Brand your label with a memorable name and logo. This will help fans to identify your company and its roster of artists. A label (much like an artist) can develop a loyal fan base by releasing consistent products. Having a certain sound throughout your label's roster can bring in new fans and give your label an identity that coheres around the music it purveys. An enticing logo helps create a memory association with your label and artists.
Decide which medium your label will release its artists' music on: compact disc, vinyl records, digital downloads or all three. Downloading sites such as iTunes are a valuable and profitable way to get music out to the public, and many record labels use the digital download format exclusively. There are a number of outlets for digital music, making it easy for a label to bypass traditional routes of distributors and retail outlets. This enables a label to become its own distributor and could save money for the label in the long run.
Secure a solid and reputable distribution company if your label is releasing tangible recordings on vinyl or compact discs. Distribution is key: it is how the label makes money from sales of its records and CDs. The distributor makes sure that the music gets into retail outlets locally, nationally and internationally. The label contracts with a pressing plant to produce the records or CDs, and this expense is often recouped through sales of the recording.
Legalize all your dealings. While an oral agreement and a handshake may work for an indie label and its artists, it is always a good idea to have the details worked out in a contract. This can help to avoid discrepancies about finance and will ensure a healthy relationship between artist and label. It is beneficial to have a legal professional handle all financial matters. Decide how you want to structure your deals with an artist concerning recoupable monies, publishing rights and artist royalties. If your label is producing sample-based music, you will need to have someone with expertise in the field of sample clearance.
Promote heavily. Promotion is the most important component in getting an artist's music heard. In the digital age there are many avenues labels and artists can use to promote via the Internet. Social networking sites are valuable tools in online promotion, as are the more traditional routes of print media, radio airplay, video airplay, personal appearances, contests, giveaways and concert tours. Many labels even have in-house booking agents to help their artists get out on the road and promote their product. One method of promotion is forming street teams. A street team is a group of volunteers in various cities and markets who are sent promotional products like stickers, fliers, t-shirts and sometimes even promo records to hand out to their local record stores and concert venues. This street promotion is intended to create a simultaneous buzz in several markets at once and helps to keep an artist's (and a label's) profile high. Merchandise is also a big part of promotion: well-designed T-shirts and stickers go a long way toward promoting an artist.