How Independent Artists Can Achieve Success in the Music Industry

By Li ZhangUpdated on February 15, 2023

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The landscape is forever changing and the competition for ears is highly competitive. Over 60,000 releases go up onto Spotify each day, that’s 1 a second if you do the math - you have to be smart as well as super talented. Do not fear, as we are here to help you succeed, let’s dive in and cover all aspects of a career and tips and advice on how to navigate the industry and be successful.

This is what we will cover:

-You are a brand, an entrepreneur, a business - deal with it!
-Good songs win every time!
-Releasing your music.
-Promoting your music.
-Music licensing and representation.
-Building a fanbase & super fans.

To be a successful music artist in the digital world, it is important to have a strong online presence. This means having an active website and social media accounts, as well as engaging with fans and potential fans on these platforms.

Additionally, it is important to create and share quality content, such as music videos and other visuals, to draw attention to your music. It is also important to make sure your music is available on the most popular streaming platforms and music stores. This will make it easier for listeners to find and purchase your music, increasing your chances of success.

Finally, it is important to network with other artists and industry professionals. This can help you to get your music heard by more people, as well as gain valuable insights into the industry.

You are a brand, an entrepreneur, and a business

As a musician, it is important to establish yourself as a brand, entrepreneur, and business. This is done by creating a comprehensive and professional online presence. This includes cultivating strong social media accounts, and video channels and potentially creating your own website - even a blog. Additionally, it is important to create and maintain relationships with industry professionals, such as promoters, booking agents, and record labels. Here are a few tips for managing yourself as a business, not just an artist.

1. Develop a strong personal brand:
Your personal brand is an important part of your success as a musician. Take the time to develop your brand and create an image that resonates with your target audience. This can include creating a website, utilising social media, incorporating professional images of yourself, and regularly engaging with fans.

2. Create a business plan:
A business plan is essential for any successful business, including a musician's. Take the time to create a comprehensive plan that outlines your goals, strategies, and objectives.

3. Network:
Networking is essential for any business, and it's especially important for musicians. Make sure to attend industry events and connect with other musicians, producers, promoters, and other industry professionals.

4. Use the right tools:
There are a variety of tools available to help manage your business as a musician. Invest in the right software and services to help you stay organized and productive.

5. Stay organized:
Organization is key to running a successful business. Make sure to keep track of your finances, schedule, releases, gigs, merchandise strategy and other important information.

6. Invest in marketing:
Investing in marketing is essential for any business, and it's especially important for musicians. Take the time to create a marketing plan and use the right strategies to promote your music.

7. Stay focused:
As a musician, it can be easy to get distracted. As important as it is to get creative and do what you love if you don't have your eyes on the goal, your music will never get where you want it to be. Make sure to stay focused on your goals and don't let yourself get sidetracked.

Good songs win every time

You can spend thousands of dollars of studio time and audio engineering on your track - but if the song itself is poorly constructed with poor lyrics, no amount of money will make it do well. Writing strong songs with good structure and strong lyrics is essential for any musician or songwriter. A strong song is one that can stand out from the crowd and has a catchy hook and memorable chorus. Good structure helps the listener understand the song, and strong lyrics can help convey the message of the song. Add that to the perfect beat and you’re on to a winner.

Here are 3 tips to consider:

Start with a Concept or Idea
Before you begin writing your song, take some time to think about what you want to write about. Consider what kind of story or message you want to convey and decide on the overall theme or concept of your song.

Find a catchy hook
A catchy hook is the foundation of any good song. It could be a line you can build a chorus around or the perfect temp you have in mind that can lead the cadence of your track. Start by brainstorming a few different ideas for your hook, and then work on developing a melody and rhythm around it.

Write memorable verses
A good verse in a song is essential for creating a memorable and meaningful experience for the listener. When crafting your lyrics, consider the rhythm and flow of the words and how they fit together and don’t be afraid to make mistakes and experiment with different words and phrases.

Make sure the verse is connected to the chorus and the rest of the song and always read your lyrics out loud to make sure they sound good. When you are satisfied with your verse, have someone else listen to it and give you feedback, then revise and refine your lyrics until you are happy with them.

Make sure the chorus has a memorable melody

The chorus should be easy to remember and catchy. Try to use a simple and repetitive melody that is easy to sing along to.

Once your song is perfectly constructed, then you can think about recording, mixing and mastering.

