So now you have your very own record label, your recordings are in online music retailers and streaming services; you’ve done some promotion, some advertising, now what? Perhaps, your record label needs a website—a permanent home on the internet. Is this step essential? Perhaps not, but there can be some benefits.
Having a suitable place online has its advantages. Instead of trying to explain your label over and over again, you can refer people to your label’s website. Creating a website has another benefit: to create a website, you have to define yourself, which is beneficial.
If you’ve reached the point where you are distributing and promoting your music, you probably have a good idea of the direction you want to take your label. Designing a label website helps you focus on branding, things like what colours, images and descriptive text represent your online image. Websites are usually written in small text sections, so visitors can quickly scan the website for information. Think of providing your label information in a series of tweets. Small text segments require you to distill your ideas into a series of we’ll defined bullet points.
As you start defining your record label, its purpose, and what artists and customers you’re trying to reach, you may see it evolve. That happened to Listening Edge Records (LER), my record label. LER started out as an online label where people could upload and share their music with others. My interest was only in that project for a short time. I was becoming more of a web developer trying to solve people’s technical issues in addition to my job as a private music instructor. That’s when I simplified things to match my real interests. Through designing the website, I narrowed down what direction I wanted my label to go. I love recording albums and teaching, so why not help students interested in recording music make better recordings? So LER remains my private record label; it’s expanding into a YouTube channel and online resource for my students interested in releasing their music.
You’ve figured out your branding; your music is distributed and promoted, and your label has its website. Now what? That’s really up to you, you can take your label in any direction, from a private micro label like mine used to collect royalties or a full-service label, but that’s beyond what we’re discussing here; that takes real money and professional legal advice. Thanks for reading; I’m just a music teacher having fun; catch ya on the next one,