Pros and cons of signing to a record label

For most up-coming musicians notching a record deal with a major recording label is at the top of their to-do list. tjil caught up with local signed musicians to find out the pros and cons of being under a record label.

Speaking to tjil, Syclone, an Afro pop artist signed under 777 Records pointed out freedom to solely focus on making music and not worrying about handling administrative work, as one of the benefits of being signed to a record label. “As a signed artist the label takes care of the marketing and bookings and all you have to do is focus on making great music,” Syclone said. He added that being signed is less financially draining for an artist because you have financial backing from the label. Syclone maintains that it all depends on the artist and what works for them. “Teamwork is important to me, it motivates me to make good music knowing I have a team that supports and understands my goals,” he said.

Award-winning traditional artist Christmas is signed under D-Naff Entertainment. Christmas maintains that signing to a record label comes with many advantages. “As musicians we have the talent but in most cases especially for up-coming artists there is no money to fund our projects on our own, this is when the record labels help us launch our dreams,” Christmas said. Christmas added that being a musician is supposed to be like any other job where there is a senior or boss that ensures that the work gets done. Christmas however cautions up-coming artists to read through their contracts before committing to something. “Contracts are normally not easy to comprehend so get a legal practitioner to help you understand what is stipulated in the contract before committing to something,” he cautioned. On the other hand DJ Glob, a member of the award-winning house duo Makurunganga, shares that it is more beneficial for artists to be independent than signing to a record label. “There are many advantages of artists being independent - they get to enjoy great artistic freedom, as we are not limited or controlled, nor are we pressurised to deliver per the terms and conditions of a label,” said DJ Glob. He added that independent artists have the freedom to decide when, where and how to go about producing and releasing their music, the freedom that signed artists do not necessarily have. “You have total control over your finances, unlike with music label where you only get a certain percentage as per your contract.”

DJ Glob explained that another advantage of being independent is that lyrical content and genre choices are in the artist's hands, stating that independent artists are not owned by anyone. “For Makurunganga for example we started off with Kwaito but when we decided to change genres we had no one to consult just ourselves, and we make music that resonates with both young and old people,” he said.



MICHAEL KAYUNDE