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.

I found a wonderful article by Christopher Knab entitled "The 'Creative' You and the 'Business' You". In it he spells out quite clearly that there are no formulas to follow, no shortcuts and no 10 steps to anything resembling success in the music industry.

My views on this subject are pretty similar. I have always believed that the music industry as a whole is much, much more than just getting a band together, playing gigs, recording a CD and then (hopefully) getting signed by a record label in which case you live happily ever after (lol).

Getting on in this industry is about diversification, multi-skilling, not putting all you eggs in one basket. Whatever you want to call it, it means that you are going to have to get used to wearing different hats.

I hear a lot of musicians say that they want to just concentrate on the art and have someone else (loosely termed a 'manager') do all the other stuff. Well, unless these muso's can convince managers who have well respected and proven track records to take a punt on something thats totally unknown and unproven then they are living in some sort of musical fantasyland. I'm sorry but it just doesnt work that way.

Being independent is a choice, being independent is a way of life, a way of doing things. It's embracing the fact that it's all up to you to make things happen, it's about giving yourself back power and control over your own affairs.

Being independent shouldnt be a scary proposition. There are lots of resources around (including this channel) to help, guide and light up the path of whoever wants to explore it. In a way I am myself in the same position as you, the reader. I realise that the industry (on a global scale) is huge and that there is room for everybody to have some sort of a go, we just need to find the spaces.

I also realise that having belief in what you're doing and being open to learning as much as possible about the industry then putting it all into action are the keys to moving forward.

In the article Christopher Knab says that the answer to the question of what seperates the artists that 'make it' from the artists that dont is "business savvy"

You got to be prepared to wear many hats. The agents hat (calling up venues for gigs), the promoters hat (putting up posters and handing out flyers), the publicists hat (putting articles or gig details into street press) and so on. Being an independent artist is all a matter of balance.

We straddle between two worlds, the 'artistic' and the 'business' worlds. How far we go in this industry seems to be determined by how well we marry the two worlds together to form a whole.

In the meantime you can go to the article here

Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician

For more articles check out Corey Stewart Songwriting Tips

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