They say music has the power to bring the world together. And fortunately, technology has improved the way we learn, and the digital revolution has made it easier than ever to explore passions and talents. Indie music is music produced independently from commercial labels. As an example, consider a few rising indie artists in India: Aditi Ramesh, Ape Echoes, and Chrms to name a few.
One of the key benefits of indie music is the ability to leverage total creative freedom. Unlike working with record labels, you’re able to create sounds and symphonies how you like, without the forbearing pressure of marketing teams. You reserve full copyrights of your work, earn more income from any profits you make from your art, and aren’t tied to stringent deadlines. For musicians who want to explore their musical trysts, there are ample ways to get started. Here are a few tips:
Build a Community
Building a community around your music is important. Naturally, you’ll start with your friends and family. But you should also focus on your community. Research nearby venues to see which would accommodate open mic nights and free performances. Even if they don’t necessarily promote open performances, you’d be surprised at how many would be willing to accommodate you.
During this time, it’s also important to be your own PR person. Building a strong image and establishing a database of contacts will go a long way. Attend shows, networking events, and go where press and target fans go. If you aren’t finding venues, consider putting together a show of your own, and invite your family and friends. Be sure to film the show for your social media channels. To get new people attending the shows, work with local influencers who can promote directly to their own community.
Online Music Courses
As previously mentioned, new technology has made it possible to learn to create music online. Platforms like YouTube offer an easy starting point. Whether you’re interested in production and engineering, or want to learn how to play a specific instrument, a standard YouTube search will help you get through introductory lessons and give you the basics.
Digital music courses, like those offered at Audible Genius, offer full online music production studios and fully-fledged course. For example, in its first “Building Blocks” course, you can learn how to write drum patterns, basslines, and chord progressions within a music software environment. You can learn more information here: https://www.audiblegenius.com/.
Publish Your Music
As an independent artist, it’s important to start putting your work out there. Whether you’ve produced you’re first single or an entire EP, you need a platform to house and share it. First and foremost, you should make a social media account and artist pages to communicate and promote your music. You may prefer that your music accounts are separate from your personal accounts.
SoundCloud and YouTube are also reliable platforms for musicians, and you may prefer to be on both. YouTube allows artists to be more creative with videos, while SoundCloud offers other benefits and better reposting options.
Spotify is currently the largest streaming service, and works very well with indie artists, too. The Spotify ecosystem allows you to build a fanbase, optimize your profile, and attract new fans. Getting your music on Spotify is easy enough, but you’ll have to arrange distribution yourself through a third-party aggregator. Although in 2018, Spotify released a beta feature that allowed indie artists to upload their music directly to the platform. In the future, we could see Spotify continue to expound upon this feature.
Find Artists to Open For
Working with other artists is a great way to get your music to a larger audience that’s similar to yours. Otherwise, you might have trouble resonating with your fans. And contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to have a huge fan base before you can start working the show scene. Start by searching for artists that are similar to you, and reaching out regarding opening acts. Many new artists feel discouraged about opening to an audience that doesn’t know this, but this is the perfect chance to reach potential fans, perfect your sound and performance, and meet new artists, managers, and booking agents.