The band cannot sign to another label or even put out its own material unless they are released from their agreement, which never happens.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I will never sign to a major record label again. If, by some mega fluke, a record of mine looked like it might break big, I'd try and do it via an indie or somehow license it. I'm not having my music owned by those corporate bastards again.
You don't want the biggest record deal as far as money goes, you just want to make sure that the people at the label really support your band and the music and stuff.
The reason I never wanted to sign with a big label was because I didn't want no one telling me how to make my music.
We try and stay out of the corporate side of it. The band has never compromised. At some point in our career we could have made a certain type of record and sold millions of units, as they are called.
Commercial success still hasn't come to an artist that isn't signed to a record label. There are very few artists that can succeed without the help of a record label. The role of the record label is still required, it's still necessary.
Once you're signed to a label you compromise.
There are certainly things labels can still provide that indie artists can't. They can pave the way to radio and pay big bucks for promotion.
Make no mistake about it: once a band has signed a letter of intent, they will either eventually sign a contract that suits the label or they will be destroyed.
If the label presents them with a contract that the band don't want to sign, all the label has to do is wait. There are a hundred other bands willing to sign the exact same contract, so the label is in a position of strength.
A lot of big labels will just sign bands like a write off.