a bad record deal....

[MarcMoore]

I tell artist, musicians all the time "Do you know what a Record Deal is?" I tell them "Its a BAD Bank Loan" recoupment

[cliffandsusan]

This is the most helpful video we’ve watched about this. Excellent advice. Clear and concise and a major affirmation for where we are and what we are working toward. 🙏🏻

[SPINESPLITTA]

“Come in here, Good Boy.
Have a cigar.
You’re gonna go far.”

[carlosp.]

Lol, what is the point of a label if I already have hundred of thousands of views and/or sell merch and tickets without them. Seriously……

[kougan_music]

I see some people ask on reddit if a deal is worth it. And it's always: think about how much time it took you to get where you are now. Say you've made 10M streams and have been at it for 5 years. A label that takes 50%, HOW are they gonna double all your streaming numbers in a very SHORT period of time to make it worth giving up all that revenue. Because if it takes them another 5 years to double all your numbers, you are now 10 years in, and could've had that same amount of money 5 prior if you had not signed and without owing any extra money to a label

[homestudioacademy]

Colt, thank you for speaking the truth. Even though I’m no longer chasing the “artist dream”… this information would have been very helpful back in my late teens/young adulthood. Hopefully many aspiring artist will come across this video and really evaluate their options before signing anything. As always, awesome content Colt!

[ricklarsen]

Really appreciate your honest, straight-forward and candid assessment and advice on this topic, Colt. Don't think I could get such valuable information anywhere else and in such a short condensed presentation. Kudos to you!!

[angermanagementstudios]

In the old days, at least a record label would take a risk and build up the artist. In 2024, you basically need to have already done all the sodding work!

Ridiculous really.

[ohstudiousa]

My band (Ocean Highway)at one point signed with a very small independent label and it started great and ended horrible. After the Never Ever Again. The good news is that we didn't lose any of our own money. The one part the label sucked at was MARKETING the most important part. They ended blaming us 😂 which I found funny because that was the second most thing I was doing. At least we check off that box on our BUCKET LIST 🙂Great video brother.

[RowanGarmon]

Had a record deal go south earlier this year. Wish I had seen this before hand. Now hitting TikTok hard.

Thanks for the honest input man 👏

[OriginalRaveParty]

There's zero point to record labels anymore. Musician > Fan.

[timgosden]

VERY good advice. Thank you. I will ALSO be sending this to everyone who asks me...

[Mike-vrmb]

Another point - labels are petty as hell! They’ll sign you just to avoid competition with other labels and shelf you! Seen that many times too and heard it straight from the horses mouth - all while blowing their nose 👃 on snow (you know what I mean)

[MarcPlaysDrums]

To cut to the chase…if you have rockin shows and poppin TikTok then…why sign? You’ve done all the work.

[Circharles]

Pure facts. This a great information colt. Keep’em coming.

[bobbarney]

Thank you so much for sharing this brother !! Appreciate your transparency and willingness to just say what needs to freaking be said!

[Somedei]

Im so happy to be part of your community for years now, it would be interesting if you could offer as a service for example a one hour zoom video chat as a one time or follow up if you produced/mastered in order to have someone in the business with a view on it. just my two cents. love your honesty.

[kaiulrich]

I truly believe, a record label paying for your production let alone tour support are a thing of the past. And I‘m talking way back.

[chrisdawson]

It's important to lay out how recouping works.
In the $30k song example...
All costs associated with the song are paid from the Artist's half of the profits first. If a song had a total profit of $30k, it's a 50/50 deal, and the total expenses were $5k, the total profit would have to reach $10k to recoup the cost before the Artist saw their first dollar in profit.
Also, the artist will often be signing away their rights to their own likeness, creative output, and future business decisions.

[rapdup]

Wisdom. Thanks for shedding light on this topic.