How Much Does It Cost In Money And Time To Set Up A Small Record Label?

a. cds are invariably cheaper than vinyl. vinyl is expensive. GOOD vinyl is almost prohibitively expensive. 7"s run about $1-2 per, 12"s $3-5 per, odd sized varies. color, labels, sleeves, will all get you. but what REALLY gets you is the mastering. ("but it's worth it" blah blah, yes, but very hard on the pocketbook.) all told, 1000 7"s probably ran me about $2000-2500, including sleeves. of course i never made it back.

b. time: if you're successful, it will take over your life. if you're not, a couple hours every week.

The key is distribution, you need to have a number of ways of shifting your stuff like direct from yr company, online shops, record shops (this I read in a fanzine article).

Also, depends on whether you have the facilities to put CD's together like a decent computer and software, as well as recording equipment.

Remember, Sam Philips turned down Johnny Cash several times before he relented. Don't be afraid to do the same, the cream will always rise to the top.

that said, I'm really glad that the means are there and that you don't need to be signed to make a record. in my opinion, running a good label is every bit as applaudable as making a good record, and if someone wants to do either themselves without a lot of outside help, they should fucking go for it.

for 12" records you are looking at the following costs:

-cuting: 110usd a side
-making plates: 120usd a side
-labels: 100usd for 1,000 2 color labels, or you can be ghetto and use a rubber stamp on white label for 30 usd.
-Pressings: 25usd for the first 5 test pressings, and one dollar for each additional pressing. (pressing costs decline in higher numbers)
-Sleeves: .25 cents per unit for white, .30 per unit for black, you are looking at up to 2,000usd for 1,000 full color glossy sleeves.
-shipping: Depends on how many you make and where you send them.
-phone calls: HELLA expensive.

You can make a 400 pressing undergound dance 12" happen for about a 1,200 bucks. You will not make any money, but you will break even. The thing to bear in mind is that you don't actually press the full run until you have shipped the test pressings to the distributors and recieved orders. The actual size of the pressing really has more to do with a distributors order than anything else.

The other thing to bear in mind is that the dance record market is drastically different from the rock market. I feel for Jess, because when you want to make rock records right it costs a lot of money. One of the advantages of operating in Detroit is that industry people expect the records to be cheap and dirty.

Check out the PDF file of the mechanics guide. It is a nice overview.