"Success is a journey, not a destination" - Anon
What does success mean to you?
It's a very difficult question to answer. Yet the answer that we give determines how we see ourselves as a musician, songwriter or anything else in life.
Hence the importance of having your own definition of what success is.
Nowadays, there are much better ways to promote your music than radio.
I was reading Joe Taylor Jr's SpinMe.Com blog and a post titled "KZLA Format Change: 'We Work For Our Advertisers'" caught my eye. It confirmed what I had thought all along about radio.
Radio doesn't exist for the music anymore.
Power to the people, power to the people right on" - John Lennon
With all this talk about the music industry dying a slow and horrible death I wanted to put forward another view. I think that the music industry is actually evolving into an industry where people rule not record labels.
The music industry to me is not dying but evolving, and we (as either indie musicians and/or consumers) have the power to shape the end result of this evolutionary process.
First of all I want to wish everyone a happy 2006.
It's a known fact that having a sence of community in our lives is very important but it's even more important for indie artists and bands.
Swimming upstream can be very tiring and we need all the support and encouragement we can get.
"What's in it for me?"
This is the main question that people are asking of anyone that is wanting to attract their attention and/or intend to part them with their hard earned disposable income.
Think about it for a minute! How would you as an indie music artist or band answer that question?
You know what they say "a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step"
It is a well worn cliche but it's so true. You want to do something with your talent and you want to do it without the (so called) help of the 'majors' but you have to start from somewhere.
It looks like you have some choices to make.....
If this article doesn't convince you that being an indie music artist or band is the way to go then nothing will.
I have been a great admirer of Peter Spellman (of Music Business Solutions) and am a regular subscriber to his newsletters. I came across an article of his called "The Real Reason Major Record Companies Suck" and thought to myself 'Man, I have to read this'.....
"It's not what you know it's who you know!"
I know that we've all heard that saying thousands of times but at the end of the day (in dealing with the indie music industry) it all comes down to who you know doesn't it?
"Treat your fans like gold because without fans you dont have a career, simple as that."
Indie music bands and artists want the same thing as their record company sponsored contemporaries, a crowd to play in front of. It took me a while to realise that it's not how many shows you play but how many people come to them that's important.
Indie seems to be the 'buzz' word at the moment.
I came across this cute and clever article by Bob Baker putting across the meaning of 'indie' in a slightly different way and I just had to show it to you guys. Its a bit of fun but the message is still very clear.
Too much information is much better than not having enough
If you are going to create a career for yourself as an indie music band or music artist, first you must understand how it (the industry) all works....
There is no magic formula for success in this industry.
Lets face it, being independent means that you are going to have to be wearing more than one hat to survive. You are going to have to do a lot of things yourself but dont worry, help is on the way.
Whether you believe you can or you can't, you will be right.
It's so true isn't it? The only thing that matters at the end of the day is the amount of belief that you have in yourself and the music you are creating.
Without that belief, you don't have a career......
