Publishers vs Record Labels
As a musician, you pretty much need a record company to give you the promotion you need (unless you can make it on your own). And as an author, you need a publisher to get your books out there.
What a record label used to do back in the day was say “hey, this band is pretty good, let’s offer them a record deal” and help them become the whole thing and get to the point where they’re really good, and then promote them a lot.
These days, a record label finds a band who has already become the whole thing and already has a big following, and then just promote the hell out of them and make a lot of money.
Publishers haven’t changed quite that much, but they have still changed. Back in the day, an author could actually sell their own book to a publisher. But now, a publisher will pay no attention to an author who has no agent.
A record label pays for all sorts of stuff for a band, but the band will then owe it all back if their album doesn’t sell well enough to cover those costs. This can run some bands into the ground because the expenses are many. An author, on the other hand, does not owe the publisher back the advance on their book if it doesn’t do well.
It is completely possible for a musician to get big without the aid of a label. People all over the world have done it. It’s just a lot more difficult without the paid promotion that a record label can give you. You may not get as many radio campaigns and other promotion as an unsigned artist, but you are still eligible to win a grammy or all sorts of other awards if you’re that good.
An author without a publisher, on the other hand, has a harder time gaining a following. Sure, it’s possible, plenty of people have done it, but it’s very hard. And only traditionally published books are the ones winning the awards.
Both of these industries have undergone a lot of changes in even just the past decade. But of course you don’t need a record label or a publisher to make a living off of your art. Lindsey Stirling and Amanda Palmer, among others, have gotten to be very well-known musicians without the aid of record companies (and in Lindsey Stirling’s case, no management).
You may not hear of indie authors getting to be quite that famous, but some still make millions. Take Amanda Hocking, for instance. Or Hugh Howey, the author of WOOL, which is now being made into a film.
