The Spotify Experiment: Self-Release vs. Record Label

[@IlyaPrevost]

The amount of work that goes into those videos is insane! When it comes to Record Label VS Self Release, I think the sweet spot is to find a label that matches your music styles as precisely as possible (even if they don't have a huge following). This way you get more exposure, but you also get people that may be your ideal listeners and have a higher probability of becoming fans.

[@cameronsegalpiano]

Great vid! Although, there is something you’re overlooking regarding playlist adds. Listeners who follow the selected label playlist will probably just use that playlist as their source for music, so they wouldn’t need to add it to their own playlists. There’s a reason they have millions of followers, people listen to them.

[@matthewjohnluca]

exactly what i thought

[@ninshu_music]

Great point

[@SaboLimit]

Very good video! I released three songs this year independently and was trying for months to get a record label deal and last week I finally got my first song signed! I can relate to a lot of the things you mentioned here and specially that last part, about never signing a long-term contract. Great video as always Big Z :)

[@ScottThePisces]

If you have music that is as good and commercially viable as a major label, and you put in a high level of effort to promote / market it the way a label would, you can absolutely get record label success. I think the issue most of us face is having the financial startup to do it, but honestly make the investment into your music and do it, short term you might not profit but in the long term as fans continue to grow and listen to you, the money becomes passive. Of course, it shouldn't be all about money to begin with.

[@andreafedericopieri]

I absolutely agree. You have to be willing to invest a lot of money in your music career if you really believe in it. Also Russ explained that: if you know the same people the label uses to promote/videoclip/album cover etc.. your song and you already made some money, you should definitely start doing it by yourself.. so you can own and handle your art, you can get busy but you’d be fully involved in your music and you keep ALL the royalties!! Then you should hire some people too if it goes well

[@ingmarbm]

As a musician who just debuted on Spotify, I really appreciate this

[@Kayoumusic]

You didn't mention that a lot of labels also charge money for the artworks and for the "promotion" they are offering for your release. I even had some releases on labels with a 30/70 split (of course 70 for the label) where they told me, that they want to run a promotion campaign with a budget of 5000€. This 5000€ was deducted from my income until the expenses for the promotion were recovered. Although they've added the songs to their big playlists, etc. I never made any cents after that. And it doesn't seem like this has brought more followers to my profile as well. And I'm talking here about a big A+++ label. No label wants to make you famous these days, most labels release songs in bulk in order to earn a good amount of money. The fact that up to 14 songs a week appear on their labels and you are only a small number is the harsh reality.

[@JP-bh7wb]

I thought I was the only one, really interesting man

[@DojoOfCool]

First rule of music going way back in time never give up your publishing. Owning your publishing will get you through tough times. Sure label will fight you and some will say forget signing you, yes it's hard but walk away. Find a label that will let you keep your publishing. Seeing how important label think getting your publishing shows you just how valuable it really is.

[@chokktaw]

almost impossible with a lot of labels to even get them to negotiate this. that's why, unless it's a label that is guaranteed to get you a lot of promotion, dj placements, licensing deals and real fans, it's actually better to self release just because of the point you made. but then again, when you're just starting out and your music isn't really groundbreaking anyway then... who gives a

[@DojoOfCool]

It takes a lot of guts and self confidence to say no and wait. Maybe if someone doesn't have that self confidence and just wants a good time now they should just take whatever is offered get their 15 minutes of fame and be done.

[@chokktaw]

well i tried it with some when i was completely starting out and just didn't get the contract then. it's hard when you're not someone known that will bring the label guaranteed plays.

[@sishdz838]

Moral of the story labels got more budget

[@gravity00x]

Moral of the story, labels pay you only for 5-30%(30% is unlikely) of the streams. He didn't mention any numbers. This whole video is completely irrelevant.

[@JP-bh7wb]

@@gravity00x Yep and most of the time that's net profit meaning once they have deducted their 'expenses' such as artwork and promotion it leaves you the artist with a nice $0!

