This unit has to fit in with my FMP and i think i want to do a podcast for my FMP 

I need to look at different examples and do a lot of research. 

 

I like the idea of looking into artists that are not signed to labels and putting their music out on their own . 

I need to think about how I would engage with my audience and how I can involve people in it . 

 

My essay will be about the pros and cons of artists releasing their own music indeed of a label. 

 

A common way of structuring an essay is to:

 

1. Introduction

2. Body - research, discussion etc

3. Conclusions. 

Introduction 

 

Research and planning :

A definition of Independent artist is : An independent artist is an undiscovered group or person that is not signed to a record label. When you are an independent artist you can have all the control. 

 

 

https://www.edmprod.com/labels-vs-self/ 

 

EDM Prod

 

 Label 

• Labels would have a team of people and would have built connections with people so not being with a label means you have to make these connections on your own. 

• Labels also have connections and tastemakers this helps when it comes to promoting the release.

• Money can be a huge aspect for the reason that artist go with labels and not alone. 

• Generally labels will cover the costs of things and normally will have preferred people to do things, for example mixing and other things. 

• There are many things a label may be able to provide money for.

• With a label you will make connections with other artists this means that there are possibilities of things like remixes and collaborations. 

 

Releasing without a label 

• There is a lot of creative freedom 

• You can make whatever music you want, package it as you wish. You are the boss and the possibilities are endless. 

• You can keep a close control over your releases, your brand and your public image. 

• when something goes wrong and it needs to be fixed you can get it all fixed quicker when you are doing it yourself whereas it would take longer to get it fixed.  

• The downside is that when things do go wrong it is your fault normally. 

• You don't have to worry about whether you’re getting a bad percentage deal from a label, when you are the label.  

 

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/self-releasing-music-pros-and-cons-of-diy-music-releases-2460380

 

Careers 

 

• It is getting easier by the day to release music on your own and build a music career without the backing of a label. 

 

Pros of self-releasing  

• You get to keep the rights 

• Don't have to worry about contracts, expensive lawyers, accidentally sinning over your music, your vision. 

• You get to decide how your music is used, when it is used and how much people have to pay for it. 

 

• You keep the cash 

• Every person that comes in to help with your career gets a cut, but when you’re doing it yourself and you get it all. 

 

• You make it (or don’t) on your own terms 

• Labels will have limitations in mind when it comes to projects they’re willing to work with you on, major labels can be extremely demanding. 

• When you're the one putting out the music, you release the music you want, only the music you want, when you want to release it. 

• The marketing, the touring and all of the other decisions will be made by you. 

 

The cons of self- releasing

• You’ve got to foot the bill  

• One of the main reasons many people want a record deal is so there is some money behind their release. 

• A major label deal may bring a nice advance, and even a small indie label is going to pick up most of the cost associated with releasing a record, like PR and pressing. 

• The financial burden will be yours alone, and that can be limiting when it comes to accomplishing everything you want to get it done. 

• This means you can be left with a lot of debt if you don’t sell as much as you anticipate. 

• Labels will have established relationships with manufacturers and PR companies that often translate into credit agreements and reduced rates, since the label throws a lot of business their way. When you’re establishing yourself, you may be asked to pay upfront for the orders, and you can expect to pay full price. 

 

•  may Not have contacts 

• Labels will have lots of contracts in place that helps then promote their release - media, promoters, agents and so on. 

• Being a new business you have to build a little list of people from scratch. 

• Not having these contacts in place from the outset will make your job harder. 

• You’ll be learning while doing 

• If you don’t have a lot of experience in the industry, you will be learning as you are putting your music out. 

• There are a lot of parts to manage and tend to. 

• It will take some time to figure out what works and what does not work for you. This can be an expensive lesson. 

 

• It's a full time job

• It depends on your goals for your music, promoting a record can be very time consuming.

• Arranging press, keeping track of sales, promoting the music and booking shows are a full time job.

