Non US/UK bands, how to break internationally without a label

[u/ayaayahahaha]

We are a band based in Denmark. We play bubblegum electro punk. What we have been doing well is we have very good live shows and our social media is quite good. So we got booked quite many shows and festivals mainly in Denmark but also some in other European countries from showcase festivals. Our fan base online, however, is outside Denmark because the genre is really not pleasing to the local market. We aim to grow internationally cuz Denmark is just a very very small market.

We have some sort of buzz through our live and SoMe. So now a few Danish labels reached out to us. They want to sign us locally and then licence us to labels internationally. They say that without that we can’t break internationally.

So far we have been DIY. We have been growing really fast since forming 8 months ago. We already got direct contact with talent buyers and top producers in Denmark. And we have raised funding via NGO and government. So we don’t really need a label to help us locally. But we do want to get more exposure internationally. We just don’t know if sign locally then licensing internationally is a good idea.

We actually enjoy DIY and feel very reluctant to sign rights out this early in our career since we feel we still can grow ourselves. But we do understand without any international network, it’s really hard to break internationally.

We don’t have any international label offers or network at this moment. So I want so get some advice, shall we sign such a local label and liscense it internationally? Is it true that without a international label we can’t really break? Or is there a way to get big internationally without a label?

Some may say SoMe, which we already are doing consistently. We have a few thousand followers in different platforms. But we don’t want to solely rely on that and bet our luck to get viral and become famous that way cuz it could be quite random.

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[u/FamiliarAd4857]

You definitely don’t need a label to break. What you would really benefit from is a booking agent. If you already have the funds, you need to grow the live side.

See how merch sales are in different cities, in Denmark, and then further afield. Keep detailed logs and then you have better ammunition to present to a label to get a better deal, more in your favour.

Don’t sign away your rights if you’re already growing, would be my advice. You’re doing something right, figure out what that is and capitalise on it while you have it and actively make plans for growth. A business plan does wonders for a project

[u/ayaayahahaha → u/FamiliarAd4857]

Thank you! That’s a good point. We have been trying to find booking agents but it seems like they usually have collaborations with labels and don’t go directly to completely independent acts. Actually no booking agents in Denmark wanted to work with us so we build our own network to venues and festivals and booked many shows to the extent that we can now bypass booking agents. But so far we have no luck finding one who can book us internationally. We asked the export office and they say we should find a label first cuz labels usually connect directly to bookers. We really want to bypass label to get a good booking agent in Europe/UK. Any advice on that?

[u/No_Lemon_666]

Link to your music please?

[u/ayaayahahaha → u/No_Lemon_666]

Didn’t post it in the main text cuz I want to avoid being seen as trying to promote. But in case you are curious, this is my band: https://open.spotify.com/artist/76zFk3tpchC1ppCXtZYjbL?si=zRatyhJhSQOVokjTunJ-cw