Create A Label: How To Play

Hello loons! Welcome to Create A Label, the internet's best and most interactive music simulation game! This game is all about creativity, music, and the spirit of competition. Seeing as you're probably new (we've all been there) or maybe you just need a refresher on how this all works, this thread is just for you! Come along on the journey of figuring out how to play this amazing game!



CAL is an online music simulation game. You take on one artist (you can have more later) and you play as them; releasing singles, albums, videos, and promo and touring! You can sign an artist that has an established career and you can continue from where they've left off recently, you can sign a brand new artist and build their career entirely from scratch, or you can even create an artist that doesn't exist! The game is very interactive. You will be able to collaborate with other artists, join their tour as an opening act or have them open for you, or even be part of their celeb squad! You can talk directly to other players in the Discord server, where most of the discussion about the game will take place.



Getting started is mega easy! Follow these steps to become a part of the CAL community!

1. Let the Hosts Know You're Here
Your first stop will be the Artist Sign Up thread (HERE). There you will tag any one or all four of the game's hosts, it can be you just asking to be a part of the game! Once a host sees the post, they’ll send you a link to our Discord server and get you going on the rest of the steps!

2. Pick an Artist + Name Your Label
Next, you'll choose 1 artist to start. A list of claimed artists is on the OP of the main CAL thread (HERE). You CANNOT sign an artist to your label that has already been signed to another player's label. Once you have chosen an artist, you will then tell us who that artist is. Then you will name your label. For example, my label is called Atlantic Records. Your label name and the artist (or artists if you add more in the future) will be added to the OP in the main CAL thread!
NOTE: YOU CAN ONLY SIGN ONE ARTIST WHEN YOU SIGN UP. YOU GAIN THE ABILITY TO SIGN ANOTHER ARTIST EVERY MONTH YOU ARE AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF CAL. I.E. AFTER YOUR THIRD MONTH OF PLAYING, YOU CAN HAVE 3 ARTISTS SIGNED.

3. All About the Money
All new labels are automatically given $10,000,000 as a starting balance. This starting balance is extremely important as it will be how you pay for all of your artist(s)’ promotion, and gain money from their sales and/or touring. We recommend you create a Google Sheets/Excel Spreadsheet to keep track of your label’s balance.



Now that you're all set up, here is how you play!

1. Promo
Like in real life, your artists' chart success depends on promo. You can post promo in many different forms. You can do standard TV interviews, radio interviews, or magazine interviews. In the Paid Promo List thread (HERE), you will find a list of paid promotional slots that your artist can do. You must book the paid promotion by DM’ing @calbooking. Any real-life promotional slots not listed in the thread are free and do not require any booking. In addition, Flux (our very own music streaming service) playlists are equally great sources of promotion. Placements on Flux Playlists, found in the Flux Promo List thread (HERE), along with information on how to book them.

2. Earning Money from Sales
Your label will earn money for the sales of your music. The money will come from three of our charts: Song iTunes Charts, Flux Streaming Charts, and Album Charts. On the Song iTunes Charts, your label earns $1 for every song sold. There are Song iTunes Charts posted for 5 different countries, and you add up your song sales among all 5 countries to get your total song sales for that week. So if your single sells 223,479 copies one week, then your label makes $223,479 from the sales of that song.
On the Flux Streaming Charts, your label earns the quotient of your total song streams divided by 150. There is a Flux Audio Streaming Chart and Flux Video Streaming chart, and you add up your streams among those two charts to get your total streams for that week. So if your single is streamed 121,437,921 times one week, then you do 121,437,921 divided by 150, giving you 809,586.14, therefore an earning of $809,586.14 from the streams of that song.
On the Album Charts, your label earns $10 from every album unit, and/or $5 from every EP unit. There are Album Charts posted for 5 different countries, and you add up your album units among all 5 countries to get your total album units for that week. So if your album sells 458,321 units one week, then you do 458,321 times 10, giving you 4,583,210, therefore an earning of $4,583,210 from the units of that album. Or if your EP sells 233,541 units one week, then you do 233,541 times 5, giving you 1,167,705, therefore an earning of $1,167,705 from the units of that EP.
While all of this may seem confusing, our Discord server will have template spreadsheets, where all you will have to enter is your sales & streams, and your earnings will be automatically calculated.

3. Releasing Singles/Albums
You can write your own songs or use real-life songs (you have to license real-life songs that are not by your signed artist and cannot license a song licensed by another label. You can see what songs are licensed in the Licensed Songs  Repertoire thread (HERE), and request to license a song in the Licensing Requests thread (HERE)). All music MUST be released on a Friday! You can announce your singles in advance but singles are not able to pre-ordered. You can announce albums or EPs in advance and they are able to be placed on pre-order (you can track pre-orders in the iTunes Charts). All music is to be released in the CAL: Season 1 Releases thread (HERE), NOT the main CAL thread.