[@gautrstafr]

It really is the point of going for a label. They have a bigger budget, experience and more staff. Since they work on more artists than you they can divide that cost among everyone they service

[@gravity00x]

except thats not the reality@@gautrstafr

[@Somedei]

thanks for this nice experiment, Labels are the way unless you want to do 95% things you dont like. And the video you posted for record labels is awesome, I must say about changing production 9 out of 10 are wrong, if an A&R is not in love of your sound the way it is it wont be with the changes they ask. I followed instructions and changed things in the mix, production and arrange for a big major label after about 10 changes (meaning like 10 days of extra work, wait and response) they finally pass, we even change the language the singer was singing !!!! and that wasnt even the first time it happened to me, other times that a label likes it , it gets released and promoted as usual, no flaws....so please DO NOT listen to A&Rs suggestions unless you are already signed and theres a healthy feedback. Those ppl are crazy, and they tend to go from label to label after 1,2 years

[@Faradaymusic]

Great video! After seeing the breakdown of your stats, I am quite positive the reason why label has a much lower intent rate than your own promotion is because they only get paid out on streams. Sure, they were able to get more total eyeballs on the project. But is that actually conducive to helping artists in their career vs an engaged audience (even if that audience is smaller)? A label could care less whether or not those streams cross over to your audience as devoted long term listeners as long as they can maintain income from the stream count. Plus, who knows if you ever release with that label again, so why would they want to essentially hand you their audience long term without a contract of some sort in place? I think a great goal for the music industry of the future is to figure out how to change the relationship I spell out above to make labels more accountable to artists and actually developing us vs expecting us to do it ourselves while they take 70%+ and ownership of our music.

[@DavidDiMuzio]

Really appreciate your content and teaching dude ✨🎶🤘🏼💛

[@JP-bh7wb]

Record labels don't pay you, self release does but you have to put in the work to promote your music

[@mexezmusic]

$140 vs $1,800... even though with the label you only get 30% it's still 13x more money... What do you mean they don't pay you?

[@hithere4289]

@@mexezmusic true

[@vikhr]

@@mexezmusic I think in his case it's different because he's a content creator, so he doesn't rely on money from streams, he relies on an audience that is going to stick with him so he can monetize through that audience. He needs hundreds of thousands of streams to make more money than a self-release but he only needs like 20 people that will buy whatever he sells to make the same amount of money he'd make from streams.

[@iamxenobyte]

Back when I first met you I just thought you were high in every video, now I watch every video you release because you have such amazing content and insight 😂

[@mnorbert]

I think it depends on how big the label is. Because if you get signed by a mid label which has no big following, or big community then you still have to push your song and submit to playlists and invest money into it. For example one of my self released track got 4200 streams on Spotify which is great considering I am not a big artist, but the track which was released under a label got only 6900 (I also had to submit the track to Spotify playlists). So yes, it takes more time and effort to do your artwork, promotion videos etc, but if you want to stay consistent and not waiting for label's feedback or 4-5 months to get your track released I suggest self releasing

[@ghfjfghjasdfasdf]

Thanks for sharing your business.

[@scottnelle]

This is an incredible video! Thanks for doing the work and laying it all out, Big Z! I love the idea of being able to do a mix of self release and label release material. Every release that results in new, engaged fans will build your profile for the next release.

[@musicandmusic9796]

Nice video - I like how it was presented by you and without bs. I managed to be signed with universal and few other major labels in 2000’s. I agree releasing music on your own is ok and fun, but you really should try to get signed as it helps you to get out there. Btw it was hard than and it is hard now to get signed, it took me years to get noticed. Producers will tell you don’t sell publishing don’t sell rights etc… the question anyone should ask themselves is: what good is your music and rights to it if no one hears it or knows about it. Once you are up there and you made it, (and you will know when you made it as people will get in touch with you) then make demands and until then you are just another grain in the sand. Also when you get signed you better work you ass off 10x more to show the label that took a chance on you that you are worth it. No one wants o one hit wonder, consistency is key. Good luck to all.

[@aaronmichaelmusic_]

I had a label say they would sign me but I had to pay for mastering. I’m like yeah sure dude lmao .

[@sleonse]

AMAZING EXPERIMENT! AMAZING VIDEO!!

[@youngkizzi9944]

Insaaane, needed this topic fr! ❤

[@dimbolt]

Insanely good video, straight to the point but also comes with a ton of details and the editing is perfect once again ! It's not a surprise then why Producers when they get big enough ditch their label to self release most of their stuff, you get the best of two !

