THE KEY TO GOOD BUSINESS IN TECHNO

hahaha

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Originally Posted by davethedrummer

so .......
quit the day job and go for broke?
or carry on stacking shelves at marks and spencers?
;)

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heh. well, if i had job like that, i'd have to work a million years to get my studio set up, wouldn't i? :doh:

currently i'm a computer geek by day. should have everything paid off in a year or two and then we'll see. :)

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Originally Posted by davethedrummer

so .......
quit the day job and go for broke?
or carry on stacking shelves at marks and spencers?
;)

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My advice would be to get 3 day jobs just to feel the joy of putting something out - there's nothing like it - better than sex but only just mind ;)

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Originally Posted by Dustin Zahn

I seriously recommend that if you plan on starting a label, try taking a basic business class if you have no previous experience with running or owning a business. While all of it may not pertain to the independent music industry...you'll still learn a lot that can help out along the way. I think the reason this industry is in shambles is because it's mostly built by party people who don't have a grasp on any common sense in business.

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thats why someone in malta is still going to college and study Marketing :cool: :lol: :lol: :lol:

High Five on that one, anyone who wants to be business minded, really needs to learn something about it first, especially when dealing with international types.

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I think your right about the whole moving money, keeping it payed when it should be payed.
But as you know the business doesn`t work like that. there are too many bullshitters.
I personally would prefer the words "can`t pay you, sorry, I`m ****, you`ll have to wait, or, look mate, we can`t guarantee all the money for that order now, but we`ll pay you half nowm " etc
than the typical front of the business ie "sorry mate, my missus blew up the credit card machine, or, I just missed the bank mate, or, I`ve got money coming in tommorrow" etc
Straight talk rather than bullshit.
I personally would rather hear, what I don`t want to hear. Than some meaningless front off.

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Since making this comment a few people have said to me "whoa, are you really pissed with your distributer or what?"

erm

No.

Upon reading this again, I realised how this might be misconstrued.
Before any more sympathisers for a lynch mob to defend me,
I am one of the lucky few to have found a distributer who gives me straight talk, and no bullshit. I am in a position where I have a good personal relation with my company, who do more than just sell my records, by actually offering feedback, support, and encouragement.
But also, not letting me get too far up my artistic arse to forget that this is a business. It`s nice to feel I can discuss my musical developement in a nurturing environment.

So yeah, I`m very happy, it`s just a bugger I`ve had to go through the pits of hell in the music biz to finally end up this way.

So please, no more death threats, my guy is doing a sterling job.

Good luck to all of you making a business out of it - its always been a hobby for me and always will be . . .

I HATE work and always have, I wouldnt want to have those same feelings about techno/music - thats my excuse for being a lame ass anyway ;)

I take my hat off to all talented producers - :clap:

And yeah I like vinyl with pictures on and yeah i like white labels aswell - i just LOVE :love: that black gold 12 " or 10" or 7" round vinyl - I heard the story about a guy who had so much vinyl in his house he could only just get through his front door - I hope i dont turn into that - a real true Mr Treebus!!

yep fair play to all those who make their bread out of this business, buying music playing records and parties has always been a passionate hobby for me so respect to anyone who put's their passions into constructive practice.

The likes of me need to keep the spirit alive by buying listening and dancing to fantastic music to balance out the drudgery of daily existence and a life in the office or any other shitty workplace.

I suppose music and all the other things I enjoy in life are an escape from the relentless work and the less enjoyable things in life.

Good luck to you all hope the fact that becomes your living doesn't take away any enjoyment and keep those records coming!

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Originally Posted by davethedrummer

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Originally Posted by Sunil

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Originally Posted by Martin Dust

That quotes from DJ's don't mean shit to a buyer.

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Unless the quotes actually sound favourable and not out of context, like the short 3-4 word cut and paste quotes often sound.

Some companies still go way over the top, listing off their favourite 15 top league techno DJs that play the record (or who got it in the post), this shit makes no difference and often creates an undesired effect, giving the record less meaning or relevence to the buyer.

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and just to drive this point home more
those horrible press releases that people write ,
like "this record is currently being caned by......."
and if i read " will cause dancefloor devastation / mayhem" once more
i think i'm gonna explode!

one (the only) good thing about prime going down
i just used to read this stuff and think " what w.a.n.k.e.r. wrote this???"