4. Your Artist on Social Media
You don't have to do this but most players do. There is an app available for download on Apple’s Appstore, Social Dummy https://apps.apple.com/us/app/social-dummy/id610088272, where you can create a spoof Instagram and/or Twitter account for your artists. You can use the spoofed Instagram and/or Twitter for announcements, fan interactions, or simple cute posts. After creating a spoofed post, take a screenshot of it, and post it in the main CAL thread.  Click THIS LINK RIGHT HERE for an example of a spoofed social media post.

5. Tracking Your Success
Various music charts are posted throughout the week to keep you up to date with the success of your latest music releases. The schedule is as followed:
Friday - Weekly iTunes Charts (Singles + Albums)
Saturday - Weekly Flux Streaming Charts
Sunday - Official Weekly Albums Charts
Monday - Official Weekly Singles Charts
The hosts will guarantee to try their best to thoroughly follow each chart’s respective posting day, however, if for any reason there is a delay in posting, players will be notified in the Discord server.

6. Sponsorships
Just like in real life, in CAL you can have your artists book sponsorships and brand deals. These can range from simply appearing in advertisements and promoting a brand to a movie deal with Netflix. All you have to do is formally contact the company you want to partner with via @calbooking and tell them exactly how you want the sponsorship to work. They will then decide your payment and state their terms (i.e. how many advertisements your artist must appear in, whether they want product placement in a music video etc...). If you fail to meet these terms the company will take legal action. Short term sponsorships range from 1 to 3 months, while long term partnerships must last at least 6 months. Many companies will also require your artist to wait a certain amount of time before partnering with a different brand so take that into account while planning your sponsorships.



Like any game, CAL has rules! Here are the rules and guidelines you must adhere to at all times!

1. Articles
Articles containing interviews, both free and paid, must be no less than 250 words! This counts for interviews as well as magazines. Articles containing performances, both free and paid, must be no less than 150 words! Articles containing BOTH interviews and performances, both free and paid, must be no less than 300 words! If an article does not meet the necessary word count, then it will not be counted toward the charts! The only exceptions are the announcement of music discounts/bundles, album pre-order announcements, tour announcements, and social media promotion.
You cannot under any circumstances post repeat performances on any show, paid or unpaid. That means you can not post the same performance you did for say Jimmy Fallon as the performance for an appearance on say Ellen. Every repeat performance you post will NOT be counted as promo toward the charts. Even if you paid for the booking. That is non-negotiable and it applies to everyone playing the game.
You CANNOT book a paid show more than twice within four weeks (yes, you are NOT allowed to book the same show on June 30th then July 1st). NOTE: The exception to this rule is doing a week-long residency on a show for album promotion. For example, if an artist has a week-long residency on The Tonight Show. If you're doing something like that, then the rule about twice booking can be disregarded. However, you MUST promote different songs every day. If you book twice within four weeks, then the second time will NOT be counted as promo toward the charts.  
There is also a limit to the number of articles a player can post in a week. For songs, it's 6 and for artists, it's 8. This means that per tracking week (Friday-Thursday), a song can only be promoted in 6 articles, even if it is a collaboration and being promoted by multiple artists. This does not include announcements, music releases, or music discounts/bundles. In simpler terms, that means that for each tracking week, an artist can have 8 promotional articles which can be a mix of paid and free, all free, all paid, whatever.

2. Videos
Music videos are some of the best promo opportunities out there. They are also AMAZING for buzz. That is why there is a $200,000 fee to release a music video, and all music videos must be booked by DM’ing @calbooking prior to release. In addition, all music video articles must be 300 words minimum. That's way fewer words than this post up to this sentence so you can do it no problem! Most everyone ends up with well over 300-word videos without even thinking about it so it isn't as hard as you think!
Music videos that are not booked with @calbooking or contain less than 300 words will NOT be counted toward the charts.

3. Paid Bookings
A calendar of what artists have what paid promo slots booked will come out at the start of every month. To book paid promo you MUST BOOK IT THROUGH @calbooking  AND HAVE IT BE APPROVED BY THEM! For most paid bookings, two artists are allowed on the same day. However, you cannot have two artists from the same label on the same show on the same day. Saturday Night Live has a maximum of one main artist per show. Note that in order to book Saturday Night Live, you need to have two songs from your current album era running since there are two performance segments on the show.



Am I allowed to discount my music and/or release bundles?
Discounts and bundles are allowed, yet come with rules. You MUST DM @calbooking prior to discounting your music, and you must pay a fee ($120,000 for albums and $60,000 for singles). ONLY merch bundles are allowed, and they must be booked through DM’ing @calbooking prior to release and have the fee paid ($100,000 for albums and $50,000 for singles).

Am I allowed to erase an established artists career and start from scratch?
You are allowed to change a signed artists career up as you please up until January 1st, 2015. Everything before that is set and can not be changed.