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Ethics Question - Record Label edition


Meteo Xavier
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Since last night I've been talking to a guy who runs a decent sized netlabel (or at least a label that is primarily focused on selling Digital Downloads) that I might be a pretty good fit for.

The problem I run into is that, if I try to send them my upcoming album for review, I gotta wait a couple months for them to review it and only maybe get an approval, and in that time I can't sell it on Amazon.com or anything and I might not be able to post it anywhere (have to check with them if its ok to put it up on Youtube or something).

This would be a considerable pain in my ass because I've been trying to get it finished for almost a year now and I'm not going to sit on a finished product for two months waiting. I can't post it here and then come back in two months and say "Ok, NOW its for sale."

What I'm thinking of doing then is just selling the album through private arrangements - like if I was selling someone here a used game or something. You send me a check (or Paypal or whatever) and I just email you the .zip file with all the tracks and artwork on it until the approval process is over..

Is that the right thing to do though? I get the feeling its unethical to do that because I'm still selling it, just not on a worldwide public forum like Amazon.com and I don't want to break their trust. At the same time, I have absolutely no guarantee it will be approved and I'm potentially losing sales.

What do you think?

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Since last night I've been talking to a guy who runs a decent sized netlabel (or at least a label that is primarily focused on selling Digital Downloads) that I might be a pretty good fit for.

The problem I run into is that, if I try to send them my upcoming album for review, I gotta wait a couple months for them to review it and only maybe get an approval, and in that time I can't sell it on Amazon.com or anything and I might not be able to post it anywhere (have to check with them if its ok to put it up on Youtube or something).

This would be a considerable pain in my ass because I've been trying to get it finished for almost a year now and I'm not going to sit on a finished product for two months waiting. I can't post it here and then come back in two months and say "Ok, NOW its for sale."

What I'm thinking of doing then is just selling the album through private arrangements - like if I was selling someone here a used game or something. You send me a check (or Paypal or whatever) and I just email you the .zip file with all the tracks and artwork on it until the approval process is over..

Is that the right thing to do though? I get the feeling its unethical to do that because I'm still selling it, just not on a worldwide public forum like Amazon.com and I don't want to break their trust. At the same time, I have absolutely no guarantee it will be approved and I'm potentially losing sales.

What do you think?

What the label is doing makes perfect sense. If they're going to potentially agree to sell your album, why would they want someone else selling it before they do? Or you selling it yourself (cutting them out of any profits)?

Yes, I know these days there's iTunes and all that which sell albums that were released by a given label. But if you look, you'll see the label is credited. This likely means they got a little piece of the proverbial pie in some form or fashion by allowing/getting iTunes to sell the album.

I may be very wrong, but that's how it seems to me. Someone please correct me if I'm off.

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Why is there such a rush to get it published? If you've been waiting for a year already, what's another two months while they review it?

A LOT.

And I understand their position, thats not what I'm asking. What I'm asking is if someone wanted to buy it already and I took their money and gave them a copy, is that the same thing?

Reason I'm asking is because others I've emailed asking the same question said they'd be fine with that, so it doesn't come off as a clear-cut answer for me. If it's wrong, it's wrong and I won't do it. I'm just trying to figure it out.

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Are people in here honestly saying, "Oh, it's cool that this record label tells you what to do with your own IP; let them screw you."?
It isn't that simple, dude. You are allowing the publisher to take your work and distribute it as they please (which is good for you, since you get far more exposure and, in turn, more sales) at the price of your monopoly over your own creative materials. In the end (if all turns out well) everyone will benefit, since more sales for your material suddenly becomes more profitable for both parties than if no one cooperated.

As for your position, Meteo, I'd just ask the publisher if that was alright, if you can. It's more than likely that they'd say absolutely not to any free distribution (for obvious reasons), but they might be alright with what you want to do with it (sell it for a price outside of their publishing before it's published). At least then you'd have a clear-cut answer about the whole thing.

It's probably in the contract, though, like Mustin said.

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Are people in here honestly saying, "Oh, it's cool that this record label tells you what to do with your own IP; let them screw you."??

Dude, screw them. Go somewhere else. Don't let some record label dictate to you what you can and can't do with your own IP.

Clearly you don't have any idea how most labels operate. Clearly.

As for the Meteo's query, this is the type of question that you need to direct to the person/entity who's contract you have signed/will be signing, not an internet forum.

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As for your position, Meteo, I'd just ask the publisher if that was alright, if you can. It's more than likely that they'd say absolutely not to any free distribution (for obvious reasons), but they might be alright with what you want to do with it (sell it for a price outside of their publishing before it's published). At least then you'd have a clear-cut answer about the whole thing.

It's probably in the contract, though, like Mustin said.

That's all I was looking for. I don't know where people are thinking I have a contract already. I haven't even sent anything yet.

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Clearly you don't have any idea how most labels operate. Clearly.

As for the Meteo's query, this is the type of question that you need to direct to the person/entity who's contract you have signed/will be signing, not an internet forum.

I find that funny, considering we're on OCRemix. We're in the Internet age. You don't need a record label anymore. Explain to me how a dude like Girl Talk can make bank enough to travel and do live shows if you have to have a record label. Are you going to make Kanye-levels of bank? Of course not... but I'm really tired of hearing people say we need industries like the record label industry in the 21st century. Learn some HTML and distribute yourself.

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I've actually never heard of a situation like the one you're describing. Basically you're sending in a demo and hoping for a deal. Not even the most draconian major record labels say that they basically own (for a limited time) your albums/demo... just because you submitted them for CONSIDERATION for a deal.

That being said, the practical consideration is obvious, for a digital label. If you're selling your music on iTunes, they don't get a cut, and it's very, very hard to PULL your music and then somehow have the label resubmit it. It becomes a big mess. What you should be able to do though is sell physical or digital copies through CD Baby's main website. I don't mean use their digital distribution service, which goes to iTunes, I mean the service that they provide right on cdbaby.com. *This* could potentially be removed at any time by you so it shouldn't be an issue to the label.

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