10+ famous artists you didn’t know started as indie

Ever wonder what it would be like to have a successful, independent artist? You know the type of artist you see on TV all the time who’s just starting out. They’re playing small venues with only a few people in attendance. The band is barely making enough money to cover their basic living expenses. But they don’t care because they believe in themselves and their music so much that it doesn’t matter if no one else does. Well, today we’re going to explore 10 famous artists that started as indie musicians before blowing up.

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How Can You Listen To That?

If you are interested and willing, you can expand the breadth of your musical scope by changing the way you listen.

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5 Tips For An Indie Band Going On Tour

You’ve got your sticks, picks, and kicks, and it’s time to get on the road to show the world your tricks. Your drummer is jazzed, your guitarist is electrified, and the passion is through the roof. But before you step out your door with your gear in hand, make sure you’ve thought about some key ingredients for tour success.

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Do New Bands Still Need To Get Signed To Make It?

Getting a record deal used to be the number one priority for unsigned bands. Having the backing of a label, with the budget to distribute and market their music, was perhaps the only way to grow and start playing bigger and better shows. But with a shift in how listeners consume music, there’s been a change in what’s actually important when you want to “make it”.

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Berklee Online Adds Grassroots Touring Course

With income related to live performances accounting for 60-80% of most musicians incomes, it has never been more important to build and sustain a touring career. Grassroots Touring, a new course authored by music industry veteran Bruce Houghton, is designed to teach just that.

Houghton is the editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank and the president of the Skyline Artists Agency and a Senior Advisor to Bandsintown.

During the 12 week college level course, which debuts with the July summer semester, the students will explore how to launch a touring career from scratch. They’ll learn how to create a memorable live performance; book, negotiate, and market only the right shows; capture a loyal fan base; tour regionally and nationally and build a success story that helps expand their entire career.

There’s more info online here.

http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/berklee-online-adds-grassroots-touring-course.html

How Do Indie Music Blogs And Radio Survive? A Harsh Reality

How Do Indie Music Blogs and Radio Survive? A Harsh Reality. Over the past few years I’ve watched many indie music blogs and independent radio come and go like the wind. We often hear about supporting the artists, which is exactly what these independent platforms do. The people behind the indie platforms sacrifice their health, families, lifestyle and quite often go into debt struggling to pay for the necessary costs associated with running such platforms. MusicTalks recently ran a poll on twitter which asked the question; ‘What would you do if all the independently run blogs and radio disappeared? Who would you get to place your new releases, interviews etc. up?’

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Why DIY Musicians Need To Be Pressing Vinyl

Vinyl records are on a 25-year sales high. It’s projected that 40 million units will be sold in 2017 alone. That makes it the first time it’s come close to the 1 billion benchmark this millennium. With the death of many music heavyweights this year and the availability of budget record players the combination of nostalgia and low barrier to entry is leading to many taking the leap back into vinyl. 

So what does this mean for the DIY musician?

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4 Pieces Of Equipment Every Inspired Indie Band Needs For Practice

The drum kit, synthesizer, speakers, and amplifiers are all essential pieces of equipment for your indie band. When you are planning on a live performance for a big crowd, there may also be other devices that you will need in order to achieve the desired effects. Consider these four pieces of equipment that your indie band could use during practices and rehearsals.

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Top Gear For Indie Artists

There are endless amounts of indie bands out there that all sound completely different because of one reason: they have a certain sound. Though all band’s sound different, they all rely on and cherish the one thing that makes them different, their gear. Gear gives bands a means of self-expression and individuality to their sound, which is what all bands strive for. Here’s the top gear for indie bands to experiment with to take their sound to nirvana.

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What Is No Pop And Why I Will Use This Tag On All Future Releases

No Pop. I wish I had thought about this myself. With that “label” or tag — call anyway you want — Lonely Vagabond perfectly nails the reality of today music dilemma. New alternative? Not so sure about that. The Pop vs. No Pop antagonism is a reality. Is it a fact. And it’s not only about economics — actually it’s not only about music either. The whole contemporary western world can be read through the No Pop lens.

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How To Target Radio Stations That Will Actually Play Your Music

This article originally appeared on the Sonicbids blog

If you’ve been following the Sonicbids blog, you already know the three things you need to be “radio ready.” But after you’ve met those prerequisites, how do you determine which stations or music programs you should submit your music to for airplay consideration?

Radio stations come in a few specific types, and it’s not only AM/FM and internet. Here’s the breakdown.

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8 Ways To Get People To Share Your Song

Does promotion often feel like pulling teeth?

Has it been hard for you to get people to share your music?

If so, continue reading. We’re about to clear things up for you.

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Red Bull DIDN'T steal my music. More important lessons for indie artists.

This is a follow up post to my post “Red Bull stole my music! 3 important lessons for independent artists.” which you can read here - http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/red-bull-stole-my-music-3-important-lessons-for-indie-artist.html   I’ll start this off by stating that it turns out Red Bull didn’t steal my music and did nothing illegal as I first thought. I’ll explain how it all happened in the following post and try and highlight more important lessons I’ve learned from all this.    After I wrote the post I started to share it as I still hadn’t heard anything from Red Bull about the issue and it actually spread much faster and further than I thought it ever would. Blogs like Groove Loves Melody helped spread it and then Reverbnation picked it up, tweeting it a few times and that’s when it really started moving.

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Red Bull stole my music! 3 important lessons for indie artists.

It was towards the end of a long, cold, 2 month tour around Europe promoting my new album, just about to head to Portugal to finish off and enjoy a bit of sun. I got an email from a fan in Switzerland saying something like “Hey, check out this video, it’s pretty cool but the best part is the music ;-)” 

I clicked the link and it lead me to a video on Eurosport/Yahoo Europe. The video was by Red Bull and was of a guy called Daniel Bodin doing an amazing 220ft jump on a snowmobile, from an Olympic ski ramp. The music behind it was my song “What Am I?” from my second album “The Rooftop Recordings.”

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