How To Start Your Own Record Company

There are thousands on record companies out there. They all start on paper. Having a brick and mortar building to operate out of doesn't make you a record company. A record company is all about the people on your team, the artists that you have ready to go and the distribution outlets that you have access to. I started my own record company called Pryme Meridian Entertainment (www.PrymeMeridian.com). I use it as my legal entity to promote myself as an artist. It's a partnership between my mother and I. She has no clue as to how the industry works in it's entirety but if we need to have a meeting, she's always present. LOL She's my emotional support and my objective analyzer, if you will. Moving on, the point is that I have all of my documentation in place. Documentation beats conversation, all day long. Here's what you need to start your own record company before you can give yourself a record deal.

1. Pick a good name.

2. Reserve your name with the secretary of State of which you reside.

3. Purchase your business license to operate in that state under the name that you've picked and reserved. Fees do apply. Google it to find out what it is.

4. I would recommend going over to Chase Bank and starting your business accounts after you have the articles of incorporation for your business.

5. DO A BUSINESS PLAN! You must. There's no exception. If you don't have a business plan then you are not serious about business. There's software out there that will help you build it or you can use a Microsoft Word template. If you're too lazy to do the research and do it yourself then pay somebody to do it. You can hire someone through oDesk.com to do it for you. Your business plan should contain your marketing plan, the demographic information of the audience that you'd like to reach and your financial analysis.

6. Do a partnership agreement with the executive of your record company so that you are covered and get it notarized. Notoriety is everything.

7. Get distribution outlets together. In the case of the N.E.O. Indsutry, you can use Tunecore or CD Baby to get your music on iTunes, Napster, AmazonMP3.com and many other only digital outlets around the word. I'll talk more about distribution and marketing later on.

8. Get your product together. The artist(s) and their album.

Those are the steps to getting your record company up and running. The rest will coming from reading and applying what you read. By all means, don't allow someone else to acquire knowledge and know everything for you. The money is in the writing and publishing. READ about what publishing is and know why it's such a big deal. READ about how to license your product for movies, commercials, etc. Ask questions. Get legal counsel if needed. Whatever the cost, know your stuff. The knowledge is the power. That's why so many artists have left the industry with nothing put a few CD's to show for what they've done, as seen on TV One's Unsung series. Watch the show sometimes. You'll learn so much about how unglamorous the industry really is. You gotta know your stuff to run a record company successfully.