Since the beginning of music, artists have put their own personal touch on music to highlight their individuality, craft, talent, and stand out amongst the many others. Millions of songwriters, producers, singers, and more can feel overwhelmed with the work that goes into making success out of a dream and have either joined forces with a major label to aid and further their careers or taken matters into their own hands.
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The first record label Colombia Records, established in 1889 signed multiple artists in its current 134 years as an established record label including Aerosmith, Ella Fitzgerald, and Grimes. Since then, thousands of other labels were created to follow in its footsteps and create an intimate connection between artist & listener.
To many, signing with a record label was and perhaps can still lead to success, however, in more recent decades, this isn’t necessarily the case. It's no secret that signing with such labels can aid in newfound or continuous success but multiple artists have found star status without signing with an established label and instead creating their own or working independently.
Billboard | Phoebe Bridgers | Saddest Factory
Artists from Phoebe Bridgers, Ariana Grande, Bad Bunny, Dave Grohl, and Diddy have created their own record labels to release music from and have done so successfully. Many of them do work with other distributers, however, they maintain their creative freedom within the confides of their own. These individual labels give the artist a multitude of advantages including a team exclusively devoted to their music all while maintaining their musical style and personal touch.
Despite a massive amount of artists taking the 'create your own label' route, plenty of aspiring artists prefer to get the attention of labels in hopes of being signed and reining in the success of their music. They could even have dream record labels to be a part of, particularly those that have housed iconic past & current artists. These established labels are experts in their field and can sky-rocket any music career, which makes them extremely desirable.
Let's dive deep into a few positives of both being a part of an indie label and signing with a major record label:
Major label
- Well-known in leading artists into a thriving career within the music industry
- A full supportive team at your disposal who's driven to make you successful as an artist
- More creative ideas at your fingertips for new and old releases
- Plenty of connections between other labels, artists, and experts in the business
- A whole lot more exposure and widespread reach with each release
- Given a much larger budget to work with for releases
Independent label
- More control over your music, where it goes, how it's distributed, and used
- More creative freedom & control over how your music is marketed without external approvals
- The ability to release music of your preference whenever & wherever
- More income from your successful releases
- You can prioritize your music instead of depending on others to do the same
The list of weighing options differentiate from artist to artists and what their intentions with their music are. Some steer clear of major labels while others hope to be scouted by them.
With the massive success of labels in terms of developing new artists, maintaining relevancy in established artists, vast knowledge of new and upcoming trends, and so much more, labels have made significant impacts on these careers in building some of the biggest names in the industry. Additionally, with their long-standing relationships with other companies, fellow labels, festivals, venues, and more, record labels have a lot to offer when it comes to signing artists.
Each artist experiences their own path when it comes to their careers. Whether they're in a successful relationship with their longtime label, working independently, trying out different labels, or curating their own, artists need to remember that each career in the music industry is specific to you and differs from one to another.
Miley Cyrus | Twitter
Hit singers and songwriters have even moved from label to label for their own personal or musical reasons. Miley Cyrus, for example, was originally signed with RCA in 2013, however in 2021, she changed course and decided to instead work with Colombia for her album 'ATTENTION: MILEY LIVE' and her latest release, 'Endless Summer Vacation'. Despite the rumors of the swap from label to label, perhaps Miley wanted a change in storytelling and desired something else when it came to how best to tell and market her story across the globe.
Dreamville | afterglowatx
Other artists even went far ahead as to curate their own label for their personal music. In 2007, 'Dreamville Records' was created by J.Cole alongside his manager Ibrahim Hamad where the duo could release music freely and distribute through Interscope. Since its origination, the group has signed multiple talents including JID, EarthGang, Ari Lennox, and more. The team strives to connect with today's artists in an authentic and modernized way in telling their stories and in doing so, they stand out amongst other labels such as Island, Arista, Republic, and more.
Sasha Alex Sloan initially released music solo, however, she later signed with 'Good Times Records', a part of 'RCA Records' in 2018. This year, she publicly announced her departure from them and instead reverted back to being an indie artist. Desiring the creative freedom, less pressure, and personal confidence, she felt the need to regain her musical freedom back after spending 5 years with the group and dropping successful tracks and collaborations.
The Crimson | Evan Agostini | Invision | AP | Shutterstock
There have even been multiple instances where artists wanted to regain the rights to their music after departing from their label. Famously Taylor Swift was in a dispute with independent label 'Big Machine Records' for the rights to her previous 6 albums from the beginning of her career to her 2018 album 'Lover' and the company was publicly sold to Scooter Braun. Although she was unable to regain those rights, she took matters into her own hands in re-recording those albums and titling them as ‘Taylor’s Version’. After leaving the indie label scene and moving onto her current major label 'Republic Records', she's found more creative liberty and control over her music ever since the partnership.
There are multiple reasons to sign with a major label, an indie one, or creating your own and each artist's journey through the music industry is independent of one another. Some musicians prefer to work with a collaborative and experienced team while others may prefer to go with their gut and release music independently. There's no right or wrong way to create a successful music career other than finding what works with your art, your story, and how best to connect with your fans.
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