[So] InsideOut Music wants to meet with my band

Inside Out Music (http://www.insideoutmusic.com/home.html)
Ive been talking to them for the past month, specifically a guy named Jim P (president of insideout america). He managed Dream Theater from their I&W to Falling into Inf albums. So around August 20th we will be sitting down with the label in NYC & showing them our press kit & going over different things with them.

So im ****ing excited, this label would be so perfect with my band & it would be amazing to be on the same labels as bands like Symphony X, Evergrey, Pain of Salvation, James Labrie, Flower Kings, spock's beard, & sooooo much more, ill give everyone an update in 2-3 weeks.

That's some crazy news. Give it everything you have and the best of luck for the interview. Keep us updated.

That's awesome. Good luck man.

That's great news, good luck!

Wow. Awesome Astral. Your first step is going to be to get a professional manager, and a lawyer. Any big time band will tell you to do these things and have both parties at the meeting to advise you.

Wow dude! That's incredible! I'm a huge fan of the InsideOut label! They sign some great bands! I'd love to see you guys with them! Be sure to keep us informed!

Hey thanks guys & yea Reaver, I absolutely love InsideOut, the bands on it are amazing. Jim (president of IO America) said they are going to be changing over to a new label name, so that should be interesting, fresh start maybe?

jealous

Be careful. I hate to sound like the devil's advocate on this, but if you sign with them, you are owned by them. If you're serious about music, the best way to do it is to take your music on the road, play hundreds of cities, and sell CDs there. Eventually, if the crowds get big enough, the labels will come calling again, and this time it's on YOUR terms.

Christ, I sound like NoGodForMe. Sorry.

Don't apologize. It's true.

I've done the label circuit before. It'll chew you up.

My current band just got approached by Atlantic Records, and I'm scared as shit to sign with them :(

Don't do it man. What are they going to do for you? Help you sell a bunch of CDs?

No one buys CDs anymore it seems. You're better off touring and selling merch. All of the more successful bands I've seen are doing it that way, and making money doing it.

plenty of people buy cds

but the artists get jacked once the money's divvied up between the store, the label, the producer

Be cautious, Have fun, Be skeptical, and talk about it as a group before you go in. One person freaking out and jumping on everything is NOT what you want.

Unfortunately I have seen a lot of the bad guys in the industry and there are far more of them out there then people who want to make good music or have fun.

I had sat down and signed an agreement of exclusivity for 1 year with Maverick. This protected me from signing with anyone else but I figured what the hell, I would take the chance. I had performed with a band called Tantric here in Indy on the Miller Rellim tour. I work for Miller for assorted gigs they need and they contacted me this time through some temp agency called Promo, Temps and Talents. After word got out this contract had been signed PTT contacted Maverick and said all dealings with me had to go through them as they hired me for that gig. Money grubbing assholes cost me a chance in my eyes... would I have gotten signed? eh maybe or at least maybe some session work for some artists. Nonetheless they saw a chance at more money and stomped on me... I am sure I coulda won legally but them starting shit was enough to kill any interest out there in me so go to hell Tony basically.

Well, Thanks for the info guys. Jim (whom Ive been chatting with) is a really cool guy. He has been around prog music all his life & knows how to deal with them. In his first email he stated right away he would never try to change my band, but only help us. Being signed to this label would end up meaning us touring with national acts in America. But, all in all this is just a meeting between us & the label to get to know each other & see what the future might hold.

Here is a quote from his email
I would never try to change an artist's vision for their own music - I
simply refuse to step on that sacred ground. But, it sounds to me like
you are actually
writing songs here - songs with a strong melodic base. Unlike other
instrumental bands - like for instance, Planet X, it seems to
me that vocals would
fit very nicely into the musical environment that you are creating.
Just my 2-cents here.

(we do want a singer, but we cant find one, hes absolutely right, they could also help us get a good singer)