We're happy to help, but within reason: You chose Bez Labelu for a reason
You chose distribution with Bez Labelu. That comes with everything – including responsibility.
We are happy to help you whenever you need it. But we will not take on the role of a publisher or a label. Responsibility for preparing your release, for the accuracy of its content and for compliance with the law lies with you.
What distribution with no label really means
A label and/or publisher is an entity that takes care of the entire release process: It checks the metadata, prepares the recordings, handles licensing, communicates with the distributor and collecting societies, keeps track of contractual obligations and deals with the tax side of the income. Clients who come to Bez Labelu consciously decide to work with no label – after all, that is the whole idea behind the platform.
This has a natural consequence: Everything a label would otherwise do, you now do yourself. You have all the tools and information at your disposal – but it takes your own initiative and a willingness to study things. Why this matters is also described in the article Take digital music distribution seriously.
What we take care of – and what you take care of
Bez Labelu takes care of
- Distribution to streaming platforms
- Assigning UPC/EAN and ISRC codes (if you do not have your own)
- Royalty payouts
- Technical support with specific problems
- Tools for checking the master, the artwork and the release details
- An extensive knowledge base
- Answers to questions that are not covered in the knowledge base
What you should know yourself
There are things we are happy to help you with because they are specific to music distribution. And then there are things we simply cannot excuse you for not knowing. These include:
- You must not distribute content you do not hold the rights to. Using other people's music without a licence is theft – regardless of whether you “found them for free on the internet”. See also Common problems with “free” licences for sound recordings.
- The album artwork must be your own, or you must hold a licence for all the content shown. See Album artwork must not contain third-party works without a licence.
- Metadata must be filled in truthfully and correctly. You do not write things into fields where they do not belong – see Don't put things in fields where they don't belong.
- Licences are sorted out in advance – see Sort out your licence in advance, not when a problem arises.
- What is prohibited is prohibited. You will find an overview of the specific prohibitions in the article What is prohibited and how we deal with violations.
- Ignorance is no excuse. The article Ignorance is no excuse explains this in more detail.
We do not fill in metadata for you or take responsibility for it (although, on request, we will check the artwork and release details before you send the release to distribution via a Pre-distribution check request), we do not look up information for you that is available in the knowledge base, we do not handle licensing for you, we do not deal with your taxes and we do not write contracts for you. If you contact us with a question whose answer is stated directly and clearly in our knowledge base, we will refer you to the relevant article.
The knowledge base – use it
We have put considerable effort into the knowledge base so that it covers everything you need to know about distribution as an independent artist. You will find terms there such as ISRC, UPC/EAN, metadata, author, performer, primary artist or featured artist. And the rules for the release title, the recording title, lyrics or marking explicit content.
Read through the knowledge base before you start releasing. You will save yourself trouble and spare both sides unnecessary back-and-forth.
When to contact us
Contact us with questions that are genuinely specific or are not answered in the knowledge base. You make changes after distribution (for example to titles, the artwork or the authors) yourself in the release detail and then send the release to distribution again – what can still be changed and what cannot is covered in the article What can still be changed after distribution and what cannot. Before making bigger changes, however, it is better to contact us first. Tips for communicating with us effectively can be found in the article Tips for communicating with Bez Labelu.
If you run into a technical problem, a discrepancy or a situation you cannot find an answer to, we are here. An overview of how to get in touch and whom to contact in different situations can be found in the article How, whom and when to contact depending on your problem.