Are Drum and Bass Labels Still Relevant in 2020?

Drum and Bass labels have a unique status in the music world. There are very few other genres out there that have as many well known labels, as well as a notoriety of artists and musicians within them. Think of a popular artist you know, chances are, you know which label they are on. The major drum and bass labels have shaped the scene we know and love today. Metalheadz, Hospital, Shogun, Good Looking Records, Exit, Ram, V Recordings. These are all labels that created and produced genre defining acts and tracks. What’s even more fascinating about this is that they were all at one point indie labels. To some degree they still are.

 

What we want to know is, are drum and bass labels still relevant in 2020?

 

What Do Drum And Bass Labels Do?

A drum and bass label will do all the things a record label should do. Whether or not they have the resources to do them on the same scale as labels like Sony or Universal Records is another thing altogether. Fundamentally, a record label’s activities are broken down into 4 broad categories:

• A&R
• Marketing
• PR & Promo
• Distribution

Quite often each activity will have its own department, but what we see in the world of drum and bass labels, is that each one of those departments will be run by either a small team or one person doing multiple aspects. This makes life a bit more challenging and also a wonder that there are so many successful drum and bass labels actually going.

So, what is A&R? Artis and repertoire is basically talent acquisition and music production. There is a stupid amount of leg work involved in this side of things. A&R reps are the people who find the talent. They will go to gigs, listen to demos, scour the internet for up and coming talent and then reach out to them to start the process of signing them to the label.

This might sound like a lot of fun, and we have no doubt there are immense perks and satisfaction that come along with an A&R role, but it’s a tough ask. This role is basically the go between for artist and label. Now, imagine that the drum and bass label that reaches is out is only a small team or one man band. Imagine how much work is put into just this one aspect of the labels day to day business. 

The marketing role is fairly straightforward. Make sure as many people see the music and label as possible. This is greatly helped through the use of social media platforms and paid advertising. Ultimately, the objective of the marketing department is to create original artwork, build awareness of the new releases and generate revenue from sales. 

PR & promo are linked to marketing, however, have a more offline role in today’s world. This will be focused more around events, gigs and other real world interactions from the label to the general public. 

Distribution is managed in both a digital and hardcopy format, depending on the labels preference, size and ability to deliver. This doesn’t just mean the music. It can also be related to merchandise and other products of drum and bass labels. 

That was, of course, a quick and dirty overview of what those main, key areas are. It’s not an exhaustive list, nor is it in particular detail, but it does give an insight into what goes on at a record label.

 

But What Do Drum And Bass Labels Really Do?

Essentially, drum and bass labels will keep their ear to the ground. The scene moves incredibly fast and everyone wants to snap up the freshest talent. They keep the industry moving forwards in terms of sound and music delivery. 

As an avid drum and bass fan, you’ll know that not every label releases the same kind of music. Hospital, for example, release an AWFUL lot of liquid. They sign a lot of experimental and creative artists who often produce complex, highly musical drum and bass. Ram, on the other hand, signs artists who make very heavy sounding jump up. Although, recently have diversified their sound.

Drum and bass labels will look to sign artists who are pushing their little niche forwards. This means that you kind of get specialist drum and bass labels. They hoard the knowledge of their sub genre and put artists in an environment of growth and development to improve their sound. 

You’ll also find that drum and bass labels put on the majority of events and nights these days too. It seems to have been a way for labels to diversify their revenue streams, whilst offering the public an opportunity to see big name artists, and promote their artists’ music. Ultimately this means that drum and bass labels help to create revenue not only for themselves, but for the artists and staff they have onboard. 

A key role that drum and bass labels play is with the licensing of music. Artists need to have legal assistance when it comes to releasing and using music. You can’t just go around using any old sample you like, and anything you do use needs to be cleared. When an artists original music is used, then they need to be fairly compensated for it. Which is where the legal team of the label will manage things.

The title of this article is: are drum and bass labels still relevant in 2020? It would appear on first glance that yes, they are still very relevant and indeed vital to the scene. We’d like to offer an alternative view to this as well, as all may not be as it seems.

 

Most Labels Are Indie

The wonderful thing about the drum and bass scene is that despite its huge growth and popularity, it’s still very much an underground scene. Access to the top talent is not hard and all but the biggest labels seem to have a small team feel about them.

To say that most labels are indie would probably be an overstatement. These are long serving businesses who play a vital role within the community. However, these labels aren’t turning over hundreds of thousands of pounds per year. No one is getting rich from running drum and bass labels. 

