Creative Ways Record Labels Are Making Money In 2022

As Spotify and other streaming platforms continue to drain all forms of profit from the creative side of the industry, artists and record labels are either forced to adapt or crumble. But through this hardship, a select few labels have found innovative ways to thrive.

Box of Cats is a label who have found a new way of operating in the music industry and with the new subscription-based service they are offering to fans and artists, we figured it was high time we sat down with the label bosses, This is from Kyle Watson and Wongo at Box of Cats, and figure out how they work their magic.

Below is their list of five of the best and most innovative ways record labels are making money in this day and age! But before we get to that, let’s check out a little bit more about what these two guys are up to with Nine Lives.

What Is Nine Lives?

The tastemaker label, Box of Cats’ new initiative is designed to help aspiring producers get their music out to the masses, get signed by their favorite labels, and cut out the middle man to allow more profit to stay in their pockets.

Nine Lives Club is a subscription-based service that comes with some serious perks for those looking to find success in music. Anything from exclusive merch to customer feedback on their records comes when you join their subscription-based service.

“This new model idea sparked when I signed up to Spotify many years ago, but I wasn’t sure how to go about it till now…We had to make it about the artists themselves and what do young aspiring artists want. They want to quit their day jobs and make a profession out of their talents. We want to play a part in helping them do that to hopefully inspire other labels and artists to think outside the box and create even better ideas to help the next generation. This is only the beginning of this idea and we can’t wait to build it bigger and better with all the aspiring artists and producers!” – Wongo (Label Co-Founder)

For more on Box of Cats and Nine Live Club:

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Subscriptions

So this month Box of Cats is taking the leap into the subscription space with our ‘Nine Lives Club’. With the right ethos, we believe that we can create more money for the label but also and more importantly more money for the artists we work with.

For subscriptions, we have seen in the past that companies take 100% and we genuinely feel that’s a little unfair for the small guys, especially when artists’ music is going out for free in some cases. This is why we are offering a 50/50 split with all the artists involved with our service with any profit made!

So how do you make your subscription worth buying?

It’s a bang for the buck. So what we have decided to do as a record label is offering something no one else is and that is direct A&R feedback from the label heads themselves. Artists send demos onto def ears all the time and this is because of the sheer volume of demos that are coming through every week.

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It’s a never-ending cycle for labels that do become very hard. Especially when it really just takes an artist a quick google search to find 50 labels emails and they just spam out their records. With our subscription, we are offering an ‘express’ lane, not just to send us demos but to get full feedback on their records on how to make them better if they don’t suit the label.

Take this idea and make it better, maybe you and your label can create a new revenue stream for you and the people around you!

Events

We definitely feel like one of the best ways to create money these days is by running events.

The flow-on effect of making people dance while also educating them on your label’s musical style is priceless. This doesn’t just mean going out there and starting events before you have a following. You need people to know what they are spending money on before they will come.

You also want to create an event where ticket buyers want to buy a ticket to the next event. Having this kind of income is amazing though and can help fund your next release or event and pay an advance for a bigger artist to come onto your label.

Looking To Throw An Event? Learn From This DJs Mistakes

Merch

This one is kinda a no-brainer once you feel you are creating a fan that wants to support you. Make some T-shirts or hats.

If you feel you got the creative vibe to make some necklaces, do that. Do something different, do something you really feel adds value to your brand. Make someone proud to wear what you are selling and they will buy.

NFTs

I will be first to admit I don’t know much about this space but if you are into it, it’s a great little way for some extra cash. We are in the music industry and digital life owns quite a lot of everyone’s time.

Why not join them together, create one-of-a-kind release artwork with the artist’s song over the top, and maybe ZIP up the artist’s remix stems and auction them off to the highest bidder?