Working at an independent label
Working at an independent label means doing the 4 jobs the small label scene runs on, the A and R, the production, the distribution and sales, and the promotion, and the work sits in the same network of small labels that releases and distributes the music on this site. An independent label hires for the same roles a major does, only with fewer hands, and the job is the day to day running of a catalogue of the world, folk, jam, and singer songwriter music the scene carries. There are openings at the labels in the cities of the scene, and the work is the work of the small label, not the work of the major. This page explains the roles the label hires for and where to find and apply for the jobs.
This is the guide to the job: it names the roles the independent label hires for, describes what each one does, and points at where a person finds the openings and applies.
The roles a small label hires for
The roles a small label hires for are the 4 jobs the work splits into, and each one is a career in the scene. The first is the A and R, the person who finds the artist and signs the deal, and it is the role that suits the person who knows the music and the audience. The second is the production role, the person who records, mixes, and masters the album, and it suits the engineer and the producer. The third is the distribution and sales role, the person who ships the record and handles the orders, and it suits the person who is organized and good with the logistics. The fourth is the promotion and booking role, the person who books the shows and writes the press, and it suits the person who knows the venues and the media. The 4 roles are the jobs, and the small label scene is full of labels that hire for all 4, often in one person at the small end and in a team at the larger end.
What the work is day to day
What the work is day to day is the running of the catalogue, and it is the same 4 jobs in a daily loop. The A and R listens to the demos and meets the artists, and the production books the studio and checks the masters, and the distribution ships the orders and answers the store calls, and the promotion books the shows and sends the press. The day is a mix of all 4, and the person who works at a small label of 1 or 2 people does all of them, while the person at a label of 5 does one or two. The work is the running of the small label, and it is the work the scene is built on, because the scene releases and distributes the music through the people who do these 4 jobs every day.
Where to find the openings
Where to find the openings is the 3 places the small label scene posts them, and they are the label itself, the distributor, and the industry boards. The first is the label, because the small label posts the opening on its own page and in its own network, and the person who knows the scene sees it there first. The second is the distributor, because the independent distributor that carries the scene's records also carries the jobs of the labels that ship through it. The third is the industry boards and the city lists, where the openings in the cities of the scene, the Los Angeles, the Nashville, the Chicago, and the Atlanta labels, are posted. The 3 places are where the person looks, and the openings are the jobs the small label scene is hiring for.
How to apply for a label job
How to apply for a label job is a short package that shows the person knows the scene, because the label hires for the knowledge as much as the skill. The package is 3 things: a short note that names the role and the label, a short history that shows the work the person has done, and the contact details. The note should name the genre and the city, so the label knows the person fits the scene, and it should be 3 or 4 sentences, not a page. The application goes to the email the label posts, and the small label scene labels all have one. The person who applies shows they know the music and the audience, and the label hires for that, which is the point of the application and the way the person enters the small label scene.