Ads skipped

I GOT SIGNED (And Dropped) By A Major Label: What I'd Do Differently

80K views · Apr 23, 2020 · People & Blogs

Damian Keyes

238K subscribers

Comments · 448

@DamianKeyes · 1 year ago · pinned
Want to learn how to grow? Go here: <a href="https://dk-mba.com/">https://dk-mba.com</a><br>Need a team to help? Go here: <a href="https://damiankeyes.com/">https://damiankeyes.com</a>
1
@HowardCharlesUK · 6 years ago
I've seen plenty of 'I got signed!' videos, but I don't see too many 'I got dropped!' videos 😂
341
@TheOceanWild · 6 years ago
Am I the only one that wants to hear the single that reached No. 77 on the charts 😶.
327
@wesleycolemanmusic · 6 years ago
Your lamp looks like an avocado 😂
123
@riccardostopazzola7931 · 6 years ago
Deal or no deal, if you're sitting on your career waiting for stuff to happen, stuff doesn't happen.
82
@DiamondLifer · 6 years ago
This happened to my old band. Except we wanted to split from the label. It was a mutual because we felt we were being mismanaged and our album hadn’t been released yet. It had a lot of buzz with fans and the genre and we knew what we were capable of because we had a huge fan base before signing. I negotiated the buying of our masters thus returning 100% of the publishing to the band. I went and shopped a licensing deal to a competitor label who we’d talked to previously. We came to terms. Released the album, it did fantastic and we made money. We went on about our career successfully until we disbanded a couple years later. Later getting back together for a couple special dates every once in a while. Every time I’d see the reps, president or owners from the first label at festivals or shows they always greet me with the “smartest kid in metal” (I wasn’t a kid. I was in my early twenties) there were no hard feelings since the split was mutual and an agreement was reached that we were all happy with. A rep later told me long after my band disbanded that we would get brought up often at multiple labels where he worked when the subject of possibly prematurely splitting (dropping) an artist would come up. We were known as a success story in regards to knowing our potential even when a majorish label did not and reaching that potential by simply not stopping and staying the course we had set before the labels came knocking. <br><br>The point is focus on the music. If you’re getting offers from labels definitely capitalize on those opportunities but do so in the smartest way possible but make sure your band or music keeps moving forward. Don’t let a label slow you down.
91
@yourbandisabusiness · 6 years ago
The thing that scares me most about an opportunity like that is losing control of my music or having recordings parked. I could deal with any amount of failure but being prevented from releasing songs would be the worst possible situation.
15
@sanosketheboss · 6 years ago
Mother's are always the number one fan 😁
77
@thesuncollective1475 · 6 years ago
I created a streaming service in 00s. We had a bout 30 indie bands , 2 of them got signed to majors..saw their vid on MTV then they disapeared . Better to do it on your own...at least you have an option nowadays
63
@effisummerscreative · 6 years ago
I love hearing insights like this, so interesting. Agree that no one would turn down a major haha. Even if you don’t get the mega success, it’s got to be such a great experience and learning curve. Plus you’d increase your network to the max!
81
@travisstoneham5656 · 6 years ago
Personally, I don't think I would ever sign with a major label or any label of any kind. I would rather stay Indie and build my career myself and retain control over it all. If things start to get difficult to manage you can always hire employees, but that's just me.
28
@lost_valley · 6 years ago
40k new tracks on spotify per day , wow. I knew music industry was competitive but this is ridiculous
34