Dubstep Forum Co-operative Label

[auralassassin]

lets get everyone who is in to post in a single thread saying that they are in, and what they have to offer, in terms of money, talents, etc... then we can vote on who is in on that... I imagine there are quite a few people that haven't been around to read this info yet.

[jackquinox]

Can anyone join in on this at any level??

Cause to be honest i dont mind investing a bit of cash in a record but i dont have any skills to bring to the table other than just buying music and enjoying it is that enough.

[auralassassin]

Investment is a big deal. This goes nowhere without it.

Post what you have to offer, in terms of money/time/skills in the "introductions" thread.

[excision]

word,

I know im not involved in this but i'm a long time forum lurker here. Never registered until recently. But anyway you guys have a great idea going and It's obvious your all stoked about it but you guys gotta be really careful with your money here.

I don't think more than one person should have access to the account that holds your money whether its paypal account or whatever you use, because if there is more than one it only takes a small tiff to piss someone off and they clean you out.

And also, the person controlling the account should be the person contributing the largest sum of money. So auralassassin or something? Never talked to him or have no idea whether he is a genius or an idiot but it makes sense to have the largest contributor in control.

And lastly, really get on everyone on here about BUYING the releases.
If everyone on here tells their friends who tells their friend who tells their friend to check out this record then you have everyone in the world who likes dubstep. Its a small world for dubstep right now and you guys could easily take off. But the more people with their hands in the pot the more people that could fuck you over!

p.s. I have business degree but that doesn't mean I know everything about the record business. Still, business is business so if you guys need some help feel free to pm me.

[auralassassin]

I appreciate your confidence, but I definately shouldn't be the guy to hold the money, even if I am the biggest investor.

For the most part, everyone here is friends, or friends within the scene... I think that we can find 2 people to control the assets for the UK and the stateside.

[ramadanman]

i think we need to start asking for like a £10 deposit or something, so we know who's actually serious about helping out with this release?

[pete_bubonic]

A co-op approach is a great idea, but I fear this may prove more a mission in the long term.

If it does happen, I would recommed against an unknown producer on the first release unless it's an actual timeless classic piece of music, because otherwise people are just not going to buy it. I don't have a lot of knowledge in the label business area, however I am aware some Distrobuters do a P&D deal, where they will press and distrobute your release. Now I would presume these deal are harder to secure than your average distro deal, but obviously certainly more suiting for a more homemade low budget approach of a dubstep co-op.

With regards to the international distrobution, I think primarilly the distrobution should be more of a 500/1000 press run for the uk and uk online shops. yes this limits the amount of countries that will be able to get hold of it, but trying to approach the world with a label is going to be ridiculously expensive. Whereas we can rely more on the online shop such as Rooted, Independance and Boomkat to distorbute worldwide for us.

I also think that should that dubstep forum compilation mix cd ever come to fruitition it would be an excellent product for this co-op label, but unfortunately, I think with the cd taking so long to be produced currently, the tunes on them won't represent where all the producers are currently.

Tell you what, Pete... I like your idea of exclusion of one side of the pond.... I hereby request that this is a STATESIDE ONLY label, and that our friend Pete, here has to pay 30 pounds to get one record and see how shit of a deal that really is.

As you can see, it doesn't sound like such a good idea for this to be an only stateside label... in fact, it sounds a bit insulting for me to try and pretend that one side of the pond should get absolute control or sole distributorship, doesn't it?

Yesterday, Keith P was buying records online... he had selected like 10-13 records and was checking out and come to find out, he was being charged $45 US for shipping alone. Needless to say, that was on top of the cost of the records themselves which was probably $130 US... I didn't ask, but can speculate because they were all imports...

almost 200 dollars for 10 records... so he had to put some back.

Which tracks do you think he put back... the ones from the labels he KNEW he liked... or the ones he was going to take a chance on?

Obviously he put the stuff from unheard of labels back, because when it comes to disposable income, you don't really want to take a 30 dollar chance. If those had been records he could have found in a shop stateside, he could have bought 15-20 records for that much money... even at import prices in the shops, you will still save on shipping.

Obviously this is a very big deal for us to get proper stateside distribution. Quite frankly, the UK doesn't need another record label, be it drum n bass, dubstep, house, trance, techno, or pop music... nearly every record I buy is a damn import from the UK. Juno provides no lubrication before they stick me right in the ass and take my money... nobody online does... they don't work with people who are buying 500 dollars worth of records per month to get them good shipping rates... they don't offer free shipping for lining their pockets...

try that one for a few years and see how it suits you.

LAST MONTH, I paid $300 dollars(US) for 20 records. That was a good month.

