By Shannon Reardon

Playing shows in basements and small bars are how every band get its start. The band 3 Pill Morning is no exception to that rule. In 2004 singer, Jeff Stebbins, began forming his vision for the band 3PM. It took several years of playing shows in their basements and small bars before they started to gain a following.

As the band started to get more popular locally, they started to play more nationally and in bigger venues.

In 2012 3PM was discovered by Nashville producer Jon King and signed to his label Page 2 Music and the New York based company A2Z Entertainment. “We had to create a relationship locally and then we started playing nationally,” Stebbins said when asked about how 3PM gained their success.

“We began playing shows for bigger bands as the local opener and then we started to get a following.”

But Stebbins said success did not come easy. Artists around the globe fight for attention from record companies in hopes of being signed to a label and receive a record deal.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) reports that there are more than 5,000 artists available on the rosters of major record companies, with another tens of thousands artists being signed to smaller independent labels.

But the larger majority of artists remain unsigned to record labels. In 2012, a study conducted by IFPI and The Unsigned Guide, an online database of the workings and members of the music industry, found that 71 percent of unsigned musicians wanted to have a record deal, and 75 percent believe that a record deal is large part of an artist’s success.

Emerging artists find a record deal to be important because it gives them access to funds, which allows them to get their work out to more people than previously achieved.

Record companies will front the new artists with funding to record an album, produce a music video, gain tour support, and cover promotional costs.

According to the IFPI, “It can cost up to US$1.4 million to break an artist in a major recorded music market.”

But despite all the money it takes to promote an artist to the public, the artists themselves seldom see a profit for themselves. An artist after releasing his orher music may receive a mere 20 cents per song, as reported by Music Services.

Artists say 20 cents per song could be profitable quickly if they were to put out a CD with more than the traditional 10 songs, but as reported by The Future For Music, a nonprofit organization founded by and for musicians, many artists have a clause in their contract that prevents them from profiting past the 10th song per CD.

In an excerpt released by The Future For Music, a portion of an artist’s contract illustrates the limitations artists receive for producing music, “provided that [Company] will not be required to pay more than then (10) times the Applicable Rate for an Album and no more than two (2) times the Applicable Rate for a seven- inch or twelve-inch singles record.”

Today 3PM is touring on The Black Widow tour led by In This Moment, and featuring the bands Twelve Foot Ninjas and Starset.

One of the stopping points of their national tour was the Theatre of the Living Arts in Philadelphia on Nov. 18.

 During 3PM performance they played songs off their debut album, “Black Tie Love Affair,” which included “Nothing’s Real,” “Rain,” “and “Loser.”

After their set, fans of the band formed a line to greet the singer and to take photos. Some were pleasantly surprised when Stebbins thanked them for knowing 3PM’s music and singing

“The band’s success did not appear overnight,” said Stebbins. It takes a lot of time and effort to effectively start a band you have to have the music and the people. Those are the two hardest parts. We played locally for several years and we just started to get big within the last three years.”