We look at what attract artists to record labels. What convinces a record label about an artist’s craft? What do record labels look out for before signing an artist?
The question on everyone’s lips will be, “Do you still need a record label before you blow?”. The answer is no. Several artists are doing wonderfully well as an independent act.
Yet, artists who chose the independent path always end up signing to a record label at the latter part of their career.
As an upcoming artist, there will be costs of recording, shooting videos, and being independent, these might be a lot to handle on your own. Here, we present the five things record labels look out for before signing an artist.
1. Uniqueness
A&Rs and talent managers at record labels are always on the lookout for artists who show uniqueness or have created their own sound.
A lot of Instagram rappers still have this one-directional style, while that might be good for the audience, it’s old fashioned, and the technique has been repeated.
An example is Hotkid who did Instagram freestyles a lot but when signed, his label had to re-innovate his sound for a wider audience.
2. Social Media Content
Olamide talked about finding Sosa-E and Jackmillz (upcoming acts he featured on 999EP) on his explore page on Instagram and being impressed by what he saw.
The trick to this is quality and consistency. Record labels like these two metrics because it’s part of what will ensure your sustainability in the industry.
3. Audience
Your content will attract people who will later form your core audience. Having your own tribe or your own people who support you and croon your art is key to being signed and contributing to your growth.
This also makes it easy when you’re signed. There’s a ready audience willing to stream and support you. Saves the label the stress of building an audience from scratch.
4. Popularity
This when combined with quality, helps artists get discovered. To some extent, most CEOs at record labels have signed artistes after the artist has won a challenge or trends due to a reason.
It will take a while before an artist becomes popular, but even on Festival Bar 3, Davolee attested to the story of him jumping on Hennessy VS Class, and right after that, he got a DM from Olamide.
5. Numbers
Can your music churn out numbers? How has your past release been? Have they gathered enough numbers from the audience you have?
Music is a game of numbers, and before a CEO can invest in your craft, he has to see if this will bring in returns.
While for sure it takes more than this to get signed or discovered by industry gatekeepers and helpers, there’s a place of luck and grace of God,
What Else Can Make An Upcoming Artist Get Discovered/Signed By Record Labels?
Let’s help upcoming artists in the comments section.
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