A Message to Major Record Labels
It would appear that the music industry is in an odd place these days. Record sales are difficult to maintain the status quo we once knew in the industry with this thing called the internet now in play. That said, Labels cannot afford to invest insane amounts of money in artists that are not a sure thing… nor can they afford to provide an artist with the resources for “artist development” that they once did. Basically, major labels are becoming more and more useless as time goes on. Theirs is a business model of the past that is nearing its day of being completely obsolete and irrelevant. The BTS says to this: ” Good. Good riddance.”
I am quite tired of non artists and non musicians making creative decisions based on market demographics. Since label's power is slipping, it would seem that all they can really afford to do is either
A) take a formula for an artists sound and image and recreate it over and over till it’s old news, or
B) find an artist that is already successful in their own respective right and try to get in on their business.
Now I am not saying that all labels and all A&Rs are bad… cause there are good folks out there… but the ills I mentioned are a very common trend.
That said, to all labels and A&R reps who want to work with the syndicate:
We don't need you, and we don’t necessarily want you. If you approach us with a business proposal, do so humbly, or don't bother. If we didn’t jump at some seriously major label’s offers yet, we’ll most likely not jump to yours.
We have our own production team. We have our own recording facilities. We are self sufficient in house.
We are quite happy being indie. Our goal is not to be rich and famous. Our goal is to make music and art of substance and quality.
We enjoy our business model of being direct from artist to fan base. We’d rather have a few loyal fans then a legion of mindless consumers and spots on tabloid newspapers.
We own the rights and masters of our work 100% and will not sign that over… ever.
Don’t call our artists and tell them that you’ll sign them if they are willing to be more sexy with their image.
Don’t call our artists and tell them that you’ll sign them if they are willing to be more sexy with their image.
Don’t call our artists and tell them that you’ll sign them if they are willing to be more sexy with their image.
We are artists, not models or actors. We will portray our image however we feel it should be portrayed to represent the art that we create. If you have your own ideas about what we should look or sound like, go find an artist who will be receptive to that. We are not. We do not agree that music should take a back seat to image in the music business. You may say that we are shooting ourselves in the foot with this attitude… but this is how we always have done things, and you know who we are. If you know who we are, then others know who we are which means we must be doing something right and things will continue to be done this way.
It’s an exciting time for the BTS as we watch our fan base grow little by little each day. Growth in all things is cumulative and this is just the beginning! We (like many fans) are tired of mediocre music being pushed on us with the lure of sex as a means to sell. It’s not us… we can hold our own as musicians. If an artist of ours happens to be sexy, thats just icing on the cake, but we’re not trying to push that angle, so respect that, or save yourself a phone call.
Are we willing to do business? Yes. Absolutely. However, in a time when the industry is in a constant state of flux, we mean to reinvent the way the music business is done, not perpetuate the dying model. We are for art and artists first and foremost.
It is our intention to take the industry back from the corporate and put it in the hands of the artists, where it belongs.
Many flash-in-the-pan artists who submit to the major industry’s status quo may have their moment of fame… But we intend to create something that will withstand the test of time, and we know there is no overnight way to do that.
If you wish to be part of our movement, then welcome!
If not, then we’ll see you from the top, because truth always finds its way to the top eventually. We intend to keep our art genuine and true.
