Hey guys. I was wondering if there are any Chiptune labels that are accepting demos currently. I saw a post here with a list of Chiptune labels but that one is outdated.
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Bonn, Germany
try to reach out to Bleep Love, they are open to unreleased stuff to released under their banner 
bleep-love.ru
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Chicago
My sense (I could be wrong) is that most chip labels are currently holding themselves to a high quality level for new releases, which is why there hasn't been much probing for demos. Doesn't that mean they aren't accepting? You'd have to ask the netlabels.
Unless someone new really is bringing quote fleckled, lit fire unquote (that's what the kids are saying, right?),
it hasn't been getting put out on netlabels, that I've seen.
But, I could be talking out of me bum. Don't refrain from educating me on what's happening on the chiplabel front, my dudes.
edit: There's also been good success with self releasing for some chip dudes recently who have been bringing fleckled, lit fire.
If you got fleckled, lit fire, who needs a netlabel?
Last edited by theghostservant (Mar 10, 2016 5:12 pm)
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Edmonton, Alberta
theghostservant wrote:
My sense (I could be wrong) is that most chip labels are currently holding themselves to a high quality level for new releases, which is why there hasn't been much probing for demos. Doesn't that mean they aren't accepting? You'd have to ask the netlabels.
Unless someone new really is bringing quote fleckled, lit fire unquote (that's what the kids are saying, right?),
it hasn't been getting put out on netlabels, that I've seen.
But, I could be talking out of me bum. Don't refrain from educating me on what's happening on the chiplabel front, my dudes.
edit: There's also been good success with self releasing for some chip dudes recently who have been bringing fleckled, lit fire.
If you got fleckled, lit fire, who needs a netlabel?
I think that there's a bit more to the story than that. The landscape is changing for some netlabels. Before the release of my debut EP I sent my material as a demo to Ubiktune, a fairly prominent and well-respected progressive netlabel. I was turned away not because it wasn't quote-unquote "lit", but because Ubiktune is moving in a more compilation-based direction.
I don't know how representative that is of other labels. The general trend indicates to me that it's more economical for netabels to push compilations because it lets them utilize all of their onboard talent for each release. It's easier to promote as a result, and with something that's there for everyone on each compilation, the albums are more likely to sell as well.
On a final note, it doesn't matter how good your stuff is: if you don't have someone to help promote and push it, it's practically impossible to break ground by yourself. Well, unless you want to be spending all of your time promoting your stuff instead of making more music. I'd rather be doing more of the latter and leave the legwork to someone who's in the business of doing that.
Last edited by hoffman_iv (Mar 10, 2016 5:30 pm)
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Melbourne
hoffman_iv wrote:
On a final note, it doesn't matter how good your stuff is: if you don't have someone to help promote and push it, it's practically impossible to break ground by yourself. Well, unless you want to be spending all of your time promoting your stuff instead of making more music. I'd rather be doing more of the latter and leave the legwork to someone who's in the business of doing that.
yeah, that's pretty much the sole reason why I want to get my music out on a label. I don't care about making money, I just want to push my stuff out there with the hope of getting some international shows (or even headline shows here in AU) out of it.
Unfortunately my latest style is probably a bit too minimal for chiptune labels, which is making me think I just shouldn't try to market it as chiptune, and send demos to some minimal tech labels instead.
Or I'll just give up and start my own damn label, releasing anything as long as it's minimal and repetitive 
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Florida
pselodux wrote:
I just shouldn't try to market it as chiptune, and send demos to some minimal tech labels instead.
Or I'll just give up and start my own damn label, releasing anything as long as it's minimal and repetitive
This may be the effect of the current trend with the bigger labels. In other words, if labels like Ubiktune and Pterodactyl Squad are pushing comps more than EPs or LPs, then won't it be likely that many smaller labels will spring up to keep the EP release promotion flow going?
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Montreal, Canada
Chiptune labels aren't record labels really.
I think the only reason to release on a label is that /some/ of them apply a certain level of quality control on what they release, so your music doesn't get lost in a sea of shitty releases. That's not true of all labels however. Your music stands a marginally better chance of being discovered by random people if it's on a label that's well known, but that's not exactly verifiable data.
