The Process

The process of getting CDs or cassettes to thousands of people is not complex, but it does require many steps(Industry 1).        The process starts when the artist records something. Next, the recordings are copied into CDs and cassettes. The disks must then be distributed to stores to be sold. If enough interest is created in the record, it may sell enough copies for the artist to record again, which begins the process all over again(1).        This process doesn’t have to be expensive. "An artist can record a disk locally, in small quantities, for less than ten thousand dollars"(1). This cost can be reduced in half if the artist watches the costs carefully and only releases cassettes. If five to six hundred copies are sold, it will cover all costs and the artist can record again. If one thousand copies are sold, there might even be a two or three thousand dollar profit(1).        Since most people don’t have the time, money, or resources to make record after record(1), huge corporations have thousands of employees concerning themselves with the quality of plastics, the cost of oil, public and artist relations, marketing, and many other tasks(Spitz xv). They can afford to spend two to three hundred thousand dollars on recording costs(Industry 1). Although my Internet source said that large recording companies can afford to take the loss if only ten to twenty thousand copies are sold(1), my interview with Jon Burton, a guitarist who has been playing music for over twenty-five years, gave me information that record companies will get their money back because the amount of money they get depends on the life of the album. It doesn’t matter if the album has to be out for 10 years or 20 years, but they will get their money back. "Unless it’s complete trash, but then they wouldn’t sign you"(Personal Interview 1/19/98).        For most musicians, getting a contract with a major label is just a dream, but artists don’t always have to sign with a major label to make money. Although there are a lot of financial risks to owning your own record label, the artist also gets all of the profits. While fifty thousand records with a major label would bring the artist no profits, the same amount would bring a huge profit for a local financed production because they don’t have to pay a major label for its resources(Weissman 11).        If an artist can’t get signed with a major label, but also doesn’t want to undertake the financial risks of owning his own label, he can try to sign with independent labels. Independent labels are not controlled by major labels or the companies that own the majors, but they should not be confused with small companies. For example, Greffen has the same resources as the majors. Some independent labels might as well be majors(Industry 2).