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Hahahahahahhaahhah thats one thing I noticed about your press releases the amount of hilarity they cause

"Rockin Avin It Stompin Disco Funk Mayhem for your free party / disused warehouse" or something :)

Louk

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Originally Posted by davethedrummer

sorry my last reply was a bit over eager
i didn't read th whole thread before i posted ( don't do that again written in notebook)
but martin made a good point about keeping mailouts of promo's down to a minimum , and only mail out in the inner sleeves.

i'd just like to add:
don't bother doing white labels ( apart from your 10 test pressings )
as they are not that cheap and frankly they're a waste of rescouces.
just go straight for the finished product and use those for your promo mailout.
it'll take a few weeks presale for the distributor to catch up anyway so you'll still be ahead of the game and you recieve a nice shiny new record that looks better than a poxy white label.

don't mail out over ambitiously , like if you are making really hard techno don't send it to someone who really won't play it.

we don't send stuff to lot's of major dj's because:

1. they NEVER get back to you
2. they NEVER get back to you
3. they NEVER GET BACK TO YOU!

however john peel , fergie , jules are always worth it ( radio 1 u.k. for techno)

stanny fransen has always returned a reply and so has misjah so those guys are my pals! there have been orthers to so it's not a total bitch

i usually try to reply but i can be forgetful too :oops: so i know how it must be for those guys , but the point i'm actually making is that it's YOU the label owner who needs a response right?
so maybe consider sending your releases to regular club djs (like me of course!!! :doh: ) who may have a little more time than ritchie hawtin , jeff mills etc etc and may actually appreciate it a little more.

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I always give feedback when I get a promo from you so not all Press/Radio/Club DJs are like that....

Louk

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Originally Posted by djsirround

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Originally Posted by Dustin Zahn

I seriously recommend that if you plan on starting a label, try taking a basic business class if you have no previous experience with running or owning a business. While all of it may not pertain to the independent music industry...you'll still learn a lot that can help out along the way. I think the reason this industry is in shambles is because it's mostly built by party people who don't have a grasp on any common sense in business.

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thats why someone in malta is still going to college and study Marketing :cool: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Man, I love Malta. I'd live there for awhile if it wasn't so expensive. When you guys get the Euro, it'll be better

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Originally Posted by Alan Oldham

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Originally Posted by djsirround

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Originally Posted by Dustin Zahn

I seriously recommend that if you plan on starting a label, try taking a basic business class if you have no previous experience with running or owning a business. While all of it may not pertain to the independent music industry...you'll still learn a lot that can help out along the way. I think the reason this industry is in shambles is because it's mostly built by party people who don't have a grasp on any common sense in business.

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thats why someone in malta is still going to college and study Marketing :cool: :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Man, I love Malta. I'd live there for awhile if it wasn't so expensive. When you guys get the Euro, it'll be better

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in one or two years time alan, it will be more expensive anyways, but at least you don't have the hassle of the currency ;)

alan wrote in the post about summer being over something that should be dicussed here i reckon

that is :
what time of year to release your records
summer and christmas are notoriously bad for releasing underground music , ( because everyone is saving/spending their hard earned cash on other things at that time of year , reo speedwagon c.d.s , lord of the rings dvd box sets...you get the picture )
but that doesn't necessarily mean that you can't do it.

we do but we keep the runs small , and get prepared to repress for the autumn / spring.
we've found that this helps to keep the cash flow going.

we never used to do it but maybe since there's so many labels in the suf collective now we have to. once you have that much stuff moving it becomes very hard to just stop it.

on the other hand if you are just running one label , then maybe trying to pick your release date is much more important , round about now ( maybe oct actually) is a great time to release techno , why??? search me, but it does always seem to pick up in the autumn.

maybe the oncoming winter just makes you think "boom boom boom'??

i dunno but it's definately a consideration esp. if you are just starting up.

when i first started out djing it used to drive me nuts that there were so few records released in the summer. every week i would go down to the record shop and try to decide which of the 3 new records sucked the least.

i always assumed it was because everybody who does both production and djing was on tour during the summer. not the first time i've been wrong about how this all works. ;)