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Originally Posted by TiersenYann
Haha. You would have thought if you could do all that yourself (it would be awesome if every artist could) - you would have much more bargaining power when labels start approaching you..
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I've been signed several times. Bargaining power? Labels are banks that loan artists money to polish the band into a marketable product, from the way they dress to the kinds of social issues the bands back. Once the label molds the band and it's image, they throw in some tour support and sell the band to fans with a marketing package that includes radio, venue support and SWAG. If the label doesn't recoup in X amount of time, they drop the band and write them off on their taxes. The only way you have any say in your art is if you've already made your own record and proven you can sell lots of records by yourselves. Some labels have tiny networks, and some have huge networks. A full package deal from Halogen Records will be completely different than a full package deal from Atlantic. You need to know a lot before you sign with the devil. Just get yourself an good entertainment attorney, you don't really need the label until your lawyer advises you.
Other than those items, Labels are completely useless. If an artist already has a following and sells their own records, books their own shows, they don't need a label, they need a distribution house and a tour manager.