Indie music or independent music is produced independently from major record labels. The music goes into a process of do-it-yourself approach in producing and publishing music. Most indie bands’ sound is melodic, the instruments are well textured. The lyrics are emotional and literally spark emotion.

As a scene, people who are really into indie music try to keep it small; and the scene it not huge because the most important thing to them is to improve the sound and quality of their music.

If you’re venturing into the world of indie music, now is a great time for you to position yourself for success in music industry. This industry is also about finding your own path-unique to you’re what you’re good at and your future career. We give you career tips so you’re going to successfully establish yourself in indie music industry.

Know What You’re Good At

To establish yourself as an indie musician, you have to know what you can offer. You have great music, but think beyond what you can still offer. Ask yourself what you’re really good at. There are many ways to show off your talent, from gigs to traditional recordings and cover songs.

Know your skills, so you can focus on building your career around it. From that, you’d be able to identify the tools that can help you to accomplish the goals you’re setting. If you love making short music videos, song cover and others, you can start doing these first steps. Make sure that the career you’re building is what you love.

This first step includes creating a game plan. It’s important that you know your goals, even if you’re doing it alone or with a band. Write down all your goals and keep it in a journal so you can always look back to it when you need to.

To also become an indie musician, you should know who you are before you tell others who they are. Establish who you are and where you’re going. People will then see that you have a direction for your music career, and they will appreciate it.

Work Hard

In this technology-induced generation, people have more opportunities than the others in the past. You don’t have to wait for a major label or producer to give you money and start recording.

There are a lot of social media platforms where you can connect with millions of people, in just a click or one upload of your music online. You can also collaborate with other musicians on the internet. However, it may sound east but it’s not. It will take a lot of hard work.

You’ll be doing something fun and working hard on your dreams. Getting a major record label is pretty hard to achieve at first especially if you’re new to the industry. But all the exposure, gigs and performances will surely bring you to the success you’re dreaming of.

Avoid leaning on cheap alternatives because it will make you look cheap. Even if you start with almost nothing, make sure that you upload quality videos and photos. Creativity isn’t expensive; all you have to do is sit down in front of your computer and let your creative juices do the work.

When you’re still a starter, you can’t definitely hire someone yet. So, the work would be done by you. Don’t let it worry you too much. As long as you don’t settle for less and do your best, your career would also be shining.

Balance Music and Business

An indie musician plays the role of a creator and a business executive at the same time. It’s overwhelming, just thinking about it. As mentioned, it needs a lot of work to succeed in this industry. You just have to do a little time management.

One of the first tasks is to figure out how you work best. Know if you work best in the morning or at night.  There are others who are gifted and can multitask. To manage your time, always have a calendar tool which helps you on tracking your schedule. Manage your time by setting specific days for particular tasks.

Start With What You Have

If you don’t have expensive instruments when you’re starting, don’t worry because most of the successful indie musicians started with almost nothing. If you wait till you have enough money to tour or rent a studio, you’re never going to start your career.

Like mentioned, uploading songs and music videos on social media tools will help you start. The engagement on those tools is powerful because of the number of audience you can get.

Remember that you start with almost nothing-cheap instruments, internet and recording software. All you have to do is love what you do and work hard. You can reach more people if you’re more visible. Create blogs, upload more videos and accept your audience’s requests. You can scout for

When we hear about music industry, we think about bog artists like Beyonce, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and other popular bands and musicians. When we follow their social media accounts, we also follow their journey. However, these popular musicians don’t encapsulate the reality of music industry, which is not solely about beautiful things like major records, tour and concerts.

Indie artists usually gain their fame when a major producer notices their talents. But before becoming big star, it’s all about performing in little bars and doing gigs. There are artists who want to make it big like the popular artists we know now, and there are also those who whose sole purpose is to improve their music no matter what kind of audience they have, big or small.

If you have dreams of making it to the music industry where you get to record your songs in a studio and produced by major record label, you have to know these 5 things about music industry.

You Won’t Make it if You Won’t Do It

Professionals in the music industry like agents, managers, producers and labels are attracted to musicians who work hard and accomplish things on their own. In this generation, there’s no excuse for aspiring musicians to promote their music.

We have Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms for indie artists to post their songs and stories online. Bands, solo artists and song writers have the opportunity to generate audience and engagement because of these tools.

If you want to step up your career, do something about it. No matter how special or talented you are, these professionals won’t give you the ticket to stardom if they don’t see any initiative. If you want others to help you, help yourself first.

Don’t Be Blinded by the Glamour

Music videos, news shows, concert videos and magazines have all the glamour and hype. Don’t be blinded by this glamour. Music business is not an easy path to wealth. The yacht, mansions and success stories are most of the time a spun to make the business looks like it’s easy to get there and be successful.

If you only want to be there for the money, there’s a quicker path to it. As a musician, it will take a very long time before you can make a comfortable living. Focus yourself on making quality music and that can also help you pay your bills.

Learning is More Important than Earning

Most of the stories we heard from aspiring musicians are about their anticipation of how they’re going to get paid before they gain any experience. These people always grumble and complaining about not getting paid, or conducting tutorials for free.

But, experience is the most important thing you need to have in order to gain respect from professional musicians. Experience is the best kind of payment you’ll get. The more experience you have, the greater chance you’ll get to being paid. So, when you’re a beginner it’s not always about how much you earn but rather on what you learn. These experiences will help you survive in the music industry.

Music is Never Free

When you have invested time and money in writing your songs, recording it, producing it and selling on the market, don’t ever give it for free. All those precious hours and thousands of dollars won’t be worth it if you give your songs for free.

Pursuing a career in music industry is never easy. It will take you sweat and blood to finally being listened to in local radios and music boards. Nothing is free, let people know it. If you’re talking to people about your music, let them know about the amazing people you worked with, its quality and the effort you put to record it.

Contracts Are Being Negotiated

Someday, somehow after all the effort you spent on creating quality music, contract offers will come to you. However, if one is presented to you don’t quickly jump into it like that offer isn’t coming back. Contracts are always being negotiated.

Don’t sign anything that you don’t understand and agree on. If you also feel rushed and pressured to sign the contract, don’t sign it. Even though you’ve been waiting for it for quite a while, spend time thinking about it and how it can go on.

Also, remember that contracts are agreements forms that are drafted on the benefit of other party, and it’s a starting point for negotiations. Companies also are ready to make concessions and negotiations with you. If they are persistent to make business with you, then they see that you have a big potential and contracts can be change.

One more thing to remember: music industry will never give you what you deserve, but what you negotiate for.

Venturing into the music industry as an indie artist will take a lot of effort, so you better do what you’re best at and give your best. Be passionate, but also observer. Business is business. Know the things that matter and know the things that don’t. more importantly, don’t let anyone ruin your confidence and talent.