INDEPENDENCE - A Call To Action

Five Ways to Support Your Favorite Indie Artist

Oh how times have changed.  Eighteen years ago I walked away from the music industry because I thought membership was clearly not based on artistic talent, but rather who you rub noses with or whether you happen to be the lucky 1% to get "discovered". Back in my old days in New York, I produced many talented artists who I watched struggle, scrap and scrape to be seen or heard by the right person - people who had bad attitudes and no time for someone who wasn't a protegé of an already famous act.

Oh how times have changed.  Now-a-days musicians have the ability to share their music with music-lovers all around the world.  This has been made possible with the advent of many new technologies, but most notably being the internet and social networking which has allowed potential fans access to the music and the musicians access to potential fans.  Gone is the necessity for that snobby A&R guru or the business-only minded major label executive.

Welcome to the rise of the Independent Artist!  But the definition of being an "Indie Artist" has also changed.  It used to be that an Indie artist was an artist signed to an independent record label and that simply meant a label not part of a major record label conglomerate.   Now being an Indie artist mostly means that the ARTIST has paid out of pocket for recording, mixing, mastering, duplication, distribution, promotion, equipment, tours & travel expenses.  Whew... that was a mouthful!  In other words these days the Indie artist is doing more than just sharing their gems with the world, they're financing the entire project mostly for the love of their craft.

So you're asking... "how can I help?" Well I'm happy you asked, so here are five easy ways you can help an Independent Recording Artist whose music you enjoy:

1. Buy their music.  OK  $0.99 cents is not a lot of money.  $9 bucks, $15 bucks... you spend this on a danish and coffee at Starbucks.  Remember producing the music wasn't free.  The artist paid for the recording production and duplication.  If you like the work... buy it! This helps the artist recoup costs and record another great album of music.

2. Comment on their Website or Social Network.  This takes no time to do but means the world to the artist and here's why.  Word of mouth is the biggest form of marketing to an Indie artist.  Also this artist is probably trying to get the attention of magazine editors, venue owners, radio programmers and entertainment bloggers.  When these folks visit an artist website or social site and see great comments, they get excited about the artist as well.  This means more promotion which gets your Indie artist off the block and into more homes and MP3 players.

3. Join their street team.  OK so you know the Indie artist personally and like the person, but you're not into their particular brand of music... I get it!   However, you probably know five people who are into it.  Spread the word.   Send an email blast to those music lovers or ask the artist for promo cards to hand out to these potential fans.  You never know... the music you share with folks you know may change their life.  They would be forever grateful to you.

4. See them perform.  If you know your favorite Indie artist or band is performing at the neighborhood hot spot,  go and enjoy the night out.  Bring a friend.

5. Don't just do nothing.  So you're a fan or a friend or a follower, but what does that mean to you?  I can tell you it means the world to the artist.  However a pat on the back is great, but if you really enjoy the music or the artist, take any of the extra four steps above and you would be the Rock Star to your Indie artist!