Want a hit? Do it yourself

Telegraph.co.uk

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 23/10/2003
What do David Gray, Damien Rice and Jamie Cullum have in common? Well, apart from being among the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful musical artists to have emerged from Britain in recent years, all of them kick-started their careers by recording and releasing albums on their own independent labels. They are among a new breed of DIY stars, artists who have risen to the top almost entirely under their own steam.

DIY artist: Damien Rice
It has never been easier to make a record than it is now. Computers and digital recording technology have put the means of production into the hands of the musician. So, if you can make a record that sounds every bit as polished as an expensive studio recording, press copies and produce an eye-catching sleeve with the aid of graphics programmes, what do you need a major record company for?
"Several million pounds to spend on marketing and promotion," is Dougie Souness's wry answer to that question. Souness is manager of critically acclaimed Scottish alt.country band Cosmic Rough Riders, who have released three albums on their own label, Measured Records, as well as one compilation on Alan McGee's Poptones. Between them, they have notched up almost 100,000 sales and scored four Top 40 singles.
"It's all very well making your own record and having it manufactured, but what you need is somebody to get that record into the shops," says Souness. "Distribution is the key element. Then you need marketing, press, radio - all the things a major record company needs. Self-releasing is like corner shops against supermarket chains. It's very hard to get volume sales. But what you do get is 100 per cent control over the music, artwork, everything."
"I'm not sure if the correct term is self-release or self-abuse," says Don Sebastiano, who has been going down this route for his debut solo album, The Spaghetti Tree. The former leader of indie band Yeah, Sebastiano is a singer-songwriter who sets quirky lyrics about love, politics and football to a sophisticated, Beatle-y musical backdrop.
"I'm not particularly fashionable, I'm too old to audition for S Club Juniors, but I've got all this music inside me that needs a way out, or I'm liable to explode. So, if no one else was prepared to do it, I thought I'd better have a go myself."
Sebastiano enterprisingly set up sponsorship deals with local businesses (this is certainly the first album to carry an advert for the Rosslyn Hill Dental Clinic in Hampstead) and arranged cheap manufacturing deals through his former label, Cherry Red. His biggest source of frustration has been getting his album into the shops.
"I asked to see the buyer at a major store next to a venue where I was doing a gig," he says. After several fruitless attempts to arrange a meeting, he was told to speak to the "duty manager".
"I was halfway into my sales pitch when I noticed he had 'Security' embroidered on the pocket of his shirt. I might be the world's smallest record label, but I think I should have been accorded a bit more respect than just being fobbed off with the security guard!"
The Barefoot Doctor is a cheekily unconventional spiritual guru, who has put his name to everything from books to bath oils, all sold via his website. He has now added Om Baby, a kind of funky self-help album, to that cornucopia of delights, neatly side-stepping point-of-sale problems by making it an internet-only release.
"I've made music all my life," says the Doctor, "but, prior to this, the mechanics of putting a record out were either too complex or too dependent on other forces. I'm getting 29,000 hits a day on my website, so the potential of having a vertical operation in which you produce the music, press it up, and sell it yourself without going through the industry was irresistible to me.
"Financially, being your own label means the artist gets a much bigger slice of the cake - but it's a much smaller cake. But I don't think money is the driving force for most musicians - unless they're loonies, or very young and good-looking! It's a chance to be heard."
"The self-release is a self-starting exercise," according to Alan McBlane, a marketing consultant who advises both majors and independents on strategy. "It's about an artist's belief in his own talent. All it takes is a couple of reviews and radio plays, and bingo - your record is alive, it exists."
He notes that self-releasing has been long-established in the dance market and is becoming increasingly popular in the singer-songwriter field. "We're seeing swathes of these records coming through now, especially in America. Artists don't want to wait around any more. Technology has freed them. And major labels are paying attention. A lot of labels are picking up on records that were self-funded by artists."
The David-and-Goliath romance of the little guy taking on the monolithic music business loses some of its sheen when you see how quickly most successful self-releasing artists sign on with the majors. "Most people would rather risk somebody else's cash than their own," is McBlane's pragmatic observation.
Young singer-songwriter Mark Joseph managed to break into the Top 40 singles chart earlier this year with a home-recorded and self-released single, but within weeks had signed to Warners (picked up by Christian Tattersfield, the same man who signed David Gray and Damien Rice).
"At first I was like, hold on, I got Top 40 on my own, what do I need you for?" says Joseph. "But I had to ask did I want to be an accountant, salesman, marketing and A&R man, or would I rather play music?"
Not everyone has that simple choice. Don Sebastiano has so far managed to persuade a handful of HMV and Fopp stores to stock his album, for November release. But he's not going to stop there.
"I've made a record I'm proud of," he says. "And I'm prepared to get out there and sell it door-to-door if I have to."
For more information on how to hear 'The Spaghetti Tree' visit www.donsebastiano.com. Go to www.barefootdoctorworld.com for 'Om Baby'. Cosmic Rough Riders' 'Too Close To See Far' is available from most major record stores
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