Is There Any Hope For The Independent Artist In Today's Music Industry? | MarkMeets | Entertainment, Music, Movie, TV & London Film Premiere News

Despite the potential offered by the internet in terms of promoting music on an independent basis, it’s not easy for any musician to make it in today’s music climate. It’s easier than ever for someone to become a musician and advertise themselves online, but that means there’s also more music than ever on the internet. It’s all readily available, and that’s caused music listeners to get a bit of fatigue when it comes to discovering new artists. They have endless options. It can be hard to stand out in such a crowded marketplace. Is there any hope for the independent artist in today’s music industry? Yes, but you can’t just expect people to find you because your music is great. That isn’t enough in 2018. There’s a lot of great music out there. These suggestions might help you out.

Push yourself out of your comfort zone.

This is a piece of advice that many independent musicians ignore. And if you don’t have big aspirations for your music then that’s fine. If it’s a fun hobby that you want to keep mostly to yourself then stay in your lane. However, if you want to get heard by thousands or millions of people then you need to be a bit bolder in your approach to this industry. And we’re not just talking about marketing here (which we’ll discuss more in the next point) – we’re talking about your approach to making music. Before you tackle the industry, you need to focus on honing your craft. You need to create a sound that makes you stand out from the crowd. Maybe you’re a singer-songwriter who plays the acoustic guitar. Why stop there? Try something different.

There are heaps of guitarists with nice voices. Learn to play other instruments. Pick up new skills to boost your “portfolio”. You might even want to check out these beautiful Steinway Pianos if you’re looking for a musical investment to make. Even if you’ve only ever learnt to play the guitar or sing, tinkering around on the piano could give you new ideas for songwriting. Expand your musical horizons and bring a little diversity into the mix. You might even want to download some music software and work on your production skills. That doesn’t mean you have to give up on your acoustic guitar, but you can bring other sounds into the equation. Be creative and self-sufficient to make your music stand out. At the end of the day, the more you can do by yourself, the further you’ll get as an independent artist.

Build up an online presence.

Of course, making great music is only one part of the bigger picture. As has already been mentioned, there’s so much great music out there. The vast majority of it gets buried beneath a sea of releases from musicians with established followings. That’s what it all comes down to, at the end of the day. As with any industry in the business world, the brands with the biggest audiences are always going to be more easily heard and more successful. Luckily, as competitive as the internet has made the music industry, it’s also provided an opportunity for independent artists to promote themselves easily and cheaply. You need to utilise this resource.

Make sure you use streaming platforms such as Spotify. Whilst you’ll earn less money for a single play than you would for a physical sale, the truth is that more people stream music than buy it physically. That means your best bet for bringing in a steady income from music is to use streaming services. You should look into YouTube’s new music service too. In fact, even uploading videos for your songs is a great way to make money (if you build up enough of a following to start monetising those videos). YouTube is the best place on the internet to get plays, given the popularity of the site. The numbers there are staggering. If you’re going to build an online presence then you need to place yourself on the right platforms.