So you’re ready to start getting down to the business of music, but you’re slowly starting to realize something awful: you don’t know the first thing about making it in the music business. After all, you’re a musician, not a record exec. But what kind of impact will it have on your career as a musician if you just let your music go without serious promotion backed by a record label? Are you satisfied working that 9-5 for the rest of your life, or do you aspire to something more?

DOES THIS SOUND LIKE YOU?

* You’re good at music, maybe even created a full album worth of material, but you don’t know what to do with it now.

* You’ve sent your music to record labels and faced that cold rejection. Most of the time you never hear back at all.

* You’ve submitted their music online to a few places… but you’re not getting any listeners. You’re getting lost in the crowd, and you’re definitely not making much money.

* You want to start bringing in the big bucks, but you’re stuck playing the same five or six clubs month after month. You feel like your career’s going nowhere fast.

If this all seems familiar, you may want to consider starting your own record label. If music is your thing, but you’re lost when it comes to the “business” side of things, then you need to start thinking hard about how exactly you’re going to pursue music full-time. You need to learn how to promote your CD, how to get people to buy it, how to get it distributed, how to start touring, and how to get on the radio.

THE OLD WAY

The vast majority of people who submit demos to record labels face constant rejection. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Most people don’t get ahead in the music biz by relying on overworked, underpaid interns to listen to your demo and hopefully share your vision for the future. If you keep sending your demos to record labels, they’ll likely keep ending up in the same place: the garbage can.

A key point to understand on that there is only one relationship that matters in the music industry: the relationship between an artist and his or her fans. There are many entities out there that seek to take advantage of this relationship, and one of the biggest parasites are major record labels.

The sad truth is that artists end up losing a lot of money in the complex contracts labels make you sign. Most bands and groups will only see pennies of every $15 CD sold.

You’re also face a great risk if you continue sending your demos to labels. You stand to lose your music. It’s not unheard of for record labels to steal the “good parts” for their signed assets at your expense.

But what about promoting music online? The cold hard truth is that there are literally thousands of people submitting their music online, and it’s very likely you’ll drown in a sea of artists just like you. It’s hard to stand out from the crowd and get a big following if you’re not promoting your music every day face-to-face with fans where real relationships are built.

WHY START AN INDEPENDENT LABEL?

By starting your own record label you take steps towards starting a great career in music.

The biggest and best reason to start your own record label is money. As the CEO of your own label, you get to keep a much larger share of the profits. Even if you can’t match the sheer distributing power of a major record label, you may end up doing just as well as an artist signed to a major label since you have greater control of the finances.

By starting a successful independent music label, you also can explore the option of producing and releasing the music of third party artists. For example, you could set up a profit-sharing agreement with musicians on your label; down the road that could all parties involved very wealthy if done correctly.

Real professional independent musicians must promote, tour, and have successful album releases. And these musicians need strong business plans to make it all work. It takes knowledge of business and an understanding of the industry – but it’s all worth it in the end.

Savion Stearns is a published author and independent musician. For more information about making it in the music biz visit: Starting a Record Label