Today I wanted to write an article about the music industry and what it’s really made of. In my opinion I think the entire music industry is based on connections. When I say that, I don’t mean the traditional sense of the word. Most musicians hear “connections” and automatically assume I’m talking about knowing people who are high up in the industry. But it doesn’t have to be that way and for independent artists it’s definitely not that way.
You don’t need any special players in your corner to exceed with your music and your music business. I think the biggest problem most people face is they think they can just keep coming out with music and they’ll end up getting “picked up” somewhere along the line. But how accurate is this? If putting out great music was enough, I think that the majority of good artists online would be signed by now. But with the expansion of the internet, we’ve seen a lot more artists coming up who are truly talented, yet less people seem to be getting signed.
So if putting out great music isn’t all it takes, then what exactly does it take? Well, first of all, obviously putting out good music (product) is going to make selling easier. There’s no doubt that your music should be as good and marketable as you can get it. But if you don’t have a business plan in place to make more money from your projects, then you simply may not ever find the results you’re looking for.
When I say the industry is based on connections, what I mean by that is you need to be networking with others. You’d be amazed how many musicians and producers who may not have a very big name actually have produced tracks for some of the most famous artists in the world. There’s no telling how many opportunities you may be passing by simply not working with others. Never be afraid to work with others and put in your efforts in a way that helps the overall group while still proving yourself as a useful member.
If possible you should be making these kinds of trades on a near daily basis. Do your best to always find new opportunities for trading your skills or adding to somebody’s campaigns with your own work. If you have something to offer, whether it be your music, web design skills, marketing skills or any other type of skill, just hone your skills and get them to a higher level of quality and then barter your way through the networking world.
Networking is the simple act of talking to others who have similar interests to you. Sometimes you can get a good idea of the kinds of skills which would be most useful to have for trade in your market by simply going around to individuals of all types in the music industry and simply asking them what their biggest problems are. You may find that you can first-hand help with many of the problems musicians or labels are facing. Nearly half of all record sales are made through independent record labels now, so there’s no reason on Earth that you can’t get a hold of some of these people and simply network.
I hope this helps. Be sure to check out our new supply of beats over on our home page and purchase beats when you can.