[@METHOD-DNB]

Agreeed! ;)

[@BearLeeMadeIt]

I think a statistical point that’s missed here is that presumably the same people that are saving and engaging with the indie release are also saving and engaging at the same rate with the label rate, so those metrics aren’t lost… If anything this is making me intrigued to submit labels more

[@bigmanmike12]

Some solid advice if your starting out, get a following big enough to self release, use social media to put your personality out there, when you get the numbers on the socials go independent

[@Reddmusicus]

My favorite KZbin channel

[@gravity00x]

What matters in the end is the $$$ "10-30"% you got cut by them (lets face it, ure not getting the max 30, almost nobody does) vs your $$$ full 100%. You didn't mention if that's actually worth it. How much money do you get from record labels, vs self release.

[@ryanfrostofficial]

What’s 100% of nothing…NOTHING

[@carlosp.1846]

Thanks for sharing the insight ! Very interesting!

[@Astral-Sine-Techno]

Wow - good for you, mate! That was a really well-thought-out plan and you followed through. Seems like success all around, but I respect your plan moving forward. Wish you all the best!

[@Movieman1965]

Your video here got me to subscribe! Thanks for your analysis and this experiment. I know someone that will benefit from this information. Have a great day!

[@KevTJones]

Record labels rip you off always. It is not up for debate. It is a fact. Prove me wrong.

[@DarkDeejay]

That’s right,you never can check what You exactly earn 👎💵

[@yepyep3897]

There are some truly independent labels who have integrity, and there are plenty who don't, just like with any business type, but the very few major labels are a completely different animal. They make a sport out of pioneering new ways to cheat artiets.

[@DaniCorbalanSpain]

The relation between streams and playlist adds, in my opinion of course, isn't as important as in which playlists your song is published. The Selected playlist is probably de biggest Deep House playlist in all Spotify, one song there will do better than another song in 100 small playlists. Congrats for signing a song with Selected, they only sign top tier songs.

[@kjellbeats]

very informative and still entertaining vid, good job Z

[@mexezmusic]

If anyone is wondering about the financial aspect, the numbers also fall on the side of the label: $140 vs $1,800... even though with the label you only get 30% it's still 13x more money... But do labels actually pay you?

[@michaelihde]

I think for me it might make more sense to run for labels (single track based) in the first place and if they reject it i make a self release anyway.. but despite i‘m not the best in self promotion, self marketing, video content creation etc.. i would love to get a label to take over this stuff get the connections and network with others (do a better job at communication) and i can focus on making the music..?! What do you think am i right here??? 🤔

[@RJ1J]

I think this video is totally incorrect and misleading. Please read if you watched it and it doesn't get deleted. Worked for famous labels for 20+ years and with many big names. Never again. First of all, you just started a self releasing project out of the blue, and a social media campaign to boost support for it. You need to do that over 3-5 years to get a good following. The fact you got 172k impressions was an amazing start. Keep doing that for years and your streaming numbers will be much higher than a label, or least the revenue you will eventually get. The label had access and money to promote you on Spotify, but they will take that out of your royalties, so it was a false equivalency. You were not as established as the label. Of course your numbers would be lower. What did you expect? Also, what about all the other streaming numbers from other platforms? Apple, Tidal, Soundcloud, KZbin, Bandcamp? The label might be really big on Spotify, but you might have one really well here on KZbin. Your test falls apart right here on two counts. If your songs had done well on KZbin, because you promoted them on this channel, you'd get way more streams. And paid more. Secondly, labels take most of the money from Spotify and all streaming revenue, but Spotify is really low. Labels get way more than artists, and most mid-range artists make nothing from streaming after costs, it's just seen as a promotional tool for their live shows. So you didn't account for that aspect of what streaming at your level is really for. Even with the label numbers, you're making a few hundred quid for all the effort of making those tracks label quality. The real bonus from being on a label is networking for remixes and gigs via getting a manager because you're signed, But it has to be a good label. And the label will only help you in this way, if they are decent, whilst you are signed to them. A one off EP ain't nothing. Thirdly, facts about labels. They will drop you the second you have a failed record. They will never sign anyone over 40 unless you are godlike genius, They will expect you to already have a decent following and gigged for years. Then tour until you are dead to promote the record. They will expect all your tracks mixed professionally, no more advances. But then they will rip you off using revenue on marketing, many big artists go broke because of this. A few labels are ok. But never expect a long journey. The time it takes to get them to take you seriously is the same time to self promote to the same level these days. But, yes, you need to make videos yourself. So you might as well go down the second route. Then licence tracks to labels if they have an interest. Which you didn't mention. Finally, labels feel good at first, but 90% of artists who get a half-decent album deal, don't last 3 years unless they have relentless success. Then you're left with nothing if dropped. Getting dropped is not good for getting another deal, the only way is down, inferior labels. You don't own your music. You're back to square one. There is a reason why the person you highlighted is not signing to labels. Times have changed. Signing to labels is not the way to go, except to licence your music one track or EP/LP at a time.

