara ke, kawan ke, sesapa je lah. Ataupun, buat hantaran waktu malam. So ramai buleh cari part time. Bayaran tu pandai pandai la kau deal.
Takyah pakai courier membazir beb. Kau kan nak start-up so cari la sumber yg kos rendah.
Harap buah fikiran yg sebesar atom ni dapat menambahkan pilihan kau  |
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| totziens |
| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:27 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 27 Feb 2005
Posts: 1210
Location: Petaling Kurang Berjaya
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Jaaroquai, kau nak volunteer jadi despatch, ke? start up company tak ada duit nak bayar gaji...hehe...definitely appreciate some volunteers...
the FlyingElk, thanks for the article. I'll check it up after office hour.
As a start-up company, if I were to do, I think I'll be the delivery man, salesman, clerk, manager, accountant, etc. I cannot afford to pay any salary because even the income is uncertain. If the business goes well, then only I'll try to get other people involved. I don't want anyone else to mess up his/her life because the business fails. I don't intend to do it like typical china man or some commercial corporations. I'll be breaking my own "ideology" if I do so. I want the company to be the bands' friend not another blood sucking company. |
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| GryMlock |
| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 12:45 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 24 Nov 2003
Posts: 3699
Location: Agombak Ago go!
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Jaa.. hehe.. easier than done lah bro. if those sedara can do it for free.. all the way then it will work out very well . The cost will be much higher and basically just a waste of time.
if u're running a one man show and doing it part time, u need tools that can help u manage your accounts easily. Paypal has those tools! I've been using paypal to sell my phpnuke & phpbb templates and it helps a great deal. I can't withdraw the money.. but fortunately I can pay my server via paypal. so it worked out fine in my situation. And all the transactions are logged.. so it is well organized! when things are well organized.. it gives you more time to work on other projects! You can focus on your day job better.. u can build more templates and sell more! Selling things online can be very tricky if u failed to keep track of your order.
here's some example of problems u will face using interbank or bank in method
1) money in.. client forgot to notify you. - will resulted with delay in delivery - client pissed off - bad image for your business.
2) money in.. u didn't see any records in your account transaction history - client pissed off. (this is where client bank in slip or screen shot of the transaction may help resolve the dispute)
3) money in .. 2 transaction came in.. 4 client notifies you that they made the transaction! again.. bank in & screenshot will save the day.
if u have 1 client a day.. then there shouldn't be any problem!
but imagine you as a distributor.. carrying CDs from other labels as well.. we're not talking about 1-2 bands under your label here.... so without proper records.. things will be a total mess!
and that's why my i-bands store is still on hold 
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| omarjamaludin |
| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:11 pm Post subject: |
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| pali |
| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 1:28 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Posts: 687
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love me butch keluar dari nsr records sebab tak puas hati dengan management and decided to form their own label. dan tak salah aku everything yang diorang buat memang semua usaha sendiri.
pre production buat kat rumah meng(guitarist) and kat studio jamming labrat (owner: family Shahrul(the vox)). full recording buat kat studio 101. mastering tak sure kat mana (kat us kot!). and now for distributing is either universal or someone else.
the new album tak release lagi tapi mungkin this april.
seven collar t-shirt pulak under laguna records owned by prana. diorang punya method pun lebih kurang sama dengan apa yang love me butch tapi all the managerial stuff laguna records headed by jeff.
aku kat shah alam memang lepak ngan diorang so it really amaze me how they manage to pull it off. sebab everyone of them are doing it in a part time basis.
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| theFlyingElk |
| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 27 Jul 2004
Posts: 121
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yeah, i agree with Grymlock that's what i mean when i say you need to run a tight business. you have to constantly keep in touch with your customers so that you dont drive them away. Having your own ideals on how you do your business is a great start. do a research on current business models that is similar to your ideals and how they do their business.
btw Toyota is starting up a label
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| GryMlock |
| Posted: Thu Mar 17, 2005 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 24 Nov 2003
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Location: Agombak Ago go!
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| totziens |
| Posted: Fri Mar 18, 2005 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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Joined: 27 Feb 2005
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Location: Petaling Kurang Berjaya
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theFlingElk & GryMlock, you give me the impression that you have a lot of experience in dealing with $ and handling customer transactions. Without your information, I have never even thought about it. I am definitely no good in managing money. Perhaps you can be my consultant one day
Pali, yes..I read an article about Love Me Butch not long ago. I admire them too. If every band has its own label, I think an "umbrella" company could gather all the bands and provide a distribution service regardless of genre, language, race, country of origin, etc. Actually this is what I have in my mind. I have come across some foreign bands which are much better than any of the MTV punk bands but due to lack of promotion and poor distribution, nobody is aware of them (I am writing this with the Canadian band, Broom Filler, in my mind). |
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