This means there is a certain element of amateurism about the labels. Now, it’s important to recognise that when we say amateurism, we don’t mean anyone within these labels doesn’t know what they are doing. The people involved in these are real industry heads who are masters of their craft. What we mean is that there is a level of business professionalism that has yet to be achieved. 

As a result of this, not everything is covered as effectively, or even at all, as it would be from one of the world’s major global record labels. 

 

Artists Don’t Need Drum And Bass Labels.

Very few mainstream bands or artists make it without the backing and support of a large record label. Those that do are rare exceptions. In the world of drum and bass, any artist, producer or dj who is social media savvy, dedicated to their work and is prepared to put the hours in, will gain popularity, as well as be able to produce their own music without the aid of a label. 

The means of production are not hard to get. There is a wealth of information, both free and paid, online that will help people to develop their skill set. You can even get a dj to play your track at their next set, if your track is good enough and you get in front of the right people with enough persistence. 

The abundance of online platforms that allow music and mixes to be shared means that, whilst discovery is easier, an artist can promote their own music for free. They have complete freedom to manage their music as they see fit. Take on gigs that come their way and work with any other artist they so choose. 

Many artists start out being their own managers. Booking themselves into gigs, reaching out to promoters and managing their careers. After all, when you don’t have a manager, you need to do it yourself! As a result, many artists make a name for themselves independently. They might feel as though they would be giving out any revenue they generated themselves to other people who haven’t helped to get them to where they are.

It used to be that an artist would be able to use the resources of labels to help them produce music. That could be either studio time, equipment or even face-to-face time with a professional to help improve any number of aspects of their music. Artists can produce professional sounding tracks on their own and even get them professionally mastered without a label’s help. 

 

Distribution Is Accessible

It used to be that a record label would have access to the distribution channels that your average musician simply did not. Most music produced today is digital, which means that access to distribution networks is easier than it has ever been. You don’t need to be a major label to release a track. Most drum and bass labels release a mixture of digital and physical formats, but predominantly, the music is released to a few major channels; Spotify, iTunes and Beatport. 

To release on these channels you need to have access to a digital distributor. You can’t just put something up for sale on iTunes. It doesn’t work like that. You have to get it approved for distribution by the channels via a third party who does all the behind the scenes stuff to put your music in the queue. Again, that’s a simplified version, but it’s largely how it works.

These services are not hard to find, nor are the professional level services expensive to use. Assuming an artist has built up a decent enough following, has created tracks that are professional sounding, has had them mixed and mastered properly, as well as got access to their chosen distribution networks online. They can easily inform their audience, release music and keep 100% of the profit for every song or album sold. Why would an artist need a label to do this for them?

 

Drum And Bass Labels Are The Industry Glue

It’s easy to see how an artist within the dnb scene wouldn’t need to have a label. We daresay that most aspiring dj’s probably don’t have a label they work with, or at least, one they are signed with on a permanent deal. Getting signed to a label is an aspirational thing for any artist, but it also makes for good business sense. 

Yes, artists can manage everything they need to on their own in this world. However, having a label with many years’ experience guiding you down the right path, taking care of your day-to-day activities in regards to performing and production for a cut of the revenue that you generate makes sense.

It seems odd that drum and bass labels actually are more relevant in 2020 than they have ever been. They seem to have grown in prominence as a representation of the culture and particular sub-genre sound. They have become their own brands. You don’t see people walking around with Warner Group Music t-shirts, yet go to any rave, literally anywhere in the world and you will see ravers adorned with Hospital, Critical, Ram, Viper, Spearhead, V Recordings and pretty much any other label that sells merch, clothing. People have gotten tattoos of these drum and bass labels! That’s commitment to a brand.

Now, we aren’t saying that the drum and bass scene can do away with record labels altogether. Far from it. As we have seen they provide essential services to everyone who is involved. Artists could get by without them, but there really isn’t any need to. Drum and bass has a peculiar relationship with nostalgia. 

These labels exist because of the passion of the people who set them up and run them (you won’t find a drum and bass label being run by a silent partner or CEO who is voted in by the board), and because fans want them to. We don’t consume jungle and drum and bass from any old label. We consume to support. We believe we are part of the family that produces the music we love. We feel connected to the drum and bass labels that provide us with the nights and music we live for. 

 

Are drum and bass labels still relevant in 2020? We’d say they’re more relevant than they’ve ever been.

Got an opinion? Leave us a message in the comments.