Feature: Why artists choose to take the indie route

With the rise of Web 2.0 and user-generated content, it is now easier than ever for an emerging musician to get their sound out there. So much that in 2012, the U.S Bureau of Labour Statistics found an astounding 510% increase in indie artists making a full time living from music over the past decade.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen the successes of many independent artists making it big without the help of a major label. Amanda Palmer left her label in 2010 and turned to crowd funding, raising a then record-breaking $1.2 million on Kickstarter to produce her album. Teen heartthrob Ian Thomas gained considerable attention in Europe through social media alone, and is quickly gaining traction overseas as well. But Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are probably one of the greatest examples of social media propulsion. Following the release of global #1 Thrift Shop, the duo went on to scoop up four Grammys and sell over 1.4 million copies of their debut album The Heist. Which begs the question: how are they doing it so well?

Social media plays a significant role. It’s basically the prime marketing tool for musicians, signed or otherwise. One of the key jobs for a record label is to promote their artists – but since social media follows such a DIY approach, it’s easy for anyone to take the reigns. Speaking to TMN, Ian Thomas says that record labels used to be able to do everything for their artists – but not so much now.

“I feel like nowadays with social media, promotion-wise and all that stuff you can do it yourself more than you were able to do it back in the day,” he says.

“It’s all about building your following, and if you have a following, you can do it on your own. You have to build that following of course, but once you have it, you’re good.”

Sydney electronic producer Stanley Li (aka DJ Ravine) is also an unsigned independent artist. He is responsible for his own career, and quite good at it too – amassing over 130k likes on Facebook, 22k on SoundCloud and 305,350 YouTube subscribers to date. Two years ago, Li released his Happy Hardcore Classics mix, which quickly gained traction and a league of fans. Currently, it’s sitting at over 322,000 plays on SoundCloud.

Unlike Thomas, Li doesn’t have a management team backing him, but he does echo Thomas’ sentiment regarding social media. He believes that without it, he would not be able to manage or even start up his own career.

“On the Internet, it’s significantly easier with things like email and Facebook. Collaborating with other artists and creators is a lot easier too because the Internet offers so many different avenues of creativity and cross promotion,” he says.

“I love that everything I do is pretty much a result of my own actions,” he adds. “Whenever I look back at successful projects, it’s satisfying to know that it all happened because it was what I wanted.”

Servicing music to community radio isn’t too much of a struggle either, especially with services existing to help Indies gain exposure – like Amrap’s AirIt. Along with major and indie record labels, many unsigned artists also use Amrap’s services – with that number increasing about 20% every year since 2008.

“One of the great strengths of community radio is that it’s large,” says Chris Johnson, Manager of Amrap and Online Innovation at the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia. “There’s a lot more opportunity for musicians to get heard. They don’t have to just satisfy a couple of key music directors in the country, they’re able to provide their music to literally thousands of broadcasters who might be interested in them.”

For Johnson, government-supported radio projects like Amrap exist to give all artists a fair go.

“What Amrap does is level the playing field; we provide the same opportunities to new and independent artists, as to the famous artists and major labels that we work with. Amrap builds a bridge between artists and the airwaves.”

The days of artists relying heavily on the major label system to sell music is beginning to reach a tipping point. According to Statistica, independent labels have been leading the way in terms of market share, owning up to 35% in 2014. Universal came at a second at 27.5%, followed by Sony at 22% and Warner at 14.6%. Athough this ranking hasn’t changed in the past 4 years, one thing’s for sure – the independent sector is surely but steadily growing.

“If you're unsigned, you can still hit up Bandcamp and sell all your music there while collecting the majority of the profit. Even for me, I can release songs on Spotify, YouTube and still make a bit of money,” says Li.

Streaming sites have also proven to be a giant help for emerging new artists. Spotify, for example, launched Spotify Artists to give guides, tips and practices for any musician. Artists are also encouraged to develop personalised playlists to interact with their fans and following. Better yet, Spotify also provides their own playlists, which have huge followings of their own. Not just reserved for signed artists, playlists like ‘Indie Music Week’ and ‘What This Week Sounds Like for Us Here In Australia’ are effective tools which help contribute to the discovery of new artists.

Andy Vincent, Label Relations Manager at Spotify Australia & New Zealand, says that Spotify’s playlists can serve as a major tool for artist promotion.

“It’s a really good way for independent artists who perhaps don’t have the funds or the ability to be out on the road 24/7, 365 days a year, to stay in touch and always have people to be able to access them.”

The tracks on Spotify’s own playlists generally make an appearance in the Viral Chart, which consists of the most shared and streamed tracks on any given day of that week. The Viral Chart itself is able to give independent artists any extra push and exposure.

“[It’s] an incredible tool for artists who perhaps haven’t got that reach yet,” adds Vincent. “We can load them in there and give them access to thousands of potential fans.”

If you’re fairly well connected, you may be lucky to even strike a marketing deal with Spotify. Last year, Auckland-born indie crooner Thomston had his EP Argonaut promoted through Spotify’s websites and social media. Thomston is now particularly successful in Europe, thanks to Spotify Australia pulling some strings with their counterparts in France and Germany.

“We offered him ad inventory – so on the free service, we put a bunch of ads joining to the single explaining that audio ads which should have a bit of music on there and introduce people. We promoted it through our social media channels and newsletters, and all those different channels that we have to help independent artists get big,” says Vincent.

For Thomston, the push from Spotify was a much-appreciated gesture, considering the fact that some industry figures didn’t take him seriously as an unsigned artist. Granted, he also had a bit of help from his team over at Saiko Management – owned by Lorde’s ex-manager Scott Maclachlan. Now signed to Sony, Thomston reflects on some of the difficult aspects early on in his career as an independent artist.

“Everything that I’ve done so far, I have to be heavily involved – otherwise I can’t feel good about putting my name on it if I know that it wasn’t me. There have been moments where it has been quite difficult, where I’ve had to say no to things that could’ve pushed me in a certain direction,” he reveals.

But generally, those were the only setbacks that Thomston experienced when he was an independent artist. He’s yet to comment on the differences of being signed and unsigned, but he learned one thing from being indie that he can take to his career as a signed artist:

“Usually the people that don’t take you seriously because you’re not signed to a label aren’t really people you want to be involved with anyway […] I don’t know what it’s like to function as a signed artist because it only just happened. But I think it’s going to be okay.”

So is the end goal for all indie artists to nab a record deal? Not necessarily. In 2009, Amanda Palmer practically begged her then-label Roadrunner Records to drop her, even penning a song about it. But despite the controversies surrounding a record deal for new artists nowadays, Li certainly still wouldn’t mind one.

“There's no reason not to [sign] in today’s’ age. You see a lot of artists getting snatched up by major labels as soon as they get some modicum of success, such as Will Sparks and Golden Features. Of course it's not all because of the label, but their marketing and promotion sure doesn't hurt.”

Despite their differences in musical genre, one thing is common for all these indie artists: it’s all about the music, creating your own art and being your own boss, which seems to be the most rewarding factor of all. Thomston sums it up pretty well:

“Being able to say who I am and be the artist I want to be from the get-go, and not having anyone influence that or to mould me. It’s just liberating – when I put music out and its how I wanted it to sound. That’s a cool thing.”

Image: Ian Thomas, Thomston, DJ Ravine