unLabel : Introduction

In recent years, the world of music has changed a lot ... In fact, it is primarily the world of music distribution that has been impacted! Even if music consumption has never been so huge, across many different forms: CDs, vinyl, downloads (legal or not), soundtracks for films or series, advertising, entertainment and tours, podcasts, mixtapes, ringtones, radio (digital, online, broadcast)...

Technology (Multimedia, Web and Mobile) have provided access to a variety of musical sources to generations of consumers, which for (too) long have been confined to what was proposed by the traditional media (radio, TV and labels more oriented towards physical distribution than "show").

The Web, mainly, triggered a kind of Big Bang for the media & entertainment industries, which now implies to think towards new business models: the mass market is “dead”, managed scarcity and access limitations are mostly behind us, monopoly of "star makers” is over... The market is now fragmented, with multiple niches created thanks to the tools that are available to the consumer, which, among other things, wants to find what he likes and to communicate very quickly with those who have the same tastes and points of interest.

But what about the artist? How do composers, musicians, performers... who want to live from their art, perceive these changes? It’s complex for the majority of them...
Because the technology does not solve everything, and even if so, most have little understanding and / or knowledge of the tools that allow them to evolve and find their place in this environment where competition is growing every day and new opportunities to get the fans and offer them what they want, flourish every day.

Also, the artist (group) needs to be, more than ever, at the heart of the debate, being artistic, legal or financial, so that it can participate, to its own artistic growth, while being supported, mentored, attended, coached ... The artist is a brand, the artist is a label, by itself. Around it, services must be developed that allow it to exist and to be fairly compensated.

The 4 pillars of the life of an artist are: compose, record, be on stage and on tour. The live show is more than ever a vital component of the career of an artist, but can not exist without the production of new tracks. For the artist to tour, an album is a prerequisite.

The idea behind the "unLabel" or "Music & Media Services" is part of all these findings:

• Place the artist at the center, deal with it as an independent "label", a brand to grow - and make it financially involved to invest for its future.
• Put the artist on stage, make it so that it can reach out to his audience and thereby directly promote its art.
• Create a complete support infrastructure around it to:
  • make it visible (digital presence, press relations, radio, TV ...)
  • help it in its artistic development (coaching and management, production ...)
  • sell (tours, shows, physical and digital sales, merchandising ...)
  • edit (broadcast, sync ...).
• Limit, as far as possible, all middlemen, not necessarily useful and impacting net margins...
• Put the artist in connection with its fans, in a strong relationship with them, and give these fans every possible reason to buy ...
• All in a legal and financial framework that provides overall coherence and accountability of all parties, across the full range of activities.

In a context where the “traditional” record companies sign less and less, where many artists have no more contracts and are "independent", voluntarily or not, offering a real support framework, both artistic and technological, will enable them to hatch, or further grow, at the same time as having them fully involved, at the heart of the debate and "masters of the game."

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