Otherwise, I think the "promotion" part is utter bullshit. 99% of labels will make a facebook post, a CMO post, a twitter post, and maybe a small youtube video for your release. Beyond that, nothing that exciting. All of these things, you can do by yourself in a matter of minutes. You can make your own print-on-demand CDs on Kunaki. You can manage your own Bandcamp page. You can spam your releases on every freaking chiptune facebook groups, etc etc.
In a way, chiptune labels have adapted to what chiptune artists are: hobbyists. They don't "sign" you up on a proper release contract, with schedules and budgets and whatnot. They "hire" any old chap who calls himself a "mastering engineer" and pay him 20$ to put your song through one of Ozone's preset. It's a very mom and pop affaire, because there's no need for anything more serious because 99% of the scene is composed of people who are doing it for fun. Nobody makes a decent living out of chiptune albums, and that's not going to change anytime soon.
So... to answer the original quesiton: any label will accept submissions even when they say they don't. If your demo is short enough and easy to access online, they're always going to at least scroll through the songs quickly. If your stuff is stellar, you'll get a positive answer. Just remember that your shit needs to stand out from the rest. Stay humble when you get rejected.
My advice however, is to DIY the shit out of it and release on your own. Make your presence known. Collaborate with people. Be part of the scene. Spam the groups. Be active. That's way more promotion than you'll ever get from any netlabel.
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Brunswick, GA USA
I don't think the mastering engineer gets paid either.
That's really all there is to it, though the steps are simple, in practice... you'll just have to share what you make and see what happens.
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Melbourne
n00bstar wrote:
Chiptune labels aren't record labels really.
I think the only reason to release on a label is that /some/ of them apply a certain level of quality control on what they release, so your music doesn't get lost in a sea of shitty releases. That's not true of all labels however. Your music stands a marginally better chance of being discovered by random people if it's on a label that's well known, but that's not exactly verifiable data.
Otherwise, I think the "promotion" part is utter bullshit. 99% of labels will make a facebook post, a CMO post, a twitter post, and maybe a small youtube video for your release. Beyond that, nothing that exciting. All of these things, you can do by yourself in a matter of minutes. You can make your own print-on-demand CDs on Kunaki. You can manage your own Bandcamp page. You can spam your releases on every freaking chiptune facebook groups, etc etc.
In a way, chiptune labels have adapted to what chiptune artists are: hobbyists. They don't "sign" you up on a proper release contract, with schedules and budgets and whatnot. They "hire" any old chap who calls himself a "mastering engineer" and pay him 20$ to put your song through one of Ozone's preset. It's a very mom and pop affaire, because there's no need for anything more serious because 99% of the scene is composed of people who are doing it for fun. Nobody makes a decent living out of chiptune albums, and that's not going to change anytime soon.
So... to answer the original quesiton: any label will accept submissions even when they say they don't. If your demo is short enough and easy to access online, they're always going to at least scroll through the songs quickly. If your stuff is stellar, you'll get a positive answer. Just remember that your shit needs to stand out from the rest. Stay humble when you get rejected.
My advice however, is to DIY the shit out of it and release on your own. Make your presence known. Collaborate with people. Be part of the scene. Spam the groups. Be active. That's way more promotion than you'll ever get from any netlabel.
Yeah, good points. I've given up on sending my minimal stuff to chip labels, and may even give up on sending it to non-chip labels.. it just doesn't seem marketable in its current state. I'll just keep releasing it quietly on bandcamp for now; that way I can make it as repetitive and long-form as I want, without someone at a label telling me I need to edit my tracks.
It seems fitting with the aesthetic to have a minimalist release format as well. Uploaded to bandcamp, posted on facebook, maybe posted here but that's about it.
Anyway, my youtube videos have had more plays than my albums.. maybe that's the way forward for this stuff..?
