You are in the right place! This article will take approximately 15 mins to read, and 7 steps to execute. 

This article will show YOU what needs to be done in order to get a record label up and running in seven steps and more importantly, give you access to the necessary tools to make sure you can do it.

A record label is simply another business – and needs to abide by the same principles if you want it to be a success. A big part of this is having plans, processes, operation procedures and blueprints in place. 

One of the greatest books that explains these principles is 'The E-Myth' by Michael E. Gerber. It's an excellent read and we have taken the principles in creating a plan to start a record label in seven steps. 

In short, if you are organised and have processes and blueprints to follow for your releases, you'll achieve the success you want.

So... let's get started! 

Record Label Basics

A record label is essentially made up of three main areas:

1. Music and Branding

This is the actual music and the branding around the music such as artwork or music videos, and the marketing of the music and artists. 

2. Music Distribution

This is the part of a record label concerning getting the music on to the platforms so fans can buy and listen to it. 

3. Business Administration

This is the area of a label that looks after the paperwork, the record contracts, and looking after artists royalties.

When you set up a record label, you are setting up the Business Admin and Distribution areas. Once you have that set up, you can then plug the music and branding, to create the complete record label model. 

So now we have a simple explanation, let's dive into setting up the label.

So, we are up bright and early to get started on creating our record label. But how are we going to know what we are creating?

• What music we are going to put out?
• What will our name will be?
• When are we going to release our first record?
• Who is going to help?
• How much will it cost?
• Why are we even starting a record label?!

So many questions!!!

The very first thing we must do is create a record label business plan. This will answer all of the above questions and give you a clear vision for your success. A business plan will also guide you, it will force you to decide what your first, second and third release will be, which artists you will work with, your time frames, and how much money you will need to get started.

A business plan will give you the confidence to move forward in a meaningful way, giving you the best possible chance of success.

Let's break down the seven sections of a business plan

It can be daunting to write your first record label business plan however we have templates available at The Label Machine with pre-filled in examples to use, which makes writing a business plan very easy.

You can set up 12 folders on a computer hard drive or cloud that form the structure of your record label. This really is the backbone of a record label in terms of keeping organised. 

This is where you create your record label into an organised system, with processes, and checklists within a file browser. It's where all the important information lives and it’s a good idea to host this on dropbox or google cloud so its permanently backed up and the files can be easily shared with designers and artists.

Watch the video below to see what this looks like in detail.

Decide your Record Label Name.

Everything starts with the name. You need this to register your label as a business, register your website domain, get a bank account, create a logo

If you already have a name, great, if not, do some brainstorming. I would also recommend using a thesaurus, and you can Google translate words that are relevant into another language, like latin, to find something that sounds good. 

 Once you have brainstormed your name, there are two place to go and check it's not used already:

After you've decided on your name, check and make sure:

• It sounds good over the phone - Wont be mispronounced or misspelled, which defeats the purpose.
• It conveys your style and brand.
• It is not taken already.
• You have triple-checked Discogs and Namechk tools to make sure it isn't taken, and you can use the social handles you want.

Always make sure to consider the acronym of the name, Balearic Underground Music might be fine in full, but the acronym isn't so great. 

Good to go?

Then head over to one of the below sites to register and lock that name in!

• https://www.123-reg.co.uk (£6.99)
•  www.godaddy.com ($0.99 for first year)

When choosing a website url, using .com is always the best. Get it over anything else if possible. Music is international, and you need to show your website is international too.

That is the first step to take in starting a label – for under $10!

There are four options for websites to choose from:

What would I recommend...?

Things to remember 

• Keep the website simple.
• Logo at the top.
• Music page (Soundcloud / Spotify playlist).
• About section.
• Links to each of your social media pages.
• Contact page.

Social Media Handles

Once you have decided your name you now need to sign up to each the main social media channels:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• Soundcloud
• Youtube

Optional

• Snapchat
• Pinterest
• LinkedIn

It's worth registering the optionals, even if you don't post content, it's better to own them now. Ideally you pick a handle that is available on all platforms. If your name is taken try:

• Acronym of label name
• Label name missing out the vowels
• Replacing letters with numbers e.g. 5 for a S
• Adding your country e.g UK/US/AU
• Adding to the end (RECS, INC, HQ, MEDIA, ENT etc)
• Prefixing with WEARE, THISIS, REAL, THEREAL etc

Ok, let's do something creative!

Let's get a record logo designed for $20 in 1 hour or less.  

There are three options:

It’s worth mentioning that Option 3 is great for when you are starting out and want to get a label up and running quickly with little capital. Of course, once you start making money its worth working with a designer when you can afford it.

Watch the video below on how quickly you can create a logo with Free Logo Design.

The three reasons why you need to register your record label as a business that no one tells you.

1. Protection

If, on your way to the studio you have a car accident, or you accidentally injure someone at a gig, the company will be liable, not you personally. Therefore your personal assets are protected.

2. Legitimacy

When you set up as a business and they see you are a 'Label Name Ltd' or 'LLC', and that your email address is yourname@labelname.com - they know they are dealing with a professional. You are going to have more doors opened and you're going to be treated as an industry professional.

3. Motivation

There are some hoops to jump through to start a business, so it's a commitment to follow through with taking your record label business seriously. There are some costs, and in some states in the US it can cost $300 –if you are in the EU or UK not as much – but the point is you will be motivated to make that money back in your first year.

What you need to do:

Use an online provider to walk you through it. See the options below depending on where you are based:

The final step is to pick a distribution model (and I'll show you a very quick way of picking the best one for you in a bit)

When picking a distribution model, there are three types:

Next step is to head over to the DISTRO PICKER TOOL – answer the questions and it will give  you a recommendation for distribution!

All right, that's it – you should be all set up!

Now you are ready to start releasing music which starts on your second week

Bonus! A final checklist of every step needed to get yourself ready for a record release.

And that's it! 

Mission accomplished!