[@tomsmith5488]

Thx for the in-depth info. Really helped a lot.

[@alfaPop]

Hey man First of all I have been listening to all your music for a long time. And I think there's one thing you shouldn't take into account, real time is unequivocally the best song you've released. And in my opinion? That's the only reason he was more successful.

[@gautrstafr]

If the label takes a big share of the earings, which one made you the artist more money in total? I think that this would be the right metric, though it's not as easy to see as just playlist saves since going self-published will incurr in some costs, not even counting the cost of your own time!

[@tinyshadowmusic]

Totally illuminating, thank you ⚡🤙🏼

[@jayradbeats]

Great video, per usual ❤

[@aranyak1881]

congrats on getting released on selected, impressive!

[@djjameshayes9766]

I’ve released with 4 different independent labels & sometimes labels are worse than self releasing. 2 labels never promoted my music at all. Current label are ok but it’s just a hobby for me so I’m not stressing

[@mexezmusic]

Selected is a HUGE label! So unless you go for a big label with a big playlist and following to pump streams, you're better off alone...

[@Robertino.Official]

Interessting!

[@jhm8614]

You don’t give up the rights when signed to a label right? The track is still yours? I’ve heard a lot of people say never give up the rights

[@mightbefire]

This is just the reality of playlists, which is what labels are going to lean on heavily. Playlists are mostly just empty plays, probably in the background somewhere. Even at best, it's not an intimate experience with the song.

[@Forest89764]

Yup and that's terrible for you cause you're not building a fanbase

[@mightbefire]

@@Forest89764 Yeah, it's crazy, we've completely stopped even trying to get on playlists. Algorithm killer. I do like his take though of playlists maybe making sense even it's wildly inefficient. In the end he did get 7x more playlist adds. (But at a huge cost by giving up control of his song and money.)

[@vxd]

so its still a bit unclear, did you use ads for your release? or just promote with those videos? with $500 ads, and no video promo you can easily get 50K streams, so its not as much work as it seems. Its also unclear how much money you actually made for the release with the label, it would be amazing to know how many new followers you got with the label release, because it seems like that must also be a great reason to go with labels.

[@rewind2play]

I Just turned 64 and I really appreciate your content, thanks

[@FuranGameplays]

Label are only interesting to test how commercial can be your music and how much you can get close to the club/radio friendly music nowadays imho

[@Nedvio]

Not all people add the song to a playlist though

[@oleksandrmusic]

Thank you for the info! How to do self release music?

[@reinerheiner1148]

Havig about 1/5th the saves sounds bad at first, but if you keep promoting yourself as a specific artist, you should be able to increase those over time. At least that would be my guess. So the real question becomes how those saves change over time, with additional self releases and the same brand.. Also, to build a brand, you need to controll the brand design etc for people to recognize you. At least thats what I hope, because I want to self publish 😅

[@timhampton3954]

Great video. Thanks for sharing

[@DarkDeejay]

The problem with recordlabels is that you have to give them 50% of you rights and never can check ,how much they are making on your record!😢So they pay you wetgever they want you!😅

[@JP-bh7wb]

Exactly or not at all after deducting their 'expenses' leaving you the artist with nothing!

[@NALYRO]

To avoid this you need to read carefully all the agreements and do really big and deep research about the labels you are interested in. If you sign without reading, of course it is possible you will get nothing at the end.

[@shanedeether]

Hey! I just watched this and your record label tips video. Currently I am looking for label to release my new single. You mentioned to send a song to hundred record labels, but my tactic previously was to send track to one label, wait 1-2 months and try again with another label. Do you recommend to send one track to multiple record labels at once? What if 2 labels agree to release my song? Thanks in advance for your answer.

