The music industry has undergone significant shifts in the past few years. A trend that has emerged in the last few years is artists going independent. This movement started with SoundCloud and similar platforms, where artists could produce and release music without an investor. Now, artists upload 60,000 tracks to Spotify daily, signalling the growing trend of artists going independent. For artists considering going Indie, what challenges might they face and what are the benefits of doing this?
Social Media Independence
One of the primary benefits artists who have gone indie cite for doing so is the independence and freedom they get on social media. Many people do not know that artists’ social media profiles are highly curated by the music industry and record labels. This means whatever artists say is highly controlled by third parties.
Artists who go indie can say or post whatever they like, including long- and short-form videos, the GIFs they create from these videos, long-form textual content and anything else they like. This brings them closer to their fans because they are able to better present their authentic selves instead of presenting the image their record label wants them to portray. They are also able to engage with their fans in whichever way they like without worrying about what is or is not allowed according to their managers and the labels through which they release their music.
Challenges of Breaking Through
A major challenge artists might face is breaking through the indie market. The reason is that this segment is becoming somewhat saturated with so many artists going this route. However, this is not to say that they cannot carve a space in the vast indie music world.
Artists who break out tend to have the talent, sound, and production team behind them which makes it possible and even easy to do so. Those who break out are also better able to leverage the different platforms available to them to break through the noise.
Social media is an excellent tool for amplifying indie artists' voices, with many leveraging platforms like TikTok and YouTube to reach audiences directly. Although some artists end up signing with record labels after losing up on these platforms, many remain independent and continue reaping the rewards of doing so.
Making More Money
Another thing many people do not realize is how much money does not end up in the pockets of artists even when they seem like their songs are playing everywhere. Between the production loans, record label fees, and other costs, many artists do not make any money for a few years or until their albums hit a certain status.
This is the primary reason why many artists go on tour. While record labels can take most of the revenue from record sales and streams until they recoup their investments into these artists, they cannot take any of the money generated from concerts and related activities.
Indie artists do not have to deal with any of this. It is true that they have to pay for their own studio time and production, but they get to keep 100% of the revenue generated from their music. That is unless they choose to pay for marketing, customer support, and anything else they need, but doing so is up to them.
Handling All the Marketing
It can feel great to have total control over your social media platforms, engaging with fans authentically and in the ways an indie artist prefers. However, doing this can have a significant downside. Indie artists do not have large social media teams behind them like signed artists do. Yes, indie artists can reach their fans directly, but that can be challenging if they do not know the intricacies of social media, engagement, reach and going viral.
Many indie artists turn to marketing companies that take a cut of their generated revenue. Even though this is often less than what they would have had to pay to a record label, it is still a cost to market their music and reach the right audiences.
Complete Music Ownership
We have heard artists like Taylor Swift complain that they do not own some of their music. Hearing this, one might wonder how this happens. It occurs when artists sign contracts they do not fully understand, leading them to unknowingly give up the rights to their music to producers or record labels.
In some cases, artists sign contracts that say record labels own their music until they pay off a certain amount. This is often the cost of producing, distributing and marketing the music in addition to whatever other fees the label adds on.
Indie artists own 100% of their music because there is no record label holding them hostage. Yes, it might take some time and considerable effort to create music, but they will not have to spend more time and money to get rights to their creative endeavors and outputs.
Many artists are realizing the benefits of being independent and many of them are going this route. However, it is vital to understand that this option has pros and cons that they should know about before choosing either way.
One of the primary benefits artists who have gone indie cite for doing so is the independence and freedom they get on social media. Many people do not know that artists’ social media profiles are highly curated by the music industry and record labels. This means whatever artists say is highly controlled by third parties.
Artists who go indie can say or post whatever they like, including long- and short-form videos, the GIFs they create from these videos, long-form textual content and anything else they like. This brings them closer to their fans because they are able to better present their authentic selves instead of presenting the image their record label wants them to portray. They are also able to engage with their fans in whichever way they like without worrying about what is or is not allowed according to their managers and the labels through which they release their music.
Challenges of Breaking Through
A major challenge artists might face is breaking through the indie market. The reason is that this segment is becoming somewhat saturated with so many artists going this route. However, this is not to say that they cannot carve a space in the vast indie music world.
Artists who break out tend to have the talent, sound, and production team behind them which makes it possible and even easy to do so. Those who break out are also better able to leverage the different platforms available to them to break through the noise.
Social media is an excellent tool for amplifying indie artists' voices, with many leveraging platforms like TikTok and YouTube to reach audiences directly. Although some artists end up signing with record labels after losing up on these platforms, many remain independent and continue reaping the rewards of doing so.
Making More Money
Another thing many people do not realize is how much money does not end up in the pockets of artists even when they seem like their songs are playing everywhere. Between the production loans, record label fees, and other costs, many artists do not make any money for a few years or until their albums hit a certain status.
This is the primary reason why many artists go on tour. While record labels can take most of the revenue from record sales and streams until they recoup their investments into these artists, they cannot take any of the money generated from concerts and related activities.
Indie artists do not have to deal with any of this. It is true that they have to pay for their own studio time and production, but they get to keep 100% of the revenue generated from their music. That is unless they choose to pay for marketing, customer support, and anything else they need, but doing so is up to them.
Handling All the Marketing
It can feel great to have total control over your social media platforms, engaging with fans authentically and in the ways an indie artist prefers. However, doing this can have a significant downside. Indie artists do not have large social media teams behind them like signed artists do. Yes, indie artists can reach their fans directly, but that can be challenging if they do not know the intricacies of social media, engagement, reach and going viral.
Many indie artists turn to marketing companies that take a cut of their generated revenue. Even though this is often less than what they would have had to pay to a record label, it is still a cost to market their music and reach the right audiences.
Complete Music Ownership
We have heard artists like Taylor Swift complain that they do not own some of their music. Hearing this, one might wonder how this happens. It occurs when artists sign contracts they do not fully understand, leading them to unknowingly give up the rights to their music to producers or record labels.
In some cases, artists sign contracts that say record labels own their music until they pay off a certain amount. This is often the cost of producing, distributing and marketing the music in addition to whatever other fees the label adds on.
Indie artists own 100% of their music because there is no record label holding them hostage. Yes, it might take some time and considerable effort to create music, but they will not have to spend more time and money to get rights to their creative endeavors and outputs.
Many artists are realizing the benefits of being independent and many of them are going this route. However, it is vital to understand that this option has pros and cons that they should know about before choosing either way.
