whats the deal with white labels?

[duck]

still wish lawyers hadn't shut down the trillbass remix of eastern jam from getting pressed

likewise Ne-Yo's people stopping Vybz Kartel's "Romping Shop".....

[thinking]

a few clarifications are necessary here:

white label promos historically were pressed in relatively limited numbers, and were used in particular by the DnB scene over the last 15+ years to gauge demand for the final pressing. However, now that vinyl sales are not what they used to be, this practice is falling out of fashion - although some labels & distros still choose to do it, white label sales can eat into the sales of the finished copies which is not the idea.

full artwork 'promos' are sold for much the same reason - to see if much more/less than the intended final pressing is required. However, there is also the MCPS to consider - labels are legally bound to pay royalties per unit manufactured to the MCPS which collects this royalty then pays it back to registered members (artist/publisher). There is an allocation of 'free' units which are exempt from this royalty, however these have to be sold for promotional purposes - they are also supposed to be branded as such (hence you sometimes see 'Promo only - Not for resale' on records). This is a secondary reason why full artwork copies are sold as promos.

White labels you see in the shops are NOT test pressings usually, although TPs occasionally make it into the shops if a label is feeling kind! The vinyl on TPs is often slightly lower quality and/or a different press is used so often TPs aren't quite the same as finished vinyl - they're just used to check the mastering and the cut, and to spot any faults with the pressing.


This subject was also covered extensively in a similar thread here:

http://www.dubstepforum.com/how-do-prom ... 91692.html

[_cheef_]

historically i have stayed away from grabbing promo's

http://www.discogs.com/Amenizm-featurin ... ase/397813

Although there is the rare instance where the track only goes promo and never gets a full release...when this is the case, you'll end up waiting years before getting your hands on a copy...

[thisisimpossible]

deadly habit wrote:
still wish lawyers hadn't shut down the trillbass remix of eastern jam from getting pressed

thats so dumb by c&s,
they would know all about copyright issues and shit so why stop another artists just doing a remix, its not like there some commercial music act and this realease might costs them millions.

im sure they have used samples without clearing them that could costs them alot of money, yet they stop somone like trillbass just doing a remix, there still given credit and shit, people need to stop worrying about how much money they can make and more about the music. (boo hoo i only 50 sales while the remix sold 200, im goign to sue cos they made a better song out of mine)

im sure they would own some white labels and realize there importnace on underground music, whats the difference between getting it pressed and realeased digitally, the song is going to be heard more digitally anyway, its only a few who would buy the vinyl, probbaly only a few hundred copies would of been pressed anyway.

if i made a song and someone made a bootleg remix and it was better than mine, i would let them have it pressed or whatever, if they get adverts out of it fine why should i get money for just inspiriing them, i made a song as good as i could, they just made it better which i would applaud, and not be jealous cos they got more money than i did.

it just shows who the people that are out for the money and who is not.

[EBR]

I could care less

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7O0MFkmpw

*shrug* Its an expression. Its those subtle differences between Uk-tians and Americans that give us something to be proud of. Now please excuse me while I go hold down the fort and make some herbal tea.

[Alty]

Thanks for the interesting info thinking.