DIY OR DIE

Of course.

I'd dash out an album of piss-easy Coldplay Lite to keep them happy and use the ensuing remuneration to do what I like with the real shit.

why wouldn't you?

to both questions

no chance.

If you want to progress your band in your own direction you are unlikely to get complete say on the full creative direction, unless you have quite a lot of 'hype'being dished out in your favour and the record company are confident that you are able to make them enough money from that.

For example, Hadouken! signed to Atlantic after self releasing for a bit and according to them, the record label has given them pretty much free range to create what they want musically.

But like I said, they were in a position, where they had enough good press and 'hype' to back them up that the record co. were probably pretty confident that they were going to get this returned.

If you're not in this position, then the chances are that signing to a major will be quite stressful because they have a lot of expertise about selling records, as opposed to musical expertise (creatively) and are likely to push your creative output into directions that they feel are commercially viable and not necessarily what the band wants. The top dogs at these record labels (and probably not even the people that you will have to deal with as a band) are notoriously money driven and will get rid of bands faster than their 2 year old car, if they are not reaping them enough financial rewards.

A lot of bands complain that they do not have enough creative jurisdiction signed to majors and prefer indies for that reason.

But it really depends on what you want from a label. An independent might give you a bigger cut of profits so if it is likely that you do have a bit of a cult following, it might be more beneficial (especially if you have good contacts yourself) to go with an independent or self release. But there's always a risk in that majors pump a hell of a lot of money into marketing bands so that they are successful.

It does really depend on your band's priorities I guess.

but I think it's unlikely I'd ever sign to them. I doubt they would give me or anyone else full artistic rights to do whatever I wanted and I suspect I'd find the limitations too much for me to feel comfortable with.

But I'll deal with it when it happens.

Links to the arms trade = fuck off.

anything would be better than a shit desk job (which i have)