• When you're doing all of this work you’re not concentrating on your music. 

• This means you could get some really good headway with the promotion of your first release, but you don’t have anything fresh to follow up with because you're consumed with the business side of things. 

 

https://blog.landr.com/dont-need-record-label/ 

Landr

• The average major labels contracts see artists only receiving 15% of earnings from a release. 

• Digital music distribution is changing the way that artists reach fans.

• You need to get your music online in whichever way makes the most sense for you.

• Streaming services like Itunes or spotify won’t promote your music for you. Getting on playlists, suggested streams or trending artists charts starts with promotion.

 

https://www.musicindustryhowto.com/do-musicians-need-social-media/

Music Industry How To 

•  Social media is the most effective way to build and reach your audience. 

• If you are an artist- releasing albums, playing shows, touring, putting your music on spotify playlists, ect.- you need to have a place where people who live your music can go to follow you. 

• This is because there is just too much music in the world. If people don’t immediately go and follow you on social media, it’s too easy for them to forget you and more onto something else. 

• Beyond that, as an artist, you want people to keep up with what you are doing. When you’re releasing a new song, don't you want people to know.  

• To get people to come to shows, buy merch, buy albums, listen to new music, ect. You need to be connecting with people physically and digitally. 

• Being on social media can help you bridge the gap between you and your audience. It can connect you to your fans and help them humanize you.

• Some artists like to be very involved with their accounts. Oftentimes, younger artists who’ve grown up with social media are more likely to spend more time on it. 

• Others have their social media run entirely by their team. If you can find and hire a team that does a good job of running your social media.

• Most of the time your fan base can tell if it is you the artist posting or your team.

 

The new title of my essay is : An exploration of some of the opportunities of an independent artist.

https://completemusicupdate.com/article/independent-artists-increased-output-during-lockdown-but-direct-to-fan-opportunities-still-being-under-utilised/

 

 Complete music update.com

• Nearly 70% of artists spend more time writing or making music since the covid-19 lockdown and a further 57% created more content for social media.

• Nearly 20% of artists said that they have been doing live streamed performances while it is still days for live streaming; it could represent a significant growth opportunity for independent artists. 

 

https://blog.placeit.net/best-music-platforms-for-independent-musicians/

 

Place it :

 

Spotify:

Is not good because there is no live content and you need to have a label or distributors to get your music on it.  

Spotify is a very well known platform across the world. 

 

Pandora: 

You can submit music through distributors but they do have an independent artist submission tool. 

All the tracks can be rated by their audience. 

 

Soundcloud: 

Is great for sociability and share ability. 

The cons of this are music discovery here depends completely on the user, there is no discovery algorithm. 

 

Apple Music:

You need an apple product to access. 

It lets artists engage with their followers by sharing content, plus real time communication. 

To submit music you need to be linked to a label or use a distributor. 

There is no free version for anyone. 

 

Mixcloud:

Their open platform is where creators can express themselves for free without limits. 

They operate a fair, legal streaming service with audio creators and artists at its core. 

Their community of tens of millions of fans listening deeply from every inch of the globe. 

They do not offer analytics for free users. 

 

Tidal: 

 They have a feature, called tidal rising that selects one emerging artist each week for exposure.

They also include music videos too. 

This is also the best high-resolution streaming service for audiophiles. 

It offers higher artist royalties. 

You can connect to your social media to keep your fans up to date. 

To upload music without a label you will need to do it through a distributor.

 There is no free version. 

 

Amazon Music: 

Only for amazon subscribers. 

They have 50 million songs and a reach for 80 million people. 

Amazon music is a great opportunity for blossoming artists. 

All music should be submitted through a label or distributor. 

 

Deezer: 

Deezer is a well-known platform for independent artists. 

You don’t need a label but you do need a distributor.

 

8Tracks:

Is a music centered in discovering playlists so this is a great platform to find new music.

