Metallian Panel Discussion: Metallian contacted several record company personnel and metal musicians to ask two important and pertinent questions from each of them. See how each answered our inquiries. – 09.2024

Record companies were responsible for A&R, studio costs, tour support and promotion in the old days. Labels recouped their costs before paying royalties under this system, which existed for decades. Labels are different today. Music sales have decreased. Labels often seem to be not much more than a vehicle for pressing a couple of hundred CDs or LPs. Most labels do not even have a website that promotes their roster or even something as simple as a newsletter.
At the same time, and ironically, given the lower barriers to entry, the number of such labels has mushroomed to a number greater than ever.

Metallian Panel Discussion: Bands And Record Companies	1. What do you see as the advantages of bands working with labels nowadays as opposed to operating completely independently?	2. What do you believe the future holds for the artist/record company relationship?
Ivan Magdalena – Manager For Art Gates Records	First of all, as a label and professionals in this industry, we have a comprehension and understanding of the scene that the artists don’t usually have. Depending on the status of the band we sign, our contract and conditions are different, but our intention is to take the band further steps ahead. I know these days you can find 1,000 labels, also millions of Instagram accounts probably (smiles), but not many serious companies that are able to develop artists and provide support in the way we do. At Art Gates Records we grew a lot over the years, our team is bigger and more specialised than ever and we are able to develop artists in a way we have never done before. By the way we also cover a lot of costs and recoup it from royalties, include bands in festivals, tours, prepare licence deals, promote, create special deals, etcetera. So this is not a nothing-burger.	I firmly believe labels need to keep evolving and adjusting their way of working with artists according to new technologies. Planning is a vital part of a label’s work. Labels need to take advantage of the current and future AI tools. You need to love this industry, scene and job to be able to succeed. This is not for the people who just want to make cash and that’s it. This is a job for people that love bands and love their music. That’s the only way to survive and succeed.
Sandro Di Cairano – Guitarist For Storm Upon The Masses	We haven’t been around long enough to experience the era when physical sales were still a major source of income for a band. With the changing landscape of the music industry, it’s only natural that the role of record companies changes with it. I guess one of the main advantages of working with a record label nowadays is that they can use their network and resources for promotion and distribution, while building a network independently requires a lot of time and effort. Assuming the label already has an extensive network, this can be applied to amplify a band’s reach and visibility. However, operating independently is not without its advantages either. It allows artists to keep control over things like release schedule, creative decisions and musical content. Additionally, all earnings from their music go directly to the bands themselves.	I think this varies from label to label. There will always be labels who, as you described, merely work as a middle-man between the band and the pressing facility. Even this can be beneficial to bands that only have this purpose in mind, who are content to simply have a label in the first place and maybe decrease the amount of work and time that goes into releasing an album. On the other hand, there are labels that can be of greater value to a band, either by financing some of the startup costs for merchandise, providing booking or touring opportunities or significantly increasing a band’s reach by promotion. It comes down to looking for a label that feels right for your band, in accordance with your expectations, see what they have to offer and make an informed decision about whether or not to proceed independently based on this.
SiN – Musician For Astarium And Former Manager For The Dominion Of Sin Label	A label is an organisation that not only creates a physical or digital music product, but also already has a net of established contacts for the distribution of products, its support from the press, as well as a certain customer base. Imagine how much effort, time and money a musician needs to spend in order to provide decent support for his new material. Naturally, it is easier to transfer all the related business to the label, that is acting as an intermediary between the musician and the final listener. Again, you need to understand what you want to get in the end and whether your expectations match the capabilities of the label. Therefore, I am in favour of everyone doing their own thing: the musician creates music and the label advertises and sells it; however, the musician must be prepared for the fact that release of the material may require certain investments in addition to those that were invested in its release by the label.	It’s hard to say what the relationship between labels and bands will be in the future. I don’t think anything will change dramatically. From personal experience, I can say that labels working at the expense of their own enthusiasm, unfortunately, do not live long, while others (larger and more cunning) release material and promote it for the musician’s money. It is clear that this is an attempt not to lose money and not go into the “minus” in the crisis of the last decade that has covered the music industry, but… this approach is a path to the void, further driving the music industry into a dead-end.
