We live in a time where musicians have everything they need to be successful all in fingers reach, yet many artists still don’t understand exactly why artists are steering away from labels more and more. With these few topics, artists are able to understand why you don’t need a record label to be successful in today’s music industry.
Recording Your Own Music
“I think recording at home feels more organic and injects more personality into the music” - Mac Demarco
Artists have been moving more and more into the direction of home recordings and home studios. For example, The White Stripes, Radiohead, Bon Iver and Mac Demarco have all made great home recorded albums without a big budget. With technology advancing every day, great sounding gear is not out of reach and is becoming easier and easier for everyone to get. All you really need these days is a laptop, an interface, a DAW and a few mics and cables to start recording your album at home.
Releasing Your Own Album
Based on a 2016 Nielsen study, music streaming saw a “76% increase in on-demand audio streams” in 2016 and is expected to keep growing. Streaming services such as Spotify, Itunes, Soundcloud and even DatPiff are only a few of the most well-known platforms that help artists get their music out to audiences all around the world. Chance the Rapper, for example, has only put his music up for free download and on streaming platforms and is now headlining just about every major music festival this year.
You might be wondering, how do I get on those streaming sites while being an independent artist? Distribution companies such as ours at Symphonic Distribution allow artists the chance to have their music on all major streaming services while maintaining all royalties!
Promoting Yourself
There are plenty of artists, people, and businesses that have made their name known across the world, solely through the use of social media. The best way to self -promote is by staying up to date with all the latest trends and staying consistent on social media. Making Facebook live events at shows or rehearsals, Snapchat stories and staying visual on Instagram will help you better brand yourself. With the average person using social media more and more to get their news or staying up to date with what’s going on in the world, it is important for artists to get on social media and self-promote themselves.
Whether it’s social media promotion, recording or releasing your own music, are some of the main reasons why you don’t need a record label to be successful.