Signing To A Label Owned By An Artist

By, Wendy Day from Rap Coalition (www.Rap-Coalition.com and www.rapcointelpro.com)

In my experience, there are two ways to get signed to a deal that could possibly lead to a successful career in the music industry. One way is to put out your own CD and sell enough CDs regionally to create the leverage to entice a major label into signing you to a deal that will lead to success, and the second way is to sign to an already established platinum recording artist, and come through the deal he or she has worked out with a major label that wants to be in business with that artist.

There are both upsides and downsides to signing underneath an already signed artist or producer. There are more artist owned or controlled labels than at any other time in the history of the urban music business. Some of those current opportunities are:
Artist examples
• Young Jeezy’s CTE (formerly known as Corporate Thugz) through Def Jam
• 50 Cent’s G Unit through Interscope
• Eminem’s Shady through Interscope
• T.I.’s Grand Hustle through Capitol or Asylum
• Ludacris’ DTP through Def Jam
• Nelly’s Derty Entertainment, through Universal

Producer examples
• Mr Colipark’s label through Interscope
• Polow’s Zone 4 through Interscope
• Dr Dre’s Aftermath through Interscope
• Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music through Sony
• Pharrell’s label through Interscope

DJ examples
• DJ Drama’s Aphilliates label through Asylum
• DJ Khaled’s label through Koch

When a major label has an established artist with a strong sales track record of success (platinum or better), that label often offers a label deal to the artist to keep him or her happy. In some cases, it’s a real label (such as DTP, Shady, CTE, G-Unit, etc) with real offices, with their own dedicated staffs. And in some cases, it’s just a logo printed on the back of a CD to appear that the artist has his or her own label. There are a variety of reasons why these different types of deals exist, but that would be a topic for another article…

If one of the ways to get established in this industry is by coming up underneath an established, successful artist, you should consider the pluses and minuses.
Downside:
• The money, if and when it comes, passes through the hands of middlemen. If 50 decides to sign you to G-Unit, the money eventually goes from Interscope through G-Unit and then (hopefully) trickles down to the artist.
• There’s often a long wait--most artists already have their friends that they want to put on through their deal. Therefore, if you are an outsider in that camp, you’d have to wait your turn to come out.
• Compilation albums are usually the first release from a major artist who has just been given his own label deal. Often, this is because the artist has too many artists coming up under him or her, and compilations often allow one artist to stand out from the rest.
• If the major artist pisses off the major label, your project will suffer exponentially.
• If the major artist’s next release doesn’t do very well, the label deal will often suffer because the need to keep that established artist happy is no longer as strong.
• Many artists sign other artists who are not as talented so they will not be upstaged. Very few major artists are secure enough with themselves to sign artists who are better than they are or who can out rap them.
• Most artists do not have strong business sense and not many have the business acumen to hire professionals with a strong track record of success to run their companies for them. You could end up signed to a label run by (and therefore trusting your career to) the artist’s best friend who has no music business experience.
• Most releases under a major artist’s label are seen by consumers as just “friends” of the artist and are rarely taken as seriously as unknown artists. Murphy Lee will always be seen as Nelly’s boy, D-12 will always be Eminem’s buddies, P$C are T.I.’s friends, and Tony Yayo will always be seen as 50’s childhood friend. Whether they have this kind of history or not, that is the perception—admit it, you were thinking that when those albums dropped.
• You will never have a better deal than the deal your artist label-owner has with his label (unless you sell more CDs than him and can renegotiate). For example, if you are signed to an artist who received 18 points from Def Jam in his deal (that’s 18% of the retail selling price of each CD, after you paying back all of the expenses), you will likely get a lesser percentage than 18 points. He can’t give you more than he gets.
• You will most likely have to use newer, less established producers for your beats—or even the in-house producers, because there’s rarely a budget for you to record with the A-list hit makers like Mannie Fresh, Jim Jonsin, Dr Dre, etc. In a hit-driven, radio-focused industry, that could be somewhat challenging.

Upside:
• If the artist who signs you is a priority at the label (like Eminem, Ludacris, TI, 50 Cent, etc), there is a better chance that your project will be a priority at the label as well. The level of effort the major label makes on your project is in direct proportion to the level of financial value of the artist to whom you are signed.
• You gain immediate recognition in the marketplace when a major artist gets behind you and co-signs you.
• You are signed to a label that is run by an artist so the understanding of the music and artform is much stronger than if you are signed to a label run by a lawyer or an accountant.
• Your first release is almost guaranteed to feature the platinum recording artist because you are signed to him or her, and there is a financial stake in being promoted (and co-signed) by that artist.
• You are thrust into a career that starts out at a mid-level. You get to tour with an already established artist, you get to learn the industry through the eyes of a platinum recording artist, and you gain part of an already established fan base. The opportunities for exposure for you are immediately greater.
• You get to see the inside view of a superstar’s career. You can learn from the mistakes or successes of that artist who comes before you. It is next to impossible to get such an insider’s view without being right there to live it firsthand. This education is invaluable if you are smart enough to apply what works to your own career and not experience those same mistakes and pitfalls yourself.


While there are upsides and downsides to every deal, each artist must weigh these for themselves and their own situation. Signing to an established artist may not be good for everyone, and it may be the best route for others. The trick is to know all of the pluses and minuses of any opportunity and then to make an informed decision based on what is best for your own career and your own situation. After all, signing any record deal is usually a commitment of 5 to 7 years of your life. In most cases, this is the life span of a rap career, so choose very wisely.