On the other hand, I've been in contact with Perelandra for my main Pselodux project, and while they're small, they're very responsive and provide just the right amount of feedback I need. I'm currently working on a super complex prog album for them, hopefully done by the end of the year
Last edited by pselodux (Aug 2, 2016 1:08 am)
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pselodux wrote:
working on a super complex prog album
Yes please.
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nɐ˙ɯoɔ˙ʎǝupʎs
n00bstar wrote:
Chiptune labels aren't record labels really.
Boom-shakalaka! The ring is on fire! Seriously though, I 100% agree with this and many other things said in your post n00b0... There is (was, for the most part) prestige to being on a label people know and trust, that's deep set in the search results for 'chiptune' on google, that has a EDM database of fans and contacts that can get your music in games, or played on boutique radio shows. But realistically these labels don't exist in large numbers anymore, or they're insular.
What I'd suggest, rather than trying super hard to get your tunes on a label, is putting them up on bandcamp, then generating a bunch of download codes. Next, dedicate the time you would have spent finding a label to building a spreadsheet (hell, even work with each other in Sheets) that has an email contact for all the active chip blogs, VGM radio shows around the world, local even international promoters who book chip gigs, any other site/publication that might be interested (CreateDigitalMusic, your local city circle-jerk blogs or whatever) and give them your music and offer interviews, or further downloads as prizes. For the love of god, please include a press release that has a reason for people to care in the email body. "I played with important chipmusic or VGM artist you know at impressive event blah" or, "this is my first release since providing songs for the soundtrack of blah" or "this is the first full release ever made using this console/technique/something" who knows - just something to 'set you slightly apart'.
I'll start you off on your spreadsheet:
https://www.facebook.com/thevideogamemu … =page_info
http://www.4zzzfm.org.au/program/zedgames
http://gamewave.yays.co/
https://www.facebook.com/vgmawesome/inf … =page_info
http://legacymusichour.blogspot.com.au/
http://smbvgmp.blogspot.com.au/
http://pixelatedaudio.com/about/
https://rhythmandpixels.com/
http://thisweekinchiptune.com/
Expect low hit rates. Some people will only play music FROM videogames. Some people don't care for submissions, or have some other abstract reason to ignore you or turn you down - don't take it personally. Either way, I firmly believe that getting onto even 5-10% of these is better than getting put on someone else's bandcamp and having them do very little for you. Familiarity in your desired audience is half the battle. When you release your NEXT EP, you can contact all these people again and hell, they might even remember you!
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nɐ˙ɯoɔ˙ʎǝupʎs
Knife Crimes wrote:
pselodux wrote:working on a super complex prog album
Yes please.
Also this.
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Melbourne
great post!
I think my problem is that I'm hopelessly terrible at self-promotion and have this magical fantasy that having a release on a label will be some amazing experience where they'll do all the promotion I can't do. I don't know what to write about myself in a press-release; I even have trouble writing about a couple of my videos getting spread around on CDM and such. maybe I should just get super drunk and write one lol
Perhaps a followup question would be, if I release something myself, how do I trick people into reviewing it? I've tried sending download codes to sites that have written articles about me but didn't even get a response..
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Melbourne
10k wrote:
Knife Crimes wrote:Yes please.
Also this.
thanks guys
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nɐ˙ɯoɔ˙ʎǝupʎs
pselodux wrote:
great post!
I think my problem is that I'm hopelessly terrible at self-promotion and have this magical fantasy that having a release on a label will be some amazing experience where they'll do all the promotion I can't do. I don't know what to write about myself in a press-release; I even have trouble writing about a couple of my videos getting spread around on CDM and such. maybe I should just get super drunk and write one lol
Perhaps a followup question would be, if I release something myself, how do I trick people into reviewing it? I've tried sending download codes to sites that have written articles about me but didn't even get a response..
So many emails don't get responses. That's one of the reasons why media promotions people, who develop relationships with media personalities, exist: they get their emails opened. You could consider finding someone who owns those relationships if you're really uncomfortable promoting yourself and following up on it. It does cost money though. There are people like http://www.deathproofpr.com.au/about in Melbourne that do this for bands for a living. Maybe chat to them, or someone like them, and see if the return on investment seems worth it?