What are Music Record Labels Looking For?

As I am always looking to read up and educate myself on all things in regards to Music Record Labels and Artist Management; I recently found myself reading an article posted from Music Clout’s website musicclout.com.   From time to time I find their articles to be insightful.  The article I read this week was titled “5 Important Things Record Labels Look For”.   This article spoke about 5 aspects labels are looking for in artists.  They listed the five things record labels are looking for as:

1. Branding/Marketing

2. Sales/Draw

3. Touring

4. Sonic Quality

5. Attitude

I have to admit that I agree with a lot of the information I read in this article.  However, I feel that more emphasis should be made on the artist’s branding/marketing and their fan base.  Of course as a music artist your music should be a top priority, but that should be a given. The way people perceive you plays a huge role in how they feel about your music making branding/marketing a number one aspect for me as well.  As I said earlier, fan base in my opinion is a close second.  Fan base is huge because without a fan base, every other aspect is irrelevant.  After the music and after the image come the fans.  Artists need to constantly look for ways to increase their audience.  As an artist you should constantly be asking yourself the question “How can I turn one fan into two?” With social media the world has become smaller.  Take advantage of this.  Touring is important, but is the expense worth the travel, especially if the audience has never heard of you?  Some may say, yes.  To many this is a great way to gain fans.  However, you should have marketing in place already in that area so that they are somewhat familiar with your image and sound.  This marketing tactic will also help to find out if that area or demographic is receptive to your image/sound.  Music Clout’s list continues on with Sonic Sound, which I already stated that music comes first.  If you do not provide top quality sounds, then you need to sit down and think about if you really want to make music.  The music industry is chess, not checkers.  Be sure to always bring your "A" game.  Lastly, the list ends with Attitude.  Having a positive attitude is a principle not a top aspect.  If you don’t carry a positive attitude in life, where else are you going to carry it?  Having a positive attitude is another given in my opinion. What are your thoughts?  How do you feel about Music Clout’s top five aspects that record labels are looking for?  Check out this short video: http://youtu.be/IzStEN1bKs0.  Feedback is appreciated.