[@Cahoots-k3i]

Great experiment. What's the track playing at 4:10

[@papatoni3311]

I didn't know u could release through a record label while remaining "independent", very cool

[@matiia]

But how much money did each make as well? Would love to know the difference in actual take home pay

[@Niles7787]

You say "always send in a fully mixed and mastered track" but doesn't the mastering usually happen through the label?

[@JakeyWakey]

The non label release will continue to grow while the label release could fall off a cliff

[@markcole4001]

Great insights here.

[@benjamin-collie]

Great work

[@JackBratset]

Great points

[@mattmilleo9864]

There's a huge difference between both of musics. "Real Time" is way better and commercial than "Burn", and that counts too much.

[@lavatr8322]

But if you play your own music on this channel and get a Copyright strike... isn't it the same, either way you get the royalties?

[@AlexGregoryFromYoutube]

What logic version do you use ?

[@HONjramiroz98]

How about the earnings comparisson?

[@NotGeraltofRivia]

Appreciate it man.

[@darrenelkins5923]

Cad baby or distrokid?

[@theAristocrap]

but much were you paid between self release and label?

[@SkifBazzaty]

But if you make Self Release, how you promoting your new track by yourself?

[@HuttyTheKid]

Songs off EPs don’t get as many streams as singles…

[@kidx2327]

How to find a label to distribute music

[@notofinterest]

what does 42x more streams mean to a 70% cut of royalties? nothing.

[@2cthetruth]

If your music is good, it will sell itself.

[@cottoo1]

But there is too much good music

[@Metro6am]

30% is wild..

[@edburmicz6837]

This style of analysis is misleading, specifically the ratio of playlist adds to listeners. Generally, when a track grows, more of the lean back audience start getting served up the track, which naturally skews the data since they arent the fans you want to target. Ratios are almost always a bad metric to use in isolation. In order to fairly compare, you need to select a basket of similar tracks of the same size by similar artists.

[@mikkomattila7444]

You should have compared singles, not an EP. What about the money from streaming? If you own everything, you need less streams to make same amount when with label

[@victorracca]

thank u !!

[@TomDry]

how you relase song on spotify without label?

[@SaboLimit]

You can use distributors like distrokid or tunecore, theres plenty of options out there

[@DarkDeejay]

SoundCloud pro,Landr etc…

[@Makker_1]

But comparing absolute values, the record label release got more people to save the song.

[@dand6450]

And that's why record deals NEVER LOSE... for by the time you to grab control over your own THEY ALREADY MAKE MILLIONS... it's your choice. And they don't wanna stop you from gaining control over your own either all the better to allow space for a new up Comer for they just wanna know they have eaten being with you and thanks for your service to us...

[@tak0_tak0]

how much money spotify paid for 1000000 streams?

[@threeMetreJim]

Look for a channel called wildcrow (Spanish music producer), he goes into details of his exact earnings from all sources.

[@mrmattyd]

We're all doomed when someone like Connor Price is popular for making that noise he calls music smfh.

[@johnviera3884]

The state of music promotion these days is pathetic Best advice is to try to find the hottest girl to dance to your song across all video platforms

[@maltemassow872]

But honestly one track could also just be better than the other. 😬

[@CFox.7]

Bro you are down to 97000 subs. You had bots ?

[@bigtony7807]

Thanks fam, but the music is not about the money, its true passion, tiktok is not about that

[@ВладРоманов-ч5т]

You have good data, but you are drawing the wrong conclusions. You have an audience that adds to playlists with higher conversions. And the label allows you to expand the audience where conversion is naturally worse.

[@emmanueljreyme]

get them likes up. views to likes = 13:1

[@alexgreat1091]

Yea and what get you from the labels ?🤣

[@18Hands]

Save some cash on a graphic designer for a while in the beginning stages and just use AI generated art. That combined with easy photo editing software, you can actually do it yourself. Later on, when you have the budget...hire a designer. Cheers

[@KSACTV]

labels use bots but if you use you'll be removed from platforms

[@alexgreat1091]

You make the wrong videos 🤣

[@jayfloramusic]

Well done and good luck!

[@finnroan4261]

Thx for the great vid z!🫶🏻