This guide seeks to explain the basics of the music biz from the standpoint of independent labels and artists. The "market"/"scene" I am talking about is the mostly dj-orientated, historically vinyl-based world of electronic music. The distributors and market practices discussed pertain to that. But the situation these days is more complicated than it has been in the past. There is now a very fine line between the old school 12" dance label and the media-involved promotions-driven mid-sized labels. Artists and mid-sized labels are signing deals with majors. Can my lawyer and your lawyer do lunch together ? With the widespread availability of cheap and powerful music gear, a massive leisure class, and sizable media coverage, there are now more musicians attempting to get their music out there than ever before in history. For every rock band that there used to be, there are now 4 solo artists. Even the drummer makes cool tracks. There are a lot of really good records and more really crap records coming out than ever before. What makes the difference in sales and recognition is distribution, promotion, and once those channels have been maneuvered, quality. What alters that sad but classic equation, is all the hungry headz that search for the new sounds, churning up the ground-rules. But these days it would have to be said that distribution and promotion make or break the records. The old-school 12" underground involved a minimum of media exposure. If the cut was fresh, rocked the floor, your shit blew up. But inevitably there are other factors that determine who hears the record, what distributors it gets picked up by, what stores it arrives in. And that determines who hears the record. If you didn't work the channels, it never arrived at the destination, and then it never even got a chance to be bought. Because of increased competition and basic evolution of the market, these other factors are now more important than they were. Now its how can you get your record heard above the din. And how can anybody with a fresh sound get the tunnel-visioned jaded industry to give it the chance ? The djs play the same stuff because they have less of a chance to mess up in front of people by trying to drop something different. As usual, the audience can handle much more than it is given credit for. Small and simple labels in house/techno/jungle/etc. usually sell about 1000 copies. 3,000 and up is doing fine. The more established labels sell at least 7,000 on a regular basis. Major labels will give away 10-15,000 12" as promo, and they seek to primarily sell the full length. It is simply worth stating that the underground scene should be about the music and the scene itself, not about trying to sell records. Good records can get repressed, licensed, CD compiled. One CD compilation can earn more money for your one track than the whole initial EP did. A couple of good DJ bookings can pay more than that.