Allan Tvedebrink – Guitarist For Withering Surface	Of course, there are pros and cons. And I think the majority of mainstream bands benefit 100% from their record labels and management. They are too big to handle an operation like that, but for bands of our size, I have mixed feelings. I guess it depends a lot on how outgoing and willing to network and push your band yourself you are. If you are like me, you need someone to do that for you. And for most of the small labels, it’s a collaboration, where you need to do both. Lots and lots of bands feel raped because they pay for the recording, probably also for promotion and sign a publishing deal. And then they just sit there and think ‘We paid for everything, now the album is out, so we are just waiting for the money and gigs to fall into our laps.’ But that is not how it works. You need to get out there, to play the shitty jobs, to be active on social media and network with other bands and this is where the collaboration comes in. The label released the album, they want you to be active, answer interviews, play gigs and gain more fans that will buy your merchandise and albums. The band will earn a little and the label will earn a little and the more you do that, the better the economy and the better basis for the next album, the next tour etcetera. So to actually answer the question, the advantage of working with a label is all sorts of experience and a common goal to earn more fans and hereby money. You collaborate, you split the money. If you are on your own, you get all the money, but it’s a long hard struggle. You can’t just drop an album on Spotify and wait for people to hear it. With a label you’ll get more time to focus on what is really important, the music. If you have to promote everything and build the band yourself, you’ll have to spend a lot of hours on practical shit.	Well, it’s obvious that record labels are in the process of shifting from just releasing and selling albums. They are well aware that sales are low and that you have to earn your money on everything else. They have to be much more active in actually selling the music through streams, gigs and publishing and not just physical albums, but in that way, they need to be much more proactive in getting the bands noticed and act more like a management and booking agency. And why not? They will have a lot of know-how, experience and a wide network that the band will benefit from and, I think, that is the way to go in the future. Closer collaboration and a common interest in pushing the music to more recognition, so the revenue will come from gigs, merchandise, endorsements and so on.
Eemil Lajoma – Singer And Guitarist For Cryptic Hatred	As you said, labels are a great tool for sharing the financial burden of pressing CDs and other merch. I think labels are still relevant today, but not on the same scale as before. Operating independently grants the artist the freedom to do anything they want, since it’s their own money. Others feel like this is crucial to their career and they want nothing, or no one, telling them what to do. I think labels are great for spreading your music and your brand. Sharing the financial risk always helps, since metal musicians don’t make much money anyway.	I think there will be a lot of labels in the future just as there are now. Artists will probably keep going to labels for merch and music printing, but I feel like their role will diminish even more to mainly just printing media and merchandise.
Mike Juliano – Manager For Horror Pain Gore Death	It really depends on the label you are working with. HPGD started in 2008 and the landscape of music has changed so much since then. Streaming and Bandcamp have taken over while physical sales are definitely not the main way people consume music. That being said, the die-hards are still out there and more passionate than ever. Working with a label which is passionate and promotes often is really the key. HPGD has a website, a shop website, posts daily on social media, etcetera. We do not follow the traditional model of a record label as our whole goal is to give exposure to bands and then have them move on to a larger label. The traditional record label model still exists, but many labels are adapting. While bands do not need a record label, sometimes they do not have the experience or time to do everything that is needed to make a release a success. This is why I am proud that HPGD is still around after almost 16 years. We have a great reputation of helping bands grow and get their name out there and the fans are very supportive of the label and bands.	What has been happening recently is larger companies are purchasing smaller record labels. With metal the goal is different than other genres and the industry is trying to have a piece of the DIY/underground. The problem with this is that the larger companies do not know what to do with underground metal and, a lot of the time, they are hurting artists. It’s important to have true independent labels out there with the right intentions. When HPGD started in 2008 there were hundreds of metal labels going around the globe. We would trade our titles with theirs and it was an exciting, old-school time where CD’s reigned supreme. 80% of those labels are now out of business and sadly it’s much more difficult to start a label right now. I don’t see there being a return to those times, but the last true independent labels will be the last ones standing. And will provide an alternative to major labels.