It is Your Business.

Being an indie artist has never been easy! More so now when every out-of-college kid wants to take up music and tour around the country. It can get overwhelming at times. Today’s post is about a few tips for making it in the music industry as an independent artist. It is not going to be easy and will require a lot of hard work, but in the end, it’s going to be worth the trouble.

Remember that this is a full-time job and it is your own business. You have embarked on a business journey that needs to be handled correctly in order to become rewarding. How you avoid fatal errors that indie artists and bands commonly make remains to be learnt. However, here are a few tips to help you with the local scene.

Professionalism

All of us in the indie music industry are aware that the outside world doesn’t look at bands as ‘professional’. This problem has plagued us with its bad stigma for many years and led to the death of many bands. As I have written in my post How to Become a Better Indie Artist?, there are millions of songs playing and selling at all times, all across the world. In order to have your song noticed, you need to make it really good, or it will not take the listener a second to switch to another channel or artist. After making a good song that has won the hearts of fans, you need to continue making better, or you will be lost like thousands of others. Similarly, with the market being flooded with bands and a new one coming up every day, it also becomes extremely difficult for a band to set itself apart from the rest. Even to become famous locally, you are required to get associated with another band, imagine!

The first thing to remember is to follow a professional approach at all times. You don’t want to be not taken seriously.

Stop Complaining

You have chosen to do what you are doing, so stop complaining and get to work. If you think that you have the capability to become the world’s biggest rock star, hit the road! Compile a list of all the labels, venues or bands that you are interested in working with and start doing shows in their local area. You can also send out your press kit and demo to these venues. We all want to make money playing music. If you want to make money too, treat your work like a business. This being said, no one cares how you get that money. Be sure that people do not want to see or hear about your band drama. If you treat your business as a joke, the only thing you will get is a good laugh.

Finances

As I have written in my blog Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks, problems are inevitable. Knowing how to deal with them and coming out unscathed is critical. You better have savings or a rich father to make a phone call to. Falling into the DIY category does not mean you can sell a spray painted shirt for $15. With time you will realise that such ideas are impractical and funny. You will need to spend money in order to get money. Get some quality merch for your fans to wear.

Just letting the general idea of your band’s music known to record labels is not going to get you offers. Plugging a mic to your laptop and recording your music on a free software shows unprofessionalism and lack of finances. You are not in the era where bands became famous with local performances in the streets. Nobody wants to invest in kids. You need to be self-sufficient, or at least pretend to be so, in order for labels to find you interesting. Along with that, you need to build your fan base for labels to see income potential in you. As I have written in my blog How to Become a Better Indie Artist?, no label is going to develop talent in you. You have to prove yourself. All they care about is how much they can earn from the connections you have made and the fans that follow you. They are already successful. They are going to add your success to theirs to remain successful. Your talent is going to get you fans and your fans will get you investors and labels. So do not undermine the power of connections.

Having your own website is an absolute necessity for every indie artist and band. Your website establishes your authenticity as a professional musician and is in most cases your first impression to potential bookers. While it sounds like rocket science to create and manage a website, there are companies like HyperEffects that can help you connect with your target audience efficiently. Hyper Effects is one stop for your website, marketing and cyber development requirements. It helps you to create a website to display your talent or sell your indie music or indie art. Their websites are easy to navigate. All you need to do is to make sure you have a bio, up-to-date images and videos and probably a link to your music when you contact them. So get a website for yourself and make sure your email to bookers has a link to this.

In my next blog I am going to write a few more tips for making it in the music industry as an independent artist. Please share your experiences in the comments section and I will add them in my future posts.