Label research before you send a demo
The fastest way to build a realistic demo list is to work backwards from records, not from label directories. Pick ten releases from the last two years that share your sound and your scale, look up who released each one, and you have a target list of labels with a demonstrated appetite for exactly what you make.
Reading the copyright line adds a second layer. A line reading under exclusive license to a larger company tells you the imprint is backed by a major, which usually means a longer signing process. A line naming only a small company or the artist tells you the release was self-issued, and that the artist may be reachable directly.
Label versus copyright line versus distributor
These three get confused constantly, and they answer different questions. The label is the imprint credited with the release. The copyright line, marked with the sound recording symbol, names who owns the master recording and from what year. The distributor is the company that delivered the release to the stores, which may be none of the above.
- •Label: the imprint on the release, for example the name on the artwork
- •Copyright line: who holds the master, and the year of first publication
- •Distributor: who moved the files to the stores, often invisible on the release page
What the result shows
The label as credited on the release, the copyright line when it is published, the release date, the UPC of the release, the ISRC of the recording and the type of release such as single, EP or album.
Results come from Deezer's public catalog and Apple's public album data, so anything commercially released and distributed to streaming should be found. Unreleased tracks, private uploads and releases that never reached streaming will not appear.