(idm) delays...

From daniel
Sent Wed, Jun 30th 1999, 16:34

well, to answer your question:

1. time
2. money

many of these smaller record labels are ran by people who have other jobs.
These other jobs is what really provides them income.  A label is a labor
of love.  It is very hard for your career to be just running a
label(especially if you want to eat).  I run mmr on the side.  The job I
hold demands a lot of time and more often than not I have to work on mmr
stuff on weekends or late night.

Then there is the money.  The goal of any label is to be at least self
sufficent.  So hopefully you will put out a record and then sell enough to
break even.  This then allows you to put out another record.  But it isn't
that simple.  Often you have to go through distributors whose terms are
net 60.  Which means you will not be paid for 60 days.  During that time
they try to distribute your release.  At the end of those 60 days (if they
are a good distributor) they send you a check.  But there is another catch
if they don't sell all the releases you are sent them back.  And you are
only paid for what does sell.

And you would be amazed how much you have to hustle just to sell 350
copies of a CD.

add all the above up and you can expect to see delays...

-daniel
Head Monkey
Mad Monkey Records
http://monkey.eliteware.com

On Wed, 30 Jun 1999, warren g. (harding) wrote:

> > you forget that it is record labels that put out records, not the artists...give a bunch of new tracks to a small label like choc. ind. or skam, and it may well be three
> > years before your record comes out. and artists tend to want to put their old shit out before they drop their new stuff...but then these new tracks will end up getting
> > delayed too, &c. &c.
> 
> what exactly is it that causes these things to
> be delayed 3 years? i've heard a lot of the 
> CI and Schematic stuff sits around forever
> waiting for DR to finish artwork for it... 
> isn't that kind of silly?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ,rj../
> ___,">www.gl.umbc.edu/~nworth1
>