How To Get The Attention of A Record Label
People hit me up all the time asking for the best way to get a label’s attention. As there’s tons of labels out there – and tons of bands, all in different situations – what I’m going to talk about here is by no means definitive. That being said, I do think some of what we’re about to dig into is going to help just about any band figure out their label situation. Remember that at the end of the day, getting signed to your first label as a nobody band is based on kindness, gratitude, and engaging with your community. If you can’t be a cool guy in your scene, then nobody’s going to want to work with you. Underpin your approach to labels with the understanding that it’s really as simple as this. Once you’ve got that in your head, you need sick fucking music. Meeting all of these criteria puts you in a position to get signed, get opportunities, and reach that crucial next level.
The first thing you can do to get a label’s attention and make them want to work with you is to start hooking up shows. If you develop a reputation as the guy who puts on cool shows and helps to make sure a certain label’s bands feel catered to, then you’re going to get more opportunities. Eventually, people from the label will start to reach out and express their gratitude. The bands you hook up will tell their friends, who will in turn tell their labels. Fundamentally, most bands are in it to play cool shows. If you show initiative and prove that you can be a part of the world of live music, then you’ll start to get some real traction. It’s important to remember: fuckin’ nobody wants to book shows. If you show that you’re willing to get your hands dirty, people will respect and try to connect with you.
Now, some people reading this article may live in rural areas and maybe can’t put on a ton of shows. It’s easy to book shows when you live near a major market, but what if you live in the middle of nowhere? Well, you can start off by commenting on people’s Instagrams in a cool and friendly way at scale. This means that if you want a label to sign you, you make damn sure you’re dropping comments on their shit every day. The thing is, generic and forgettable comments (i.e. “sign my band”) aren’t going to work. They need to be friendly and relevant. If your content is cool and proves that you want to build a relationship, people will take note and you’ll see them interacting back. It’s through showing a desire to make friends with people (and not just use them) that you’re going to get value. When people start to realize who you are and what you’re about, they’ll pay more attention. If they pay more attention, well shit, suddenly you’ve got yourself into a very positive situation — assuming you have the music to back it up.
Here’s my secret that has opened a bunch of doors over the years, both for me and my bands. I write about everyone. A lot of people don’t realize this, but I write eight or more reviews every week. I’ve run Two Guys Metal Reviews for almost a decade, and I drop reviews about once a week on Metal Injection. Every once in a while, I sneak some coverage in through other places, such as premiers and interviews. The thing is, I used to write about bands way more often than I do now, cranking out something like fifty pieces of band coverage a month. This led to tons of really sick relationships, the majority of which I still pursue to this day. When I was writing about bands, I was able to open doors. Why? Because I was giving away an asset that everyone wanted: attention. Offering attention is what so much of this comes down to, because when you do it people feel catered to.
Now if none of this seems appealing to you, then start thinking of other things that you can do for bands on the label, or at least things you can do for the label that require no supervision on your end. I’ll explain this using an example from my experience. There are a ton of people who want to help out at Ripple or Prophecy, two labels I work for, but in most cases I know that it would just mean more work for me, because I’d have to make sure that all of their work was done right. I don’t want to have to do that. I don’t want to have to hustle my face off for someone else who’s trying to curry favor with me in the first place.
So think about things you can do for the label’s bands, and think about things you can offer that are easy to implement. This often entails things like graphic design. I know a few people who’ve opened doors by doing shirt designs for free, or even charging a discounted price — either way, they become known throughout the community as “the shirt design guy.” I know other guys who’ve managed to get signed by doing layouts for a lot of their friends, then using that experience to start the dialog. Like I said, anything you can do to get people talking to you and seeing that you’re for real, not annoying, and have damn good music is going to be a good thing.
The music business is an unforgiving place and, yes, it sucks that you need to do a bunch of stuff for free to even get your foot in the door. The thing is, these things aren’t guaranteed to get you a label, nor are you guaranteed to not get a label by just staying in your room and cranking out good music. The thing I’m trying to outline here is simply the fact that if you connect with people, sharing your attention and passion for the music, then people are going to want to connect with you. People are going to appreciate the hustle you bring and reciprocate. You can either embrace that or shoot yourself in the foot. Give, give, give and you’ll be surprised how much more receptive people are to working with you. I didn’t invent the rainy day, I just have the best umbrella.
Matt Bacon (IG: mattbacon666) with Dropout Media is a consultant, A&R man, and journalist specializing in the world of heavy metal. Matt also co-hosts the Dumb & Dumbest podcast with Curtis Dewar of Dewar PR.
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