Every human has been given the taste of music and its serene feel right from their childhood days. Some kids grow up with an urge to learn about music and create more of them. And the ones  who are passionate about learning music will keep cherishing the creations of the best independent musicians that the world has. 

There are many big national and international musicians who have earned their names across the globe independently. Some top names for you to relate to are Russ, Macklemore, BTS, Trippie Redd, and many more. 

People take