Are you a struggling musician?
I once was, in some aspects I still am. I've been producing for about 8 years but I also played lead guitar in rock bands for 11 years. Unfortunately, back then there were no DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) for the home computer, heck, home computers were just starting to come out and not everyone could afford one. And recording a quality demo was VERY expensive, the only option was to pay recording time in a studio (usually by the hour) with fancy analog recording gear and a large console.
Times are changing...
Opportunities are equaly available for everyone now.
The music industry is changing fast, every day we depend more on technology to make music and this technology is increasingly within reach of everyone. Thus, the big name record companies are sweating, now any person with creativity and a computer can make quite a professional production. Due to these technological advances, especially in software, and to piracy, now it is even more difficult for an artist to get signed by a renowned label. The big record companies analyze moreover before investing in an artist and every year there are less new artists being launched by these big corporations.
The solution? The Indie Revolution. There are so many social networking sites today on the web that have adapted to this increasing phenomenon, portals that have seen this need to be heard by talented undiscovered artists and have created spaces to upload music, videos, bios, etc. Many even offer online download sales integration. But what are the ups and downs of going Indie?
-Pros: The artist keeps a much bigger percentage of the sales after distributor, store and website commissions (over 50%) compared to the unfair common big label contract where the artist gets an average of 12% in royalties AFTER deducting all costs and expenses.
-Cons: Without a big label investing, there is no big budget for promotion and advertising. How is anyone going to buy your album if they don't know you exist?
This is where every artist's creativity must kick in and take advantage of all the free options on the web (Social Networking sites, Press releases, Blogs, Online radio stations, building a band website and optimizing it with SEO, etc.). There are indie, unsigned bands out there that I've never heard of before but are making well over a million dollars a year! It CAN be done.
I created a mini site called
Sell Music Free that lists a couple websites where artists upload their music, fans download their songs for FREE but the artist gets PAID. How is that possible? They add a little 15 or 30 second commercial at the beginning of the MP3 and that sponsor pays the artist for every download. What a great idea, that would end piracy right there. People get music free, artist gets paid. It's that simple. The downside is that they usually pay around 2 cents per download when on other sites artists can sell their downloads for 99 cents. BUT in the long run, they can earn more with this system because it's more likely that lots more people will download their songs for free compared to the number of people that would buy them for 99 cents.
Another option is to create your own Indie Music Label. How? Download this free guide in PDF
Indie Record Label. It's written by Ty Cohen who also has many e-books and programs to help the struggling musician.
Here are some more of Ty Cohen's great resources for musicians:
1.- A special e-book that reveals the secrets to marketing your music on MySpace. Countless musicians are building huge followings on MySpace and with this information, you can too!
Now only $7 dollars!!!
2.- The 7 Golden Secrets to Music Industry Success free CD and recurring continuity program of $29.99 a month.
3.- An e-book that reveals everything you need to get signed. This guide allows you to avoid common mistakes most musicians make and helps you stand-out!
4.- A physical, home study course that reveals my secret step-by-step formula to succeeding in the music business.
5.- A bundle of e-Books, software, and directories. This includes 101 Music Business Contracts software, volumes 1-6 of The Industry Yellow Pages (which reveals insider contact information to succeeding in the music business), and countless other e-Books and valuable reports.
6.- A fill-in-the blank music contracts software (works on PC and Mac). Everybody in the music industry needs this tool if they want to protect themselves without spending thousands of dollars on lawyers.
