Benefit – Label Cantroll

HOW MUSICIANS BENEFIT FROM RELEASING THEIR MUSIC AT LABEL CANTROLL?

Usually this topic is discussed in personal correspondence. All labels don’t talk about it. We write publicly.

Part 1. Work

All music is distributed online and for free. We don’t release music on physical media.

Publishing a release on a label means joining a community of like-minded people, getting a pool of listeners, a certain amount of publishing and marketing services. We bring people together. Today’s digital culture is short-lived, but all of our releases since 2008 have working links.

Some tracks are well received on social networks and music sites. From time to time we write artists’ news, include them in In-Store playlists (music in public places), offer participation in various projects*, and sometimes we manage to make direct sales.

An important point — design. Each album gets a videoscreen, bilingual description, smart-link, and an archive with the album. If necessary, we make the cover art.

*for example: priority participation in compilations (Take a Trip and Downtown) or organizing a remix contest.

Part 2. Benefits

All services are free for our residents. Here are some** of them:

— We promote music for different contexts (compilations, offline platforms, special projects). For example, in 2021 we invited residents to the service of short videos VK Clips — the social network officially supports us, so each video has 50–90 thousand views.

— Adding data to the Discogs, Shazam and Last.FM directories;

— Post the album in 10–15 music groups in VK;

— Promote one or more tracks from the album in rotation on FM and online radio stations. Usually their number is from 4 to 15, but this item depends on the material: some are well received, but often rejected. UPD: since 2022 we don’t do radio broadcasts anymore;

— Publish the release on 30+ streaming platforms;

— Publish on our own resources: preview track on Soundcloud, review on VK (English on Facebook), as well as the website and torrents (there you can download the archive with the album);

— Publish it in the thematic groups on the E:\music pages (trip-hop / hip-hop);

— Twice a year we send out an email newsletter with a selection of news and links to releases. There are 2,3K contacts. Example: 1, 2.

— Promote the track in VK playlists (example 1 and 2);

— Promote the track to the official editorial playlists of the platforms. We have repeatedly received support from YouTube Music, Yandex Music and VK Music. Examples: 1 and 2;

— Distribute to music rental services in public places.

**Not all tracks/albums are moderated to be added to thematic selections for offline rotation or playlists on streaming platforms.

Part 3. Money

Business representatives or bloggers — everyone can use Cantroll music for free in their YouTube videos (Content ID not provided) or TikTok. Already now Cantroll residents’ tracks can be heard in the “background” in podcasts, YouTube-bloggers, private and entertainment videos, various vlogs and reviews, as well as in commercials of European brands. We offer exclusive conditions for commercial collaborations. Such cases are coordinated by three parties: the label, the client and the author.

The second way of monetization: receiving royalties from streaming services. The more your album is listened to by users with premium accounts, the bigger the payout. The third way is to rotate music in public places.

In the contract (version of March 2021) approved the rule: the amount received from all sources is divided with the author in the 50/50 proportion (from the amount exceeding $10). Payments to PayPal.

The number of listens to tracks of our residents on the French platform Jamendo. Only published on Label Cantroll. This is the top 10.

Part 4. Where to Start

To get on the label as a resident, you have to do two things.

Record an album (at least three tracks) and make a cover (square, at least 3000×3000 pixels per side). We don’t accept singles, only EPs or LPs. Submitted album must be new and unpublished on the internet.
Send an email with a link to your accounts and upload album with cover to any file-sharing site. Add a brief info about yourself and your music. Or just about life.

Part 5. Why

Why is it better for an artist to release through a label than through an aggregator (such as TuneCore or FreshTunes)?

— Advertising. The aggregators don’t promote songs. We have our own and partner media resources.

— The aggregator will release whatever you provide. The label is ready to help improve the quality of the material;

— Our residents can ask the label for legal advice. The aggregator will simply remove your album at the request of “third parties”.

— In some cases, do the cover art for the album.

— The “long game” . After the release, we try to continue to publish news about the residents (announcements of events, new records, tracks in playlists and selections).

— We find like-minded people. If you want to try to cooperate with someone else — we’ll tell you, we’ll introduce you. Some residents unite and record joints tracks, for example:

• «Воздух, Берег озера, Лес» by Paradeigma + Samsara Inc. + feellove (ex- Imagine That).

• «Only On This Planet» by Ogi Feel the Beat + Paradeigma + A Bit Advanced Music.

• «Novoe Vremya» by Plushka + kbkbts.

Email: cntrll.demo@gmail. com