[farrrell504]

Basically the band I'm in is in talks with a label and management company. But they want us to pay them 100 dollars for a one time fee. Does anyone have any insight as far as is this normal?? I feel like this is a bit backwards.

[x togepi x]

if someone is making you pay to do something like that, they probably don't think they can make any money off you w/o the fee. if that's the case, they probably aren't going to do very much for you band in the way of promotion or whatever.

this is assuming that it's not a scam, which it probably is. why would a label want you to pay them to release music that they would theoretically profit from? it doesn't work that way.

[farrrell504]

we would be payed and such. the fee is some one time "processing" fee to pay for all the paperwork. seems like a load of horse shit to me, but i wanted to check and see if other bands had to pay this fee or what not. and it's not a scam it's just a label that's newer and they say at this point they don't have the money to put into things like paperwork. and that at the same time makes us question how they plan on paying for promotions of any kind.

[popdisaster00]

Link to the label's website?

[farrrell504]

http://bandaidrecords.com/

[x togepi x]

Originally Posted by farrrell504

we would be payed and such. the fee is some one time "processing" fee to pay for all the paperwork. seems like a load of horse shit to me, but i wanted to check and see if other bands had to pay this fee or what not. and it's not a scam it's just a label that's newer and they say at this point they don't have the money to put into things like paperwork. and that at the same time makes us question how they plan on paying for promotions of any kind.

If a label can't pay to do "paperwork" (whatever that means), what makes you think they can afford to put out your record and promote it very well? Even if it's not a scam, it seems like a lateral move at best. I'm just confused as to what they can provide for you that you guys can't just do yourself. If they can't afford to pay $100 to do whatever paperwork stuff they have, they can't afford to put out your record or promote your band, because that's going to cost way more.

I'd also be sketched out by the fact that they don't have anything listed on their clients page. The whole website has this weird record industry vibe that leads me to believe it's a bad idea. I mean, all of their services amount to them doing shit that you could do for free if you just took a couple hours to do it. I wouldn't want to do business with someone who's charging others to set up a facebook account or whatever. That stuff isn't that hard.

But to answer your initial question, I've never heard of a band having to pay a fee to sign to a label, even if it's new. That doesn't add up. I know people who've been on small newer labels as well as a couple people who ran them and never did the concept of a processing fee come up.

[farrrell504]

alright thanks man. that's what we had assumed but wanted to hear others opinions first.

[SamKS]

After 3 seconds on this website I can tell you that this is in no way legit. They want to charge you $250 to set you up accounts on 3 social networking sites? Makes absolutely no sense, ask them for $100 for wasting your time.

[tone39]

Don't ever pay to be on a label, defeats the purpose entirely.

[laserlife]

In this case, it is definitely about a small label that knows they won't get back any money from you. But it doesn't mean that it is necessarily a bad thing: Some of these small labels ask for these kinda fees but they in return can offer a very good promotion for the band, getting your music reviewed and reaching more people you couldnt have reached on your own. You should definitely make some research and contact / look at the status of other bands that have been involved with the label (or that are still involved with it) and make sure there are no "personal ties" (ex: the bassist of X band signed to the Y label is actually the guy who runs the Y label)

From my experience I can say, that there is nothing you can't do on your own that a small d.i.y label can but:

- If you feel you are dealing with honest and passionate people who know what they do and don't "overwork", releasing dozens of records a month, its definitely a good start
- If you see that the records from the label have actually a sort of following, are covered by media (online or not), this is definitely the biggest advantage.
- Personally I think that selling record is not the main fuel for the "business", so the things I'd really worry about is to get as much exposure as possible in order to be in a position to be able to tour and actually have a bunch of people coming to see you in determinate areas

[laserlife]

and btw - in your case it is totally a scam, sorry dont waste your time with them, really dont seem like you ll gain anything from that and the "we dont have money for the paperworks" is one of the most absurd things!
When you are serious about starting a label you are supposed to have what you need ready, otherwise is kinda like buying a car without the engine. Pretty useful uh?

[Jaer007ll]

this is assuming that it's not a scam, which it probably is

[mitchellyoung]

whenever you talk to a label, bring a lawyer or manager.

[mitchellyoung]

related note: i wouldn't say that that "label" is a scam, but it definitely looks like they don't have much real-world industry experience. Having pricing packages for their services is weird; most legit labels operate on percentages and deal points.

[ducklights]

I would definitely be weary of getting Management & Record Label as a "combo package" anyway. It's a conflict of interest that can really cause some problems down the road.