Find all kinds of online music on it, you can also find music to fit around your mood and themes. 

You can create your artist profile by contacting the 8tracks team giving them a few links to your music. 

Listeners can choose between the free version or 8tracks plus which supports upcoming creators. 

Free version: 

• Ads while browsing 

• Hearing audio advertisements 

• Music pauses between playlists 

• Static images on plays 

8tracks Plus: 

• Completely ad free 

• No interruptions 

• Animated GIFs on playlists 

• Flashy profile badges 

• Support artist that you love 

• Available on all your devices

 

You can’t use it offline. 

You can’t overlook the whole playlist content, you will have to wait and see what's on it. 

 

Hyppedit: 

For anyone who is already on several music platforms. 

This is a fan gating platform to help you convert your downloads on different streaming services. 

This means you get more likes, comments, streams and downloads from your existing or new followers. 

Your music gets promoted to allow your fans to react to it. 

You can share your music on facebook using the facebook music tab. With this tool, they can listen to your music and even download it directly from your facebook. 

The blog promotion toll shares your music tracks on music stores and platforms that feature your music. 

You can’t customize your homepage with your brand. 

 

Twitch: 

For songwriters, musicians, and other artists with experience on twitch. 

You can share your music in twitch broadcast or VoDs ( past broadcast, paste release, highlights, clips and uploads). 

Your subscription grants you a personal license to access the content and reproduce it in a personal and private way only. 

You can share your original music recorded or playing live. 

A lot of artists today are using twitch to perform in front of their online during quarantine days. 

You can customize your twitch channel to show your indie brand. 

It is mainly a gaming platform, not a music one. 

 

Bandcamp:

For independent artists. 

Bandcamp is a platform completely designed for emerging artists as a way to support them with free streaming. It's a marketplace and community to support thousands of independent artists. 

Fans can download or stream your music and artists are allowed to price their music however they want. 

Bandcamp takes 10% of your merch and 15% of downloads. 

There is no money in streaming your music. 

 

Youtube Music:

For both label artists and independent artists. 

There are a few requirements to get an official artist channel on youtube music that you actually get to share your music with the world. 

These are : 

• You have to own and operate your youtube channel and have at least 3 releases distributed by a company or label. 

• Not have any policy violations on your channel.

• Work with a youtube partner manager.

 

No content besides music. 

It doesn’t integrate with voice assistants. 

You need to be working with a youtube partner. 

 

Vevo: 

Vevo is the largest music channel on youtube. 

Vevo also has partnerships with apple TV, pluto TV and samsung TV. 

To get music on vevo you need to contact your youtube for artists distribution as asked you accounts to be merged. 

You need a distributor from youtube partners. 

You don’t actually get to manage your account.

 

Iheartradio: 

This is a hybrid between live radio and streaming platform with a 20 million tracks library. 

It also induces podcasts, news articles, lyrics and listing. 

Unable to rewined to rewind live radio. 

Lacks high-resolution tracks. 

You need a distributor. 

 

Gigmit: 

This is the data-given matchmaking platform representing easy booking for both live acts and promoters. 

It changes the way concerts are organised, gives the live industry a digital tech update and opens the booking business, wicked was previously reserved for only a few to everyone. 

Since the founding of gigmit in 2012, over 120,000 artists have used the platform to apply for gigs of all genres. 

More than 8,500 promoters have registered. 

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DistroKid:

https://distrokid.com

• This is the easiest way for musicians to get music into spotify, itunes, amazon, tidal, tiktok, youtube and more.

• In store 10-20x faster than any other distribution. 

• Pay £19.99 to upload albums and songs for a year. 

• A lot of independent artists that I know use this site to get their music on the big platforms.

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Evaluation : 

Overall most of the music platforms are good for independent artists.l

They will need distributors to get your music on to the platforms. 

Most of the time you need to pay a distributor to get your music on streaming platforms. 

Also some of the platforms don’t have the best system with money and you would barely make you any money.