September 6th, 2007
Launchalabel.com looks suspiciously like an Idea I posted at IndieHQ
I was recently emailed from my buddy Jimmy at Music Arsenal about a site called Launch a Label. The site is pretty simple, they get 50,000 people to ante up $25.00 and then a collective-style label is started. People can vote on bands, get free copies of the releases, and help make many of the decisions of the label.
The site was recently launched so it makes me wonder if a few posts that I made about the exact same idea was inspiration for the site. If it was, it would be nice to know that, but I don’t blame them for moving forward. If I had more time, I would love to develop half of my ideas.
For those of you that don’t recall what I am talking about, here are the two posts I am speaking of:
More thoughts on Starting a Label with $100
Launch a Label hopes to raise over 1 million dollars from 50,000 people. It will be interesting to see how this takes form and how they manage that many people. My thoughts involved having fewer people each pitch in more money, but other than that, Launch a Label is a lot like my original idea. Thoughts?
Written by Virgil Dickerson
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On September 6th, 2007 at 11:24 am
Gonz said:
i feel that with 50,000 people investing there is going to be some problems there
On September 6th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Virgil Dickerson said:
sure, there would need to be a lot of organization in order to do it right and even then, there will be lots of headaches. If done right though, it could be a lot of fun.
On September 6th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Daniel Nicolas said:
As far as them “stealing” your idea, i seriously doubt it. I remember a few years ago a lady won a Grammy for her music and her album was funded nearly how you describe it.
It’s an interesting model but I’d say you would have to have a big name like Rick Rubin, or some other “producer/god” that turns records into gold, someone who investors would trust no matter the genre or preference to the music. Meaning, fans of x band or person are very willing to donate to that person’s cause, but not the actual label, but if they know someone who is excellent is at the helm, they’re more willing to throw money into the whole thing, trusting that they’re able to make good music regardless of who it is.
On September 6th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
Tim said:
I like the idea but I don’t have any faith in that particular site. In her breakdown of expenses, there is no money set aside for a marketing team or PR team.
And the $200,000 each band gets is worthless if you have no clue how to use it. It’s not money that bands need. It’s development that bands need!
Record Collection, a Warner-backed label, had a top producer and some up-and-coming music execs running the label. They had millions to spare. The label lasted less than 5 years.
The idea is interesting but that site scares me. I see a lot of people losing $25 in someone’s pocket. I emailed the company owner so it’ll be interesting to see her response.
On September 6th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Tim said:
Yeah, this site seems pretty scary. No money is given back to the “members”. All money is re-invested into the “label.”
Basically, it’s a “fun” thing to do and not a serious investment. Unfortunately, I see a lot of money going into her pocket, if she can ever get 50,000 people to do this.
Am I missing the point and being too hard on this site?
On September 6th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
Nico Ramon said:
To me LaunchALabel seems to be mimicing the idea that sellaband.com is based on. In other words the fans fund the artist. However, in the case of LaunchALabel they’re starting a record label, which apparently also tries to do the job of a concert manager also. It is not usually the record company that funds the tours and I feel that overall LaunchALabel is not thought over thoroughly. Besides, in my huble opinion record companies are a dying breed, while indie music is uprising. You don’t need a record label anymore to sell your music, because the rules of music industry are changing continuously due to the new technology at hand. Who wants to start a record label nowadays anyways, I really wonder. I believe that in the future all money will be made through music licensing and live concerts, but in selling records. Recorded music will be only used for promotional purposes.
On September 7th, 2007 at 7:31 am
alex said:
Please pardon my cynicism, but this endeavor will fail miserably. I’d be surprised if they ultimately entice more than a few dozen people to “invest.” It’s hard enough getting someone to pony up $10 to buy a CD, let alone pay $25 to some stranger with no tangible benefit. Do they refund the money if they don’t meet the initial investment goals? So I send them $25 and get 1/50,000th ownership of a label? Sorry, doesn’t sound like much fun to me. I might as well just watch American Idol and vote on those people.
Besides, the monetary breakdown seems suspicious. This looks like nothing more than an investment in employment for the person running Launchalabel.com. $2,000/month for office space? $5,000 for office furniture? Two web servers for $400/month. Why are two servers even necessary? Not to mention $19,000 the first year for website design and maintenance. None of the things I just mentioned are crucial for a record label. As someone above suggested, you don’t just throw money around and expect success. They’re putting the cart before the horse here.
Their website (i.e. label) will be offline and defunct in six months. That’s my prediction.
On September 7th, 2007 at 7:36 am
alex said:
Ok, one point of clarification after digging around on their site further. The $25 investment will not be requested until they’ve got 50,000 members, so scratch my one question above.
On September 7th, 2007 at 10:36 am
tre said:
Fucking terrible idea.
On September 8th, 2007 at 3:52 am
Bruce Houghton said:
You do it and I’m in for $100. Somebody who I don’t know and I’m not. I also think your thresehold of $100,000 is much more in keeping with the indie spirit of the project and the realities of the new music biz then “I need a million”.
On September 9th, 2007 at 1:13 am
Karol Gajda said:
Hey all,
Thanks for all your comments. I understand it’s a lofty goal getting 50,000 people involved. And I understand it may seem “risky” considering you don’t know me from…well…somebody you don’t know. :) But this is not about money for me, and I’d be stupid to try to steal $1.25 mil from 50,000 people. I’m a big fan of independent music and it’d be a dream to help 5 independent artists out.
Tim, just wanted to clear this up: I’m a guy not a girl. It’s Karl, not Carol, but spelled Karol. :)
As far as the expenses: Web servers for $400/month. Yes, to run a 50,000 member site it’ll probably take at least 2 Web servers. 1 dedicated to the database for sure.
Office space, I’ve received various quotes from places in Orlando (where the label will be based). $2,000/month is for a fairly small office space actually, but enough for up to 10 people or so.
$5k for office furniture includes computers, phones, scanners, printers, etc, for the whole staff.
If you’ve ever run a business you know expenses such as these are much greater than most people imagine.
Tim: the $200k per band does include marketing/PR. And lots of tour support. As you probably know (but most music fans do not) to get bands on package tours you usually have to pay (depending on the tour it can get really expensive) and a significant portion of the $200k deals will be going towards exactly that. I’m with you: it’s development the bands need. And that’s why touring will be so important in the endeavor.
Hopefully I’ve answered your questions. If not, you can contact me at (407) 745-1809 or Karol AT LaunchALabel.com.
Karol Gajda
On September 13th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Launch A Label: uma companhia discográfica gerida por 50 mil fãs | Remixtures said:
[…] Tendo em conta o sucesso do SellABand - contradizendo as minhas expectativas iniciais -, já não me admirava nada que houvessem tantas pessoas disponíveis para desembolsar 25 dólares numa iniciativa como esta. Mas a verdade é que para além da possibilidade de votar e escolher as bandas, os fãs pouco ficam a ganhar com o negócio uma vez que a doação não confere quaisquer direitos legais - não existe a possibilidade de receber lucros da empresa - e as versões dos cinco lançamentos que os fãs deverão receber consistem apenas em meros MP3s e não propriamente CDs. Agora digam-me qual a vantagem que o LaunchALabel oferece em relação a uma netlabel… (via IndieHQ) […]