Survival of the Indie Artist

Survival of the Indie Artist.

Over the last few decades, I have seen a lot because of my involvement in the indie music business. There were days, I remember, of one genre of rock in which Jimi Hendrix played on the same radio station as James Taylor. If the music was good, they played it, simple. Those were the days of vinyl records. Before the CDs came in the market, there used to be 8-track tapes and then cassettes.

With these changes, came more genres and subgenres. Today, we are at a point where even the artists are confused about where they fit, at times. As if this was not enough, radio monster clear channel came into picture and it was known to play only major artists!

As I have written in my blog Impact of Indie Music, indie musicians are bearers of impact, regardless of whether they know about it and regardless of whether they mean to be. The message they convey through their work of art directly affects their audience in many ways. This is particularly valid for the young and teenagers, who are still responsive to their general surroundings. There was a time when indie artists created music they felt compelled to create. If it fit a genre or not was the least of their concerns. Then came the day when artists began to create music which the major labels found saleable. In other words, the labels were making the artists produce what the labels could sell and not selling what an artist produced!

The first digital release, I remember, was ridiculed by labels as a fad. With time, the joke turned around on major labels when digitalization took over the music industry. This is a world where indie artists and indie bands are on an equal ground with the major labels. The indie artists can sell their music anywhere in the world. The question is- will anyone know it is available for purchase?

With music being available online, indie artists started selling music on their personal websites. If you are a budding indie artist and do not have a website yet, there are companies like Hyper Effects that can help you with this. 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.

One credit that we will have to give to major labels is that if an artist was lucky, signing with a major label could make him a household name. Those days are over now, barring some exceptions. Since those day, major labels have almost gone bankrupt.

So what is the option for aspiring indie artists? Where does this leave their dream and a desire?

If an indie artist was to sign a deal with a major label today, the deal would look like this- we will put in 500K if the artist puts in 500K. We also need them to have a fan-base of 500,000 and a similar number of YouTube hits and we are ready to sign!

Come on! All my indie friends out there, the sooner you realize that you are on your own in this world of pay-to-play radio, the better it is going to be for you. No major is going to come knocking at your door just because you are good and they want to make you rich. If you are good at your work, learn the other traits of this business, if you want to become successful. Simple. Remember that this is a full-time job and it is your own business. I have written about this in detail in my blog It is Your 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, remember that even the major labels have no clue about the way to success without financial failure, in this fast changing indie music business.

It looks like the days of superstars are going to be over soon. In the 90s, every indie musician had to be an entertainer. They understand that this was their business in life and that they would be required to travel across the world and perform. If they were extremely good, they became rich and successful. In the end, they were happy people because they were doing what they wanted to do- making music and selling art.

This scene has totally changed today. In my next blog I am going to write more about the changing scene in the indie music industry. Please share your experiences and I will add them in my future blogs.