Survival of the Indie Artist - Mr. Major Label’s white horse died of thirst in the desert and won’t be riding into your gig anytime soon. By Stephen Wrench, CEO, Musik and Film

Today the indie artist better wake up and realize that there will be no talent scout riding into one of their gigs on a white horse to discover and rescue them from the maze of talent out there.

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Survival of the Indie Artist - Mr. Major Label’s white horse died of thirst in the desert and won’t be riding into your gig anytime soon. By Stephen Wrench, CEO, Musik and Film

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Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) January 25, 2012 --Today the indie artist better wake up and realize that there will be no talent scout riding into one of their gigs on a white horse to discover and rescue them from the maze of talent out there. Mr. Major Label’s white horse died of thirst in the desert and won’t be riding into your gig anytime soon.

I have seen a lot over the last 30 years being involved in the music business. I remember the days of one genre of rock in which you could hear Jimi Hendrix played on the same radio station as James Taylor. If it was good music - they played it. These were the days of vinyl records. Then came 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, and CDs - followed by the radio monster Clear Channels, which will only play major artists. Along with all of these changes came the creation of so many genres and (sub)genres - that today’s artists are often confused about where they fit.

I remember the day when artists created music they felt compelled to create and didn’t care if it fit a genre or not. Then the day came when artists began to change their music to make it more palatable to major labels. I also remember the day of the first digital release, ridiculed by labels as a fad. Well, the joke is on the labels. It is not a fad and is taking over the music industry. It is a world where the Indie artist is on an even playing field with the major labels. A world where the Indie artist can distribute their music throughout the world for sale. But, will anyone know it’s there or buy it?

The major label machine did accomplish one thing for artists — if an artist was lucky enough to sign with a major label they could make him a household name. Those days are all but over except for a rare few. Major labels are taking huge financial losses and some like EMI are even falling to bankruptcy.

So where does this leave the aspiring indie artist? - With a dream and a desire.

Recently our promotions company, Full Radio Promotions, pitched an artist for a major label deal. What came back from the label was, “We will put in 400K if the artist puts in 400K. Oh, we also need them to have 500,000 YouTube hits, and a 500,000 fanbase on their social media for us to consider a deal with them.”

The sooner that indie artists realize that they are on their own in this world of 360 deals and pay-to-play radio, the better off they will be. There will be no major label knocking on your
door offering riches and fame just because you’re good. If you are good you better be very smart and be savvy in business and the art of promotion if you want to succeed in the new world of being an independent artist. The music business is changing so fast not even the majors have a clue how to rein in success without financial failure.

I believe the days of superstars are soon to be over. Before the 20th century if you were a musician you had to be an entertainer. At best you accepted that this was your lot and trade in life. You traveled the world seeking your next performance. If you were good you made a decent living and were happy because you did what was in your heart and soul for a living.

Today the indie artist better wake up and realize that there will be no talent scout riding into one of their gigs on a white horse to discover and rescue them from the maze of talent out there. The only one who will discover them is themselves. Once the indie artist realizes they are on their own, they can formulate a plan of success. Besides making high quality music, that plan has to include hard work on a good website, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube videos, and as much networking as possible. When I say work I mean daily hard work to obtain a larger fan base. Then the artist needs to find a really good promotion and distribution company. The artist hopefully can find a strong indie label with all the above and hopefully the indie label will have world radio contacts and be able help with an effective campaign.

There are a lot of radio promotion companies out there that will charge a minimum of $2500 for a 350-station college radio campaign. However, that will add up fast when you have to pay for college genre station promotions. What the indie needs is a record label that has their own radio promotion arm that is willing to split the costs of promotion with them. Yes, during these times the artist will at the very LEAST have to split promotion costs or die a slow death of their dream. There are labels springing up out there that do fit this bill. The artist needs to be savvy enough to realize what an opportunity this is for the artist rather than complain that they must pay for their own promotion. If you find a label that is willing to split the cost of promotion - you better jump on that deal - Mr. Major Label’s white horse died of thirst in the desert and won’t be riding into your gig anytime soon.

(Stephen Wrench started in the music business as a performing musician and songwriter at an early age. He has worked in multiple capacities with musicians, producers, publishers, publicists, radio promoters, video production and promotion, concert production and promotion, booking agencies, record distribution and record labels. Stephen has produced many of the top acts of today, including Tommy Tutone, former members of Lynyrd Skynyrd, River Shyne, Pat Waters, Prozac Daisies, Tracy Hill, Stockholm Stoner (with former members of Abba) Glenn Kearney and others.)

For more information on distribution and promotion go to http://musikandfilm.com or http://fullradiopromotions.com.

More information can be found online at http://musikandfilm.com

Cinderella Records     full radio promotions     indie artist     major labels     musik and film     Radio Promotions     record labels     stephen wrench