The Run label, and running your own
Every release ships under the Run label by default. What a label is at the stores, how to create one of your own, and how renaming works.
A Label is a record label name: the one stores show on your release page as the label the record came out on. It is also the claimant on any Content ID network you opt a release into.
By default every release ships under the house label, Run. That is the name in the record label row on Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and everywhere else the release goes.
The part people worry about is ownership, and the house label does not touch it. Your ℗ and © lines are separate fields on the release and they name whoever you put in them, which for self-released music is you. The label name changes nothing about what you earn either: your split follows your plan, not the name on the release. The label name is branding, not a claim on your music.
What the label decides, and what it does not
It decides two things:
- The record label shown on the release page at every store.
- The claimant on any Content ID network the release is opted into. See Choosing stores and Content ID.
It does not decide who owns the recordings, who is credited as the artist, or what you earn. Ownership is the ℗ and © lines, covered in The sound recording and copyright lines, and what you earn is your royalty split, which follows your plan.
The house label
Every account starts on the house label and can stay there forever. It costs nothing, it is the same name for everyone releasing through Run, and it is not editable: “Run” and “Relay” (the platform’s former name) are both reserved and cannot be claimed as anyone’s label name.
Labels in the workspace shows it as a card, with the number of your releases riding on it and the month it started carrying them.
Getting a label of your own
| Plan | Included | Extra labels |
|---|---|---|
| Free | no custom label | Not available |
| Artist | no custom label | EUR 19.99 a month each |
| White-label | 1 custom Label | EUR 19.99 a month each |
White-label includes 1 custom Label at EUR 49.99 a month. On any paid plan you can add more as slots, at EUR 19.99 a month or EUR 199.00 a year each, bought one at a time in Settings. A slot rides your subscription, so it is not available while you are on Free. See Plans and what they include and Subscription and slots.
The labels page head shows how many slots you hold and how many are in use, so you can see whether you have room before you start.
Creating one
- Open Labels and choose Create your label, or New label if you already have one.
- Type the name. The composer shows how it reads in the record label row of a store page as you type, which is the only place the name matters.
- Choose Create label.
Name rules:
- Between 2 and 80 characters.
- Unique across all of Run. If another account already holds the name, you are told and asked for a different one, because a label name identifies one catalog across the whole platform.
- “Run” and “Relay” are reserved, in any capitalization.
If your plan came with a label when you signed up, the onboarding wizard offers you this same step, so it may already be done.
When it reaches the stores
Creating a label makes the name yours on Run. It does not register anything with a store yet. That happens the first time a release branded with it is delivered, which is why the card reads Not at stores yet until then and Live at stores afterwards.
That one moment is what everything below turns on.
Putting a release out under it
A release carries one record label, and which one is settled while the release is still a draft. Once you submit, it is fixed, and our distribution pipeline applies it when the release is delivered.
If you hold a label of your own, the release form offers it as a choice: the label field lists the house label and every label you hold, and picking one brands that draft. An account with no label of its own sees the house label and nothing to choose.
Renaming
While a label has never delivered anything, renaming is self-serve: Rename on its card, type the new name, save. Nothing external has seen the old name, so there is nothing to correct.
Once it has delivered, the name is on catalog that is already at the stores, and changing it there is not something you can do from the workspace. The card offers Request a rename instead, which opens a request with the label attached and the label rename category already chosen. See Getting help.
There is no way to delete a label. While it has not delivered anything you can rename it to anything you like, which covers most of the reasons you would want to remove one.
If you downgrade or cancel
Labels you have already created keep branding their catalog. Releases that went out under one stay exactly as they are at the stores, and future releases can keep using it.
What locks is creating new ones: that needs a live paid plan with a free slot. Nothing is deleted while you are away, so resubscribing gives the slot back rather than starting you over.