JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum MIRANDA PROMOTIONS OF ALABAMA LOOKING FOR NEW ARTIST TO PROMOTE FOR RECORD LABEL....

Miranda,

If a record label(or another entity)feels the need to release a compilation CD, or a various artists album, it's the record label that should bear the costs. If they didn't think, or at least hope, they'd make their money back...they shouldn't be releasing it. Requiring the artists on the CD to shoulder the cost is not a reputable way to do business. If you are honestly trying to help promote upcoming artists, then you should find a better way than putting out compilation CDs. Regardless of who's paying the bill, it's not an effective way to promote an artist.

Promoters get paid to promote...so, charging for your services is not automatically bad. It becomes a question of what your services consist of and whether there is an equitable value between what you provide and what an aspiring artist pays you. Your first posts on this thread were very vague and somewhat misleading. In this business, you should not be surprised when that causes people to assume the worst about you.

So, am I tacky for saying so. Maybe, but I doubt it. Based on your last response, it seems that you are trying to break into the business of artist promotion. You have limited experience, but according to you, there are a handful of independent artists who you are representing. You should have just said that to begin with. The phrase "promote to record label for possible major career step" is a little more than I think is justified based on your experience, especially when you were unwilling to share any details of your business.

I'm not trying to bash on you, but think about it. You stated earlier that you are the "owner/director of a well known promotional company". Well, a quick search by anyone would show that isn't quite true, or an exaggeration at the least. It's better to just state the facts about yourself if you're legitimately looking for business, rather than looking to take advantage of people. I'm sure there are independent artists out there who can't afford to pay a big time promoter, but would like some help in that area. Chances are, most of them won't consider you if they think you're running a scam.

If you want to succeed in artist promotion, it probably wouldn't hurt to have a good look around these message boards. It's a good place to see a broad cross section of artists, writers and industry folks of all kinds at all levels of the game. Getting a better understanding of what they think and what they are up to would serve you better, in my opinion, than this approach.

Randy