Hey so a lot of people ask me about what yo put in their label pitches. Obviously everyone wants to get signed but understanding how to speak to labels is really important and you need to know what stats they are looking for. So I decided to compile some ideas from my years of doing A&R to help you.
See – labels need to make money (Most of the time) so they want to know your past sales, they also want to know what your impact has been like on the road, then of course, if you can round it out with good social and streaming numbers you are much more likely to get some sort of deal.
Past Sales
If your sales history is strong, make sure you tell the label. By strong I mean if you sold more than 200 copies of your previous record. This is generally a good way to tell a label ‘Hey look, we already have an audience of dedicated buyers who will support us!’
On top of that I think it’s really good if you can let a label know how much you’ve sold in the last few months. Remember, people want to make money with minimal effort. If they see that you already have something going on and got people buying – then shit they are much more likely to sign you to amplify that. It’s easier to do that than start a band from scratch.
What’s Your Touring History?
This one is kind of weird with COVID – but touring history is really important to have if you’re trying to impress a label. They want to see that you have the dedication to get out there and slug it out, because that’s where people start to really close sales and take things to the next level.
If you haven’t toured yet, then share some of the people you’ve opened for to show that you have at least some connections in your local scene. If you haven’t played a show yet, presumably because of COVID, then talk about your future touring plans. That being said – realize that every band in the world will tell me ‘Oh yeah bro – we’ll totally tour once we get a deal’ and then don’t.
What Are Your Social And Streaming Numbers?
This is perhaps the most obvious, but people routinely forget to include it. Now these can obviously be inflated too by artificial means, but they still provide a good benchmark for A&R people to see if a band is getting taken seriously or not.
You want to give people a sense of scope and a sense of what you’ve accomplished. Remember, usually when you pitch to a label they’ve never heard of you before. If they can get some good social proof that people give a shit about your band then they are going to be much more likely to offer you some sort of a record deal.
As you can see the details to include in a label pitch are fairly self evident, but you need to do them. You just double down on sharing your past sales, document your touring history clearly and break down social and streaming numbers. With that in tow you’ll be signing to a label in no time!
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