A wonderful proposition in theory, but in practice, there's a reason you have to keep getting records imported, because it costs labels and distro companies too much to do what you have suggested. Now should this co-op be able to generate enough revenue, then yay, go for it and throw in mainland european distrobution whilst you're at it, I know Belgium and germany have a blossoming scene. But practically I don't think it's financially viable. I know it's unfortunate for those living outside the uk, and believe me I am well aware how lucky I am to live in Bristol, let alone the uk. But that's the current state of affairs at the moment.

[auralassassin]

You have the extra money to spare, it can be stateside only, then... would that tickle you well?

"Thats the current state of affairs" doesn't sit well with me... and quite frankly, the status quo is not something that I intend to protect... I HATE the state of affairs, an thats why I'm getting involved... not to MAINTAIN, but to elevate. I want no association with those who are fine with the way things are and aren't willing to change them.

We have the resources of a forum with thousands of members... at least 20 of which have pledged to help with cash donations. In addition to that, I am a large portion of those donations and there is no way in hell that I'm putting down a chunk of cash like that and not being able to see this record in the shop down the street from me.

So we're going to CHANGE the status quo... shipping them over here will cost 500 dollars? Fairplay... then we pay it. I refuse to cut out my own scene, just to sell more records or to turn a profit.

[misskatiemo]

ok - i was told to suggest this so here goes:

disclaimer: i have no idea if this is actually possible - input wanted and welcomed from those who know more than I do about the logistics

The issue seems to be price, who pays more and who pays less. There isn't a way to have a record be a domestic record in both the US and the UK, so it's a valid point really - where will it come from?

Now, a logical solution SEEMS to do one (or both) of two things.

a) if the record is domestic stateside, then charge a few $$ more stateside ($8 instead of $5, $10 instead of $7?), and charge a quid or two less in the UK... hopefully both recouping the costs and giving some extra $$ for investment into the next release, and solving the whole "who pays more or who pay less" debate.

b) alternate distribution places.. I'm assuming this would be contratually done, but if its possible why not have release #1 come out stateside, and release #2 come out in the UK? the UK would pay more for release #1, but less for release #2, balance.

Like I said these might be totally off-base, but hell - might as well suggest them.

[elgato]

what about CEDE's suggestion...

get the mastering done, then run two presses, one in UK, one in US, half and half

Any reason why would that wouldn't work? More expensive presumably but not by too much surely?

[misskatiemo]

what about CEDE's suggestion...

get the mastering done, then run two presses, one in UK, one in US, half and half

Any reason why would that wouldn't work? More expensive presumably but not by too much surely?

i didn't even see that he suggested that - if its possible its more or less what i was trying to suggest up there ^^ and i give it a big huge :script:

[ramadanman]

yep fedexing a mastering plate or something like that can't really be THAT much in the grand scheme of things.

[cede]

I get my TP / Master copy from Cologne and it costs about 11 dollars in shipping and it arrives within a week.

[2000f]

Good idea with regards to doing two pressing runs, however, if we intend to press 500 only, then expences of pressing 250 copies in each country (UK and US) will be way to high, I reckon. It´s obvious that the more you press at one plant, the cheaper it will. Some pressing plants won´t even do less than 500 (of course, some will, but not many).



BTW: KION was spot on with his comment!

[auralassassin]

Good idea with regards to doing two pressing runs, however, if we intend to press 500 only, then expences of pressing 250 copies in each country (UK and US) will be way to high, I reckon. It´s obvious that the more you press at one plant, the cheaper it will. Some pressing plants won´t even do less than 500 (of course, some will, but not many).



BTW: KION was spot on with his comment!

I'll look into plants in the US and see what the going rates are... we might have to go with the UK and ship the finished product to the US... thats an expense we will have to look into... I'm personally opposed to any plan that doesn't involve these being in the states.

If the label eats the expense of shipping to the US, we are actually going further than any label in the business to provide quality to the people... just a thought.

second of all, which statement are you referring to from KION?

[2000f]

Oops, sorry. I did mean Threnody:

"My two pence based on what people have said:-

Digital downloads are a good idea. certainly this would cut costs as opposed to records but everyone likes vinyl and wants tracks on vinyl so a combo of both is a good idea. Digi at leasts makes it accessible to all and the committed can always get TPs/Promos if they want the tracks early. I don't think they would eat into vinyl sales much.

I like the Known/Unknown format with a unit shifting track (interglactic..etc) opn the A side and a 'homegrown' track on the flip. The forum mix would be a good place to start as i'm sure people will want a couple of the tracks on vinyl and won't be able to get them anywhere else.

A pyramid structure would work well with 1 person (or a small committee) taking the big decisions then a larger committee voting on certain issues.

I look forward to seeing how this develops....."

[8bitwonder]

ive asked dubway to creaty topic that says--post ur tracks

people can leave names ,links websites etc

lets start a database

of contacts if nothing else

[luke.envoy]

bigup the forum heads for steppin up to make something happen

good luck and all the best with the label!

[ramadanman]

thanks for the encouragement luke

[paulie]

Bunch of commies...