Nov 13, 20224 min read

How to Build a Successful Team for Your Record Label

What's the Deal? Signing your first artist?

If you are a single investor/business owner, artist, producer, manager, or publisher at some point you’re going to need a team to stay independent.

If you have gotten this far in your career it's because you want to level up your game, to stay independent, so the major record labels can stay out of your way.

You got quite a few problems:

Too much on your plate and you need a manager
Your music isn't poppin' and you need some dope producers and writers
You're getting money and Legal troubles are on the horizon
You want to keep all of your royalties without middlemen
You want to make more money from your music.

If you suffer from at least three of those you may be on the verge of pulling your hair out.

These are good problems to have but you should be aware of how to get out of this situation so you can grow faster.

I can testify!

Running this channel and my publishing company I can definitely feel you all on these issues

So the first thing I did was hire an assistant soon-to-be manager and the second thing I did was get the attorney back on the line.

Now let’s talk about how you're going to do this!

President - You. You are the pinnacle of the operation and you may be handling all of these jobs currently but you got to delegate your tasks to other people.

General manager - Partner (In most cases this is a female if you’re a male and male if you’re a female, it's like Yin & Yang) This person is going to be your first big help because they are going to really see your vision. However, do not bring this person on before they see the vision or if they don't see the vision.

Legal - Your attorney for the label and for you. In the beginning, you’re probably pulling contracts and agreements straight off google but there comes a time when you rise and you need real contracts and a person you can lean on to handle all things contractual because

A. you don't have time to read and

B. you don't fully understand what you’re reading and

C. you need a second bully to keep opportunists and vultures at bay.

A&R - In the beginning, this may be the president and general manager. However, you can assign a person to do this task if you know what you’re looking for as a label and artist. This person should be a connector in the streets a certified beat slanger. Look for the person with all the producers under them aka producer manager, songwriter manager, or a song plugger.

Admin - The administrator must communicate with the Legal team and understand contracts. You will want your admin to remain in-house until you need to dig deep into your collections or if your catalog grows too big to handle yourself with a simple distro kid account.

The problem with automated admin services is the people who are working there do not understand the admin game because they are just working a job. You’re better off with a boutique publisher or Whitelabel admin service as you grow.

Marketing/Sales - The marketing department for your record label is not the same as the marketing department for the artist. Though they may seem like the same thing. This department will be savvy marketing personnel that understands how to sell music. The marketing department will double as your licensing department, this includes sync licensing as well. If there is no one available yet, then the tasks of playlisting, sales, and licensing will fall back into the hands of the entire team.

But wait…! What about…?

Should you do this when you first start? Absolutely not!
Aren’t these people expensive? I'm not going to say it's expensive but it's the cost of doing business. However, leverage is key.
Will it be easy to find these people? No, but if you actually get in the game network and play it, it will be much easier than the person at home. Trying to be a digital artist.

The 60 Day Record Label Executive Edition - eBook & Audiobook

Buy Now

You've got work to do!

Book a call with me so we can map out your game plan and take a look a who you actually need first.
Start networking you're going to need real plugs in this game so go get them!
Start researching on Fiverr and Upwork for the tasks you need to be done. Sometimes a little bit of assistance can go a long way.
Grab The 60-Day Record Label Executive Editon and build out your label so your business can be set up when you're ready to bring on the Manager and the Attorney.

What the end of the tunnel looks like

Advance your career faster than the pack
Graduate to the 7 figure club with your new team
Stay independent longer
You’ll make better decisions because some of the stress is removed
When you exit the game you leave with more ownership than most
So, go and Be the next great sensation

What is the opposition?

You'll more than likely sell off a huge portion of your revenue because you either didn't know what to do, or how to do it, or were too lazy to pick your team.

If you can’t do any of that, then you’ll crumble and quit!