Self published is crap - Yes or no?

[Jason76]

Well, this can also be expanded to independent record labels. I mean, things not signed (signed to record company) or published - are going to get mocked as posuer-ish. Anyway, though, what really matters is what the people think. I mean, if people like it - then it must be good, right? Well, that's the struggle punk rock had and also probably it's ancestor - indie-label music.

Anyway, though, if you are self-publishing etc.., credibility can be important. In that case, you might want to increase it. Get good reviews, certificates, degrees - whatever.

 

[tango]

Not sure what point you're making here. If a known label won't publish something (be it music, novel, whatever) all it means is that the label either doesn't think there's a large enough market for it, or that it doesn't fit within the parameters of what the label is looking for.

Something self-published may be little more than a vanity project, it may be a way that the person with the mean and willingness to go it alone reaches the market. Sometimes the major labels get it wrong. I remember reading one executive at a major recording studio lambast a junior producer who presented him with a potential band to sign, with words along the lines of "get these long-haired louts out of my office, groups of guitars are on the way out". And with that he ejected four men from his office. The four men were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

 

[Andrew]

Well, this can also be expanded to independent record labels. I mean, things not signed (signed to record company) or published - are going to get mocked as posuer-ish. Anyway, though, what really matters is what the people think. I mean, if people like it - then it must be good, right? Well, that's the struggle punk rock had and also probably it's ancestor - indie-label music.

Anyway, though, if you are self-publishing etc.., credibility can be important. In that case, you might want to increase it. Get good reviews, certificates, degrees - whatever.

You can record a decent album for under a thousand dollars and self publish, if a major label wants to sign you they will use that album and slap on a label (why some albums tend to have two labels) especially if you got on a small indie label roster..
Daniel Johnston was an amazing songwriter, had a unique childlike voice and sang over his piano, recorded his songs with a cheap tape player and obsessively re recorded his albums over and over again and handed them out... Talk about self publishing! Next thing he knows he's on Mtv but once he got signed the album flopped, so he returned to self publishing.
These days the money is not in recording albums alone, music is basically free these days, the real money comes from touring.. I support self publishing and self promotion until you get signed and sign the contract.. btw what happens to all of these American Idol and The Voice artists who are promised a record deal? They always flop and you never hear of them again.

 

[tango]

You can record a decent album for under a thousand dollars and self publish, if a major label wants to sign you they will use that album and slap on a label (why some albums tend to have two labels) especially if you got on a small indie label roster..
Daniel Johnston was an amazing songwriter, had a unique childlike voice and sang over his piano, recorded his songs with a cheap tape player and obsessively re recorded his albums over and over again and handed them out... Talk about self publishing! Next thing he knows he's on Mtv but once he got signed the album flopped, so he returned to self publishing.
These days the money is not in recording albums alone, music is basically free these days, the real money comes from touring.. I support self publishing and self promotion until you get signed and sign the contract.. btw what happens to all of these American Idol and The Voice artists who are promised a record deal? They always flop and you never hear of them again.

I think a large part of why the manufactured artists flop is that they go from more or less nothing to huge stardom overnight, don't know how to handle it and the whole thing implodes.

The way things used to be, where a bunch of friends would get together and jam in someone's garage, then maybe play the local bars in exchange for free beer or something, then play the local club for a few drinks and maybe $50 each, and at each level some of the new bands would fade away or not quite make it, the progression is natural. By the time the few bands that did make it big were playing in front of thousands of fans they were already used to having a growing fan base, they were used to playing for a few hundred people, and the international stage was the next step on a clear path. When someone is a nursery teacher or some such and then within six months they are apparently "famous", how are they supposed to cope with their newfound recognition? Of course there's unlikely to be much support from the machine that put them there, because the machine is too busy looking for the next "big star".

I don't suppose the money men behind the machine really care if their latest manufactured sensation continues to do well - they'll be fine churning out "new talent" and raking off their cut. Last year's talent can figure out how to go from being an overnight sensation back to being a nursery teacher again. Not their problem.