Hey Michael,

Thanks for reaching out. Sounds like you guys are in a good spot.

A label deal can be a great thing, and if a major label is offering you a decent deal, you should seriously consider it. When they get behind something there is nothing like it. When they don't it ends up being a big waste of time, but there is not really any way to know what will come of it until things get rolling.

Indies on the other hand are a mixed bag. Some deals are good and some are bad.

The best place to be as an artist, is profitable. If you have a business model in place that works, IE, effort/money goes in one end and profit comes out, then it's easy to see how a particular deal will help or hurt you.

In other words, when you can say something to the effect of... "this is what we're doing and it's working, we need X amount of money so we can expand our model, but we need it under these terms or it won't work..." you'll be in a good position.

View your label as a bank giving you a business loan. If you are confident, based on past results, you can repay that loan, you have a good thing. If the label brings more to the table than just money then all the better.

That being said, if you have nothing going on and are not already able to sell units... All the more reason to take the deal.

My best advice is to go into any relationship with a label under the assumption that the deal will eventually end. make sure that while you are on the label you create as many long term assets as possible.

Hope that helps.

John

PS, This is a good question and I may post a version of it on the blog. If you don't want your name/and or band name used please let me know.