FAQ

Why should I work with The Clinic Records?

The Clinic Records is an independent record label focused on helping artists get organized and focused so they can make a living making music. And we don’t have you sign away your creative rights. In fact, we work with artists to ensure they are properly copyrighting and trademarking all their material and protecting their rights. We also offer many of the services that are just too time consuming for serious artists to keep up with. Whether you are an artist just starting out or have an established following, The Clinic Records Program is a comprehensive set of services for the serious independent musicians.

Does The Clinic Records offer formal management contracts?

Because The Clinic Records works with artists who represent a wide range of maturity and talent levels, we only offer formal management contracts to those artists who have proven their desire and work ethic, most often by developing competent songwriting and a dedicated following. Once formally signed, we represent our artists, distribute and manage their brand and catalog, actively promote new releases, shows, tours, and merchandise, help build a broad fan base, and seek out opportunities to collaborate with industry veterans.

What are The Clinic Records Artist Pages and how can I get one?

In our effort to support independent music, we promote selected artists on The Clinic Records homepage and through our social media network. We offer a basic Artist Page on our site that acts as an Electronic Press Kit (EPK), including your professional photography, a biography, music and video samples, social media and download links. The Artist Page is a convenient place for your fans and industry contacts to review your background, look, and sound. The Clinic Records maintains each page in our Catalog, requires no formal contract, and is free of charge. For more information download The Clinic Records Artist Page Requirements.

Will The Clinic Records make me a world famous Grammy-winning musician?

Whether you want to win American Idol or launch a new music revolution, there’s really no easy way to get there. If you work hard, have talent, and DON’T QUIT, you have already beaten 99% of the other artists out there. Having The Clinic Records by your side to provide mentoring and help see you through the challenges is a big advantage.

Why are traditional labels failing?

The Clinic Records works with artists to PROTECT their rights and make sure they are smart about conducting business. Rather than avoid social media and technology advances, we take advantage of the latest innovations available to the music industry — putting our artists in the best possible position to succeed. This approach is fundamentally different from a traditional label. Most labels suffer from two major disadvantages v. independent labels: 1) Traditional labels have enormous executive and infrastructure overhead that requires a lot of money to maintain — money that must be paid out BEFORE the artist gets paid; 2) Traditional labels have yet to embrace the new reality of social media and digital downloads, preferring to hold on to a dying business model as evidenced by ongoing lawsuits and congressional lobbying by both the labels and the RIAA.

What should I consider when dealing with a traditional label?

The reason traditional labels ask artists for so many creative compromises and contractual concessions is that they don’t care much about the artist so much as they care about the label’s financial bottom line. Labels make significant financial investments in many artists each year, quite a few who don’t turn out so well. There’s quite a bit of risk involved on the label’s end to be sure — they are fronting large amounts of money and doing distribution, promotion, marketing, tours, etc. If all you have are some good songs and talent, and no money of your own, the only currency you have to bargain with is your creative rights. And when you give up your creative rights, that’s when you’ve sold out so to speak.