Releasing and promoting your music

Releasing your own music is an exciting process, but it can be overwhelming. The key is to create a music promotion plan and follow it step-by-step.

Step 1: Start to Build Some Hype
Once your music is finished, it’s time to start promoting it on your social media accounts, website, blog or video channels and - if you have one - an email list. You can also reach out to influencers in your genre, radio stations, and music blogs to get the word out about your music.

Step 2: Secure Distribution
Once you’ve started to build some buzz for your music, it’s time to secure your music distribution. You’ll need to decide how you want to distribute your music, whether it’s through a digital music distributor, a physical distributor, or a combination of both. You’ll also need to decide which platforms you want to use, such as iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon.

Step 3: Create a Release Strategy
Now that you’ve secured distribution, it’s time to create a release strategy. This involves deciding when and how to release your music, as well as how to promote it. You’ll need to think carefully about the timing of your release, as well as which platforms to use. You can use this strategy to calculate things like supporting merchandise, pre-save campaigns and more.

Step 4: Start a Promotion Campaign
A targeted music promotion campaign is the best way to get your music out into the stratosphere. You can tailor your campaigns to the platforms your demographic uses most, anything from Spotify Promotion, Radio Promotion, and TikTok Promotion, all of which can be supported by Music PR and press promotion and all of these can be boosted with a healthy social media promotion campaign.

Step 5: Monitor Your Progress
Once your music is released, it’s important to monitor your progress. This includes tracking your sales, streaming numbers, and social media engagement. You can use tools such as Google Analytics and SoundScan to do this.

Step 6: Engage Your Fans
Now that your music is out, it’s important to engage your fans. This involves responding to comments and messages, as well as creating content for your fans. You can also reach out to influencers in your genre to get the word out about your music.

Step 7: Adjust Your Strategy
Finally, it’s important to adjust your strategy as needed. This involves analyzing your data and making changes to your release strategy and promotion efforts. You may need to adjust your timing, platforms, or even your music.

Music licensing and representation

Music licensing is an important part of the music industry, as it allows music creators to be compensated for their work and allows users to legally use music in their projects. Music licensing can be a complex process and can involve multiple parties, such as record labels, publishers, and performing rights organizations.

Sync licensing is a form of music licensing that grants the right to use a piece of music in a media production such as a film, television show, video game, commercial, or advertisement. The best strategy for an artist to get full coverage and thus maximum potential for success is to utilise every tool in the music industry - and this most certainly includes entering the sync licensing arena.

Having your music present on sync libraries gives you the opportunity for your music to be picked by the music supervisors looking for the hottest sound for the latest Film, TV and Game productions - and that can be a real game changer in terms of revenue.

Building a fanbase & super fans

Creating quality content is the best way to build a fanbase. Content can include blog posts, videos, podcasts, sharing your music and playlists and more. It should be engaging, informative, and tailored to your target audience on the right platforms. This will help to attract people to your brand and give them a reason to keep coming back. Consistency is key! You need to keep your audience engaged and invested in your journey.

But most of all - creating quality music is the foundation of building a fanbase as a musician and will attract more listeners and make them more likely to become fans.

Now get out there and get started!

Li Zhang

Justin Sabrina has over 10 years of content writing experience. She specializes in product reviews, how-to guides, tips and tricks, top lists, etc. on data encryption, multi-media conversion, screen recording and iOS unlocking. At UkeySoft, she performs in-depth research SEO copywriting and collaborates with our R & D team to offer effective software solution, most of her articles on software are helpful and easy to read, helping our reader easily solve problems through using software or apps.

Li Zhang

Li Zhang is a sophisticated editor for UkeySoft in tech blog writing, as well as a SEO and content marketing expert. She has been writing related article about multimedia conversion, streaming music and streaming video since 2018. Also, she's starting to write article about data security, including articles about file lock, USB encryption, DVD encryption, etc. Each helpful tutorial and solution is based on her practical tests, she is aways energetic and trustworthy in this field.

Li Zhang

Chester is an experienced editor for UkeySoft focused on tech article writing, software & hardware produce review and tutorial. He specializes in composing posts about music conversion, video downloading, video conversion, screen recording and other tech knowledge tips. He always understands user needs and pain points and familiar with all kinds of multimedia conversion software and streaming music downloader on the market. So far, he has published 400+ helpful tech articles of software reviews, how-to guides to help reader in need.

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