Assembly Point

Bristol based 12"label run by Khanum - Specialising in Dubstep music

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Matters of Distribution

After the funds have been raised and the records are ready, the distribution company will be unearthed and red-eye, these two platforms are very well established and have previously distributed Khanum’s music so these will be the platforms used as they already have slight relationships with the artist, making it more of a smooth transition.

The records will also be sold to Idle Hands for the local artist section, they always are happy to help with distributing local artists said Chad Dubz (2018).

It is important to cover as many platforms as possible to optimise sales and exposure, White Peach is another possibility but have not been contacted as of yet.

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For the pressing of the records Curved Pressing has been chosen for the work, they’ve agreed to do a 300 press run for around £1200 all in, that includes mastering as well. Duploc (a label I release on as Khanum) suggested this company as they have a good turnover and also beats any other quote I received for this amount of records. 

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Release schedule

The release schedule has been determined roughly - artists subject to change.

Khanum - 001

Subtle Element - 002 

Feonix - 003 

DE-TU - 004

Compilation - 005

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After paying for the artwork the finished products have been sent over. This is the banner that will be presented to potential listeners/customers when viewing the soundcloud or Facebook pages. It is important to have a fully wrapped and presentable first impression so that people give more time to listen to what the music has to say. The presentation is key so that it catches the eye of listeners to and engages them to listen to the music it is representing, attempting to create a unique identity of the product, creating image in the mind of the consumer (Chole, 2018) also linking to the logo that was designed by Slak Arts, also creating identity to consumers - proving the reasoning behind having multiple variations of the logo, so that it can be put on the front of any work that is released so everyone knows the brand and recognises the logo - forcing people to associate Assembly Point with that image and tell it aside from every other label in the scene, hoping to also be a stand out brand in the dubstep market. In the twenty-first century, branding ultimately will be the only unique differentiator between companies. Brand equity is now a key asset (Fortune Magazine, 1997) by this statement it is clear that putting the Assembly Point brand on every piece of digital work as a stamp, so people recognise that the music is from this label.

References:

Fortune Magazine (1997)

Chole, N. (2018) “Business Remodelling: Exploring New Initiatives In Key Business Functions” Digital Marketing & Social Media  pp.173

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Blog Post 10 - Technical changes to The Chamber

Having received feedback during a peer-review session and at the same time analysing the music set for release’s mixdown’s on the LT1 Genelec system, it was stated by a peer that the snare was too quiet in the chamber, having known this for a while I finally amended the issue in logic. This resulted in the track sounding a lot stronger. 

It was pointed out by a few in the session that the other 2 were strong all round, which left this one having a snare too quiet. This was altered and is now more of a stand out track. 

Dubstep’s 2 main components stated by EDMprod, (2018) and backed up by Nomine (2018) are the kick, snare and bass so they 100% need to be the drive of the track and the most prominent, if the snare lacks volume and punch the track instantly loses it’s main drive resulting in a weak track, despite the other strong elements in the mix. If the snare is too quiet in the mix the track will consequently have no real drive behind it, as the snare covers 200-1khz as its main body, if that isn’t at the forefront of the mix (in mono) the track will not have a main drive. Result in dulling the tracks main punch (snare), which in turn will also cause the track to sound muddy and muffled in the overall mix down.

References:

Matla, S (2018) Available at [https://www.edmprod.com/50-tips-mixdowns/] Accessed Jan 2018.

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Blog post 9 - marketing strategies #2

After analysing the current field for new big artists that seemingly came from nowhere whilst I’ve been plodding along with slow progress as Khanum, it’s been decided that I will instead plan everything out to happen after the deadline. Over the next 2-3 months I will plan and get in contact with another artist to line up to follow the Subtle Element after Khanum’s release in order to be consistent from the get go. Shortly after organising 004 and onto the fifth release - Assembly Point Compilation 001 consisting of atleast 6 artists. 

The artists I will compile for the release will be happy to release on this as it will be 2 disc 12″ format, and comprised of all fellow peers in the scene which have given the confirmation that they’ll be able to release a singular track each. 

After seeing the success of CNCPT’s first vinyl series release it’s clear that a similar formatted release on Assembly Point should sellout given the right track selection on a no compromise kind of attitude, after having the boost I’m receiving currently with Khanum’s 10″ dubs galore pre-order getting such a good response - https://soundcloud.com/vond/dubs-galore-004?in=khanumdubs/sets/releases-1 

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#8 - Marketing developments

Blog post #8

Marketing developments - The majority of the marketing will be done via social media, primarily Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, all with links taking the consumer to the Soundcloud page, and across all these platforms is where the record label will build it’s audience and fanbase,  “ In today’s digital youth social Medias play an important role for marketing the goods as and where ever. Social sites support small entrepreneurs, handicraft arts from rural areas; it promotes the talent from various corners of the world and tries to provide some unique identity with some specialized work. Some popular sites such as Facebook and twitter” (Chole, 2018).  According to what Chole (2018) has stated it makes sense to invite the whole Facebook friend list on my personal page to like the business page first, before any pushing of product goes into play, this will expand the initial reach of the page especially given that the page is freshly liked and informed about to the people.

References: 

Chole, N., Dharmik, K, M. (2018) “Business Remodelling: Exploring New Initiatives In Key Business Functions” Digital Marketing & Social Media. pp 166

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Blog post #7

Further developments in the label branding look like this.

After being asked whether I want the design black and white or in colour I came to the decision that in colour mainly, with a design of black and white so it can be put over coloured background for future promotional use.

He’s also agreed to design a smokey border that the logo can be integrated to on soundcloud so the banner looks like it merges with the logo along with a number of flexible design ideas for adaptability.

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Khanum - Stone Steppin' (CLIP) [Forthcoming 12”]

This one for your listening pleasure! Will see the light of day at some point I'm sure. Thanks for the support in 2018, loads of stuff coming next year from me.. - Record label - More music - Vinyl

Blog post #6

This is the replacement track for Bass Middletone, after analysing the reactions it got in the dance, and on soundcloud it’s clear that this track will sell well. It’s got requested for rewind most times I’ve played it, additionally I haven’t sent it to anyone as a dubplate so there will be more of a want for it - I learned this by listening to an idol of mine, Commodo. His tracks always get played live around a year before the actual release, this adds to the hype of the track by people recording it, tagging him in it, people asking for ID’s of the music etc. I’ve personally been watching him live whilst seeing this happen.

Beside all that the track name and concept says Assembly Point and progress in my artist career - Stone Steppin’.

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Blog post #5 

After initially planning to release the music in January, I realised I’ll need a lot more time to save the funds up so it doesn’t damage me financially. Proceeding from this thought I now plan to set a release date for late 2019 (after graduating) and instead sorting everything else beside the actual pressing of the records. The pressing will cost around £1200 which I can cover half of with the student loan in April, but the rest will be accumulated through working part-time at my job. 

So because of this, I will have ready my branding, marketing strategies, videos to fit with clips of the music (with the branding in the corner) that I can share around on FB avoiding the algorithms of that outlet, posting in all my networking groups from my personal profile to get the maximum amount of hype around the release. 

Also stage 3 of marketing strategies will be to get peers to share around on FB as well as my running label ‘Foto Sounds’ building a hype and having Assembly Point as a guest on the radio show.

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Blog post #4

A development in artwork design after selecting the two initial rough designs Jake (Slakarts) came to this conclusion. Really like the way it’s moving forward from the other 2 combined, the perfect combination. 

Following on from this I’ve designed a marketing strategy for Assembly Point:

Stage 1 - Post the final product of the label branding (this art when finished) on my personal profile to obtain optimum reach, this is something that most new labels do, I’ve personally watched GKC do so, referring back to a label mentioned in my presentation, 26rain (Samba’s new label) just to name a couple. Then repost this from my Khanum page and the Assembly Point FB page, also posting on the label’s Instagram page a day or two before this point adding it to the stories linked with instagram (I’ve found it boosts the reach if you share it via instagram to the facebook business page)

Stage 2 - Repost Repost Repost, spam into groups with an announcement message an also get my network to support (CNCPT, Duploc etc)

This will be the first 2 stage of my marketing strategy before anyone hears any music at all - this way building hype around the brand and showing off the artwork for the label as it’s professionally done and will give the best first impressions.

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Khanum comes through with the 'Long Haul' EP, first on our new imprint, Assembly Point.

After going through some music and analysing feedback from fans on soundcloud and whilst playing, I have decided to replace Bass Middletone with Stone Steppin’, a track I posted on soundcloud that got excellent ratings by my following, also got a rewind by someone else whilst I was playing it at a Dubcult live stream session. The next blog post will have the link to that along with feedback and analysis.

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Blog post #2 - 

After talking with my collaborator he produced these three designs, I like them all, however after analysing the logo’s and reading each point Jake has put underneath each design, I came to the conclusion that idea 2 & 3 were my preference and suggested that he design a fresh logo combining ideas from both. I chose idea 2 & 3 because of the adaptability of them in comparison to one - the background gives a versatility to the designs, meaning I can put them in the corner of videos/photos and potentially put a background (fire to go with the theme) behind them for different situations, or even black it out so it can be at the bottom of any flyers for future nights that are intended.

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Assembly Point - Blog #1

January 26th - After optimistically planning to have the money raised for the record pressing by January, I’ve realised it will take longer than this. Rescheduling to aim to launch the label around May/June if all goes to plan. 

Thinking about trying to get a second room at a dubstep night closer to the time, perhaps raising funds for pressing. This will market the product too, putting up a studio mix to share about with the music in, before the release comes out, building anticipation around it.

The branding for Assembly Point is coming together, receiving three sketch ideas to choose from, two have been selected to develop into one fresh sketch idea. This is costing £90 and is being designed by friend and illustrator Jake Greene (Slak Arts).