Independant Musicians - The struggle defined.
@ 16 Nov 2010 21:03

This blog is intended to share and solicit opinions, and resources.
If you are a music lover, or a supporter of independant arts, I would love to hear your comments concerning this topic. If you are a musician, please take a moment to read this and share your thoughts, your works, your experience and resources that are helping you to be successful.

I am specifically interested in hearing from independant musicians who are selling their works through digital downloads. I have included some resource links below, these resources are good for getting your music for sell on the interent, and for networking and growing a fan base. I hope you find them useful. Please feel free to share and comment. If the resource links are not showing, be sure to check under comments.

I have been a musician for 25 years and have suffered the frustrations of navigating the music industry. Sometime during the 80's, the industry moved from finding new and exciting artist, to creating them. Soon we were seeing boy bands that were selling millions of albums with members that just meet a month before. Meanwhile, guys who had been playing for 20 years and starving for their art, couldn't even get a foot in the door. As we moved in to a new era, to add insult to injury, great musicians had to sit on the side lines as mickey mouse club graduates sold another million albums. I personal was struck by the irony of being able to say "The music industry has turned into a real Mickey Mouse operation". There were some other notable ways that you could get the industries attention. You could always employ shock tactics. You could shave and tattoo your skull, pierce every orafice and crevice of your body, or be a man wearing womens clothing. None of these things seeming notably shocking to me, but I have grown up in this industry.

All of this being said is not to bash the label, but rather to understand it. The label is musical art for sell, it is a business and one that works very hard for the musicians they represent. They look specifically for the indications of a marketable music, a marketable musician. In this regard, musician beware. The label can really help you by working on your image, your marketing, your distribution, and giving you national and global exposure. But there is much they ask for in return, not just the percentage of revenue from your art, but the control over your marketability. Remeber, you are a financial investment when you have signed on. If you are not willing to compromise in your artistic expression, you may fine the label contracts very restricting. Know what you are getting into amd how it effects your art.

If you have determined, that you wish to go it alone, well there is hope I say. This blog is intended to show that today, in this new decade of 2010 +, there is so much that an independant artist can do to attract, or even bypass the industry. Thanks to ReverbNation and other advicates of the independant artist, we have a chance to change the face of music in the world. Currently, the world hears an incredibly small percentage of the worlds great musicians through industry labels. In this regard, it is not only the artist, but also the consumer who can benefit from the Independant Artist Revolution. We have gained some momentum in this regard, we have new tools to give us exposure, to connect us to fans, to share ourselves and our art directly with the public, and with the fans. Let's make sure that we utilize the new technologies available to us, like digital downloads, huge social networking, widgets and other share technologies. We need to support each other with our shared resources.

Please feel free to express yourself here, share your experience, and the resources that you have found to help you be successful. I will be adding some resources myself here very soon. Thank you for participating and good luck to all the artist, signed or not, live true to your art.

If you like my music, help support a struggling independant artist by sharing me with your friends. If you get a chance, join ReverbNation and become a fan. It's free and it only takes a minute. You get access to 1000's of poular, independant, and "up and coming" musicians.

You can listen to my music for free at:
http://www.reverbnation.com/kevinalexander

You can purchase my whole album, or specific songs at:
http://www.blastmymusic.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=19160


Here are some great links to resources for musicians. Please share if you have other resources. Thanks for contributing.

Links to sell your music through digital downloads. Most of these are free services as well.
http://www.reverbnation.com/kevinalexander
http://www.last.fm/user/okindredo
http://soundcloud.com/xkindredx

Links to good social networks, these are important resources that help to market your music to your friends and to build a fan base.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001582088842&v=app_2405167945
http://www.myspace.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zr0E9Ey9Qo
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NT7FEVO73PWTDKJBIP2XW3ANAE
http://www.tagged.com/profile.html
http://kevinealexander.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/check-out-music-from-kevin-alexander/?preview=true&preview_id=4&preview_nonce=b16bedc189
http://en.gravatar.com/kevinealexander
http://kevinealexander.livejournal.com/

Most of these links will take you to my pages, but you can see how they work and then signup to creat your own. Try to sign up with the ones that feature the latest in share tools. I hope these help everyone and please share any resources with the your fellow artist. Good luck to us all!