Odd Future Get’s Signed Skit [VIDEO]

For a second there we thought that Tyler the Creator and Odd Future were about to take the sell-out route and sign to a major label. Turns out that it was only Tyler that signed with Independent label XL Recordings. So to clear any of the rumors up this young hiphop crew teamed up with FunnyOrDie and created a little video skit of their own to give the world some insight on how Odd Future feels about the mainstream labels as a group. This is absolutely hilarious.

It’s Amazing What Some Labels Will Do – Special Offers – A Great Way to Lose your Copyright

I ran into this post last night randomly on ArtistsHouse. It’s hard to believe that labels are actually attempting stuff like this, like nobody’s going to realize how wrong it is. Yeah some people will take any deal, but that doesn’t mean you should abuse people. Read this letter, and be wary when dealing with labels..major ones anyway.

Great Way to Lose your Copyright

by: Mike King

A friend of mine is a composer that has had some success with getting his music placed in TV and film. He sent me this link to submit your music for consideration for the Bratz soundtrack, which on first glance looks like a pretty good opportunity for an emerging songwriter.

Get Your Song in Bratz

That’s right.

Your music could be in the upcoming film Bratz: The Movie, the new live action feature.

Your music will be reviewed by top A&R execs at Geffen Records. If you’ve always wanted to get your music in front of a major record label, this is your opportunity.

This is your chance to be discovered. All you’ve got to do is give us some contact info and tell us where we can check out your music.

We’ll go to your website, listen to your track, and hit you back if we like it. You’ve got until May to get to us. So get going.

The first problem here is why top A&R execs are spending their time reviewing Bratz soundtrack music. Once you get past that, there’s a more fundamental problem you’ll notice when you click through to give the A&R execs at Geffen Records your ‘Contact Info.’ Before you can do anything, you are hit with a ‘BRATZ SUBMISSION AGREEMENT’ that essentially removes all of your rights to any submitted songs without compensation to you. I’m no lawyer, but this reads pretty clear to me:

“We shall have the right to use, market, store, distribute, reproduce, display, perform, transmit and promote the Content in any way we see fit (including, without limitation, in synchronization with video portions of the Film, on a soundtrack album for the Film and as advertisements in connection with the Film and soundtrack album) without payment to you.”

Tough terms!

In addition, this is an Exclusive Deal!

“…neither you nor anyone else will offer the Content in whole or in part to any person or representative of a recording company engaged in the business of manufacturing, selling and/or distributing phonograph records or a music publishing company…”

So if you do get some visibility with the track, you no longer have the right to do what you want with it!

I’m all for major labels getting hip to the wonders of the Internet, but I’d prefer that they spent some time on initiatives that benefit the consumer, the artist, and the bottom line of the label. This sort of transparent rip off does not benefit anybody.

“Kill The Record Labels” (Official Trailer) [VIDEO]

 

CLICK IMAGE TO PURCHASE DVD!!!

The HipHop industry releases a new film bashing the record labels and their dishonest methods of making money from musicians’ talent. Rappers have been entering the independent music industry for many years using their own money to promote their music and respond to fans. Starring, 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Chamillionaire, Lil Scrappy, Juelz Santana, and more. Now they are out to “Kill The Record Labels”.

Lupe Fiasco Speaking Against The Labels

Lupe Fiasco tells you about record labels, 360 deals, and other corruption in the music industry. Looks like we may have another artist comin’ to the independent spectrum!!! NAS is also hinting such things to his label, Def Jam. Read his letter here.

Seeing Declines in Record Label Revenues

I just read an article provided by HypeBot.com informing the general public of Warner Music Group’s rapid decline in revenue over the past year. This is exactly what we’ve been expecting and all of you independent artists out there should be excited to see this fall continue until these major labels are no more. Here are the projected numbers for the end of the third quarter:

• Digital revenue was $179 million, 27% of total revenue but up just 2% from $175 million in the prior year quarter and down 10% sequentially from the second quarter of fiscal 2010.
• Operating loss was $1 million compared to operating income of $25 million in the prior-year quarter.
• Operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) was down 29% to $64 million from $90 million in the prior-year quarter.

This is a great thing for music as a whole, driving down the main stream nonsense to help push creativity and independence in the music world. People are becoming more and more prone to purchasing music digitally along with hearing new things that no one has heard, so they can share the music they find with others through the seas of social networks online. It’s not considered “cool” anymore to have top 40 hits on your CD player when you’re hearing on mainstream radio all the time. The labels don’t have enough talent and people are beginning to realize this everyday which will continue to fuel their demise.

By: Mark G. Valente | Online Marketing Director | @MarkwithMWL | Music Without Labels & Beat-Play, LLC

The Problem With Music – Awesome Rant by Steve Albini – independent and corporate rock record producer most widely known for producing Nirvana’s “In Utero”.

Whenever I talk to a band who are about to sign with a major label, I always end up thinking of them in a particular context. I imagine a trench, about four feet wide and five feet deep, maybe sixty yards long, filled with runny, decaying shit. I imagine these people, some of them good friends, some of them barely acquaintances, at one end of this trench. I also imagine a faceless industry lackey at the other end holding a fountain pen and a contract waiting to be signed. Nobody can see what’s printed on the contract. It’s too far away, and besides, the shit stench is making everybody’s eyes water. The lackey shouts to everybody that the first one to swim the trench gets to sign the contract. Everybody dives in the trench and they struggle furiously to get to the other end. Two people arrive simultaneously and begin wrestling furiously, clawing each other and dunking each other under the shit. Eventually, one of them capitulates, and there’s only one contestant left. He reaches for the pen, but the Lackey says “Actually, I think you need a little more development. Swim again, please. Backstroke”. And he does of course.

Every major label involved in the hunt for new bands now has on staff a high-profile point man, an “A & R” rep who can present a comfortable face to any prospective band. The initials stand for “Artist and Repertoire.” because historically, the A & R staff would select artists to record music that they had also selected, out of an available pool of each. This is still the case, though not openly. These guys are universally young [about the same age as the bands being wooed], and nowadays they always have some obvious underground rock credibility flag they can wave.

Record Labels Used to be Cool – Who Woulda Guessed it?

Yesterday I had an interview with Mark Cope, the Music Industry Examiner for Examiner.com. Mark has had a lot of experience in the music industry, having worked for several labels and even EMI over the years.

Mark though, has a real passion for independent artists and music, and he continues to support it as much as he possibly can. Mark and I had a chance to talk about Beat-Play and how it can solve a lot of the problems artists are facing right now. He’s planning on doing an article about us in the next couple weeks, so watch out for that. He also told me about how he has seen the music business evolve and change over the years. I thought that this perspective was worth sharing.