Digital record label business plan

Business-Plan-Essentials

In this article we look at the eight elements that make up a record label business plan, and work through the template providing examples you can edit for your own record label.

Writing a business plan

Running a successful record label is like running any other successful business, first and foremost you need a plan.

Every business I have started has begun with a plan. It doesn't need to be fifty pages worth of the minutiae account details but it is important to write down what your goals are for the first 12 months.

It's not just the final result that is important, the process of creating a business plan is equally important as it forces you to make realistic decisions on how you are going to move forward and make the label a success.

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail“

We can keep things simple and the whole document can be no longer than 6 brief pages. The main goal of the plan is to help clearly define what your brand will look like, which areas of music you want to focus on, and create a short summary that you can use to explain the label to new industry contacts.

In some countries you need a business plan if you are opening a business bank account. Some distributors also require a business plan before considering working with you, and you will definitely need one if you are an electronic record label and want a Beatport label account.

The good thing is that we have created The Label Machine business plan template that you can follow, which includes plenty of examples you can edit and customize yourself which will result in a comprehensive business plan for your label!

I would suggest before starting a label that you have at least three releases planned, with the first one ready to go. By ready to go, I mean you have a finished single or EP of music that is fully mixed down, mastered and ready to go out to the public without any more changes. The business plan will focus on these first three releases.

As you progress at The Label Machine, your business plan will change too, and it should. It is meant as a reference document that you can use to show others that you have a plan and well thought out goals.