Okay, apologies for the kind of generic header here and the cross-post, but this is something I would really like people's opinions on, whatever they may be.
To try and show where I'm coming from, I make industrial/EBM/whatever music. I'd, at least one day, like to become, well maybe not famous, but at least known for what I do, and for me, part of that ambition has always involved being signed to a good scene label at some stage, as I have tended to look up to labels as a kind of means to judge whether a release is 'quality' or not (i.e. such-and-such label is releasing the new album by x-band, I'd better go check that out). To put simply, the idea of being signed to a label would I hope be indicative that I've reached a certain level of doing what I do well, and that people would be inclined to check my music out. Or at the very least, it would feel great to be held in the same esteem as some of the artists I admire.
However, within the last few months, I've found myself really questioning this notion. Although it's something I've studied, I'm honestly pretty naive to what exactly goes on within a record label; and for me, the waters have kind of been muddied these past few years with the rise of services like TuneCore, BandCamp, CDBaby and so on. I've always assumed that a label's main task was to promote the artists that sign to it, but from talking to a few friends who have dealt with labels more than I have, that doesn't seem to always be the case; and from looking at some labels, they often state as part of their demo policy that they look for bands who are able to promote themselves well.
What I mean to say is, if not to promote an artist, what exactly are the benefits of signing to a label right now? A lot of the tools for distributing music are now right at the hands of the musician, and handling things such as merchandise, internet presence, distribution, payment, etc are easier to do than ever.
Have I got the wrong end of the stick? Is there any glaring oversight that I have not considered? I do not in any sense mean to be negative here, rather I am just very curious as to what exactly record labels offer that would make them a more attractive prospect than going completely DIY. Of course, I'd love to hear opinions from anybody who runs a label, but even just anyone who knows more than I do about the subject!
Cheers!
