How Indie Artists Are Learning To Survive And Stand Out In Modern Music

How Indie Artists Are Learning To Survive And Stand Out In Modern Music

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Rock, techno, pop, classic, R’n’B – indie artists represent all sounds and genres. They’re the backbone of the current music scene in the way they offer up unique listening experiences to music lovers all around the world. 

In a world that’s more interconnected than ever, where new artists can be discovered from the comfort of a listener’s bedroom, these artists have twice the chance of finding their audience compared to 20 years ago.  

But modern music still makes being an indie artist difficult. Anyone carving out a music career without mainstream attention has a lot of fundraising, fan engagement, and self promotion in their future. 

This takes time and patience, which can be tricky to balance against the passion you have for your craft. Anyone without a marketing degree specific to the music industry will face a lot of obstacles in bringing their musical dreams to life. 

However, some indie artists are learning to work with the zeitgeist, and not only survive in the current music scene, but to stand out and thrive as well. It’s possible, it’s doable, and it’s something anyone new to making music of their own has a chance of achieving. 

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Music is Defined on a Personal Level

Indie artists have some advantage over bigger acts on the global stage. Namely, when you’re indie, you can define your music on a totally personal level. Write what you want, send the message you believe in, and give your audience a true, authentic experience that isn’t driven by the need for air time or mass relatability. 

Of course, both of these things would be nice, but they often become the creative monolith that an artist’s life revolves around. While indie artists still need to strike a fine balance between creating the songs they want and creating music that appeals to a larger audience, there is more freedom (and less pressure) in this choice. 

But even as we speak about the need for mass appeal, it’s important to note that many music lovers have an appreciation for songs that speak to something real. People want to hear genuine emotion, whether or not there’s an upbeat track behind the lyrics that makes it easy to bop along to. 

A song doesn’t have to be vague enough that anyone can follow along with the lyrics; relatability can be found in the emotion of the track and the artist’s reaction to it. It’s in this feeling that indie artists really can thrive. 

Social Media Allows You to Find Your Audience

Social media is a great place for finding people to relate to. Both fans and artists alike can form communities here, even with difficult algorithms ruling when and where your content is displayed. 

It’s why creating a social media presence for your music is essential. It’s a part of the strong branding that brings notoriety to any and all new music acts. Get the same name across all platforms to lock down your brand and give your audience a place to find verified news about upcoming releases, behind the scenes, and teasers for new projects you’re working on. 

Social media is also powerful in the way it provides equal footing for indie artists. You’re competing on the same platform as the big names, meaning you have the same tools for promotion at your disposal. You don’t necessarily need a big budget to make use of these tools either. 

Instagram, for example, now has Broadcast Channels that allow musicians to collect all their followers into one group DM. This is where you can share exclusive content amongst those you can be sure will be interested to hear it. 

Invest in Post Production Skills, Keep Music Videos Cheap

Making music, ironically, doesn’t just involve making music. For an indie artist to stand out in the modern era, combining musical stylings with a strong visual element is the way forward. 

The music video has long set apart the songs that get attention from those that only tend to be found by superfans on the album track list. For an indie artist, this difference will be a crucial element in your music marketing plan. 

However, we all know just how expensive a music video can be to arrange, shoot, and edit. The cost tends to start in the lower twenty thousands, but with the amount of actors and crew you need to hire, as well as securing venues and the days on set required, this cost can quickly triple. 

But if an indie artist invests in their own post production skills, this cost crawls back down again. It may take more time and offer a much more experimental angle, but you can direct, shoot, and edit your own music videos and feature no one other than yourself, your band, or friends and family members. 

Start with the kit you’ll need in the editing suite. Editing software, an audio mixing platform, and hardware that allows you to monitor each angle and sound of your music video separately. A quality 12g-sdi distribution amplifier works well here, allowing you to split screen your editing efforts and find the right audio level, lighting, and art direction through real time comparison. 

Doing post production yourself also ensures the final edit matches as closely to the music video you originally imagined. 

Spotify Takes Playlist Pitches

Spotify is a name we’re all aware of – over 600 million people around the world use it to stream music! It’s one of the most common music apps that people take everywhere with them, and can guarantee your music finds a home in the download tab of offline listeners as well. 

Long story short, as an indie artist, getting your music onto Spotify makes it instantly more shareable. Even if the current payment per stream, as well as the method of counting streams, is rather less than stellar, the platform’s reach cannot be understated. 

And the best method for pushing your music out to a larger audience? Getting a spot on one of the editor’s ‘curated playlists’. Signing up to Spotify for Artists and pitching a song to the editors will mean it’s up for consideration for one of these many playlists. 

If accepted, your song could find a home on a million different users’ homepage, which can lead to a lot more likes, follows, and monthly listens.  

Anyone Can Network

Networking has always been part of the music scene. You need to know the right people in the right places to ensure your name is always one of the first put forward. If you want to play more venues or be booked at more events, both local and national, networking amongst music promoters is the thing to try. 

Networking also applies to finding other acts you can collaborate with. This is usually a great way to get your music out to a wider audience, especially if you share the same genre as your collaborating act. But even if you don’t, there’s a chance to pull more fans in based on the quality of the song you put together. 

That being said, these benefits don’t come without a lot of risks and a lot of work. Indeed, networking can be extremely difficult. Music promoters spend a lot of their time sorting through acts, and even with a personal touch of a smile, handshake, and an in person conversation, your efforts could still fall flat. 

Similarly, finding other acts to collaborate with can result in creative differences getting in the way; the final song may be something you’d rather not hear ever again! 

But even with all these issues, networking is a powerful way of putting you in touch with people who really can help your career out. All it requires is one person taking you up on the offer and you could hit your stride in the music world. 

Remember, networking is something anyone and everyone is capable of. Even if you find it anxiety provoking, you can get that conversation started. Once you have, the music you’ve made will do the rest of the talking for you. 

Indie artists and modern music go hand in hand, but understanding this relationship is can be the most difficult thing. Despite that, it is key to achieving the success you want. The modern world makes it easy for new acts to get their sound out there, but whether or not anyone is listening is another matter. 

If you’re an indie artist with a lot to prove, don’t lose hope. While you can’t make sure a large fanbase will gather round, you can keep costs down, learn to network, and be a receptive and engaging artist that any fan would be proud to support. 

Above all else, make sure you understand who you are and what message you’re putting out there. A strong brand makes all the difference in appealing to the audience and finding the people who are going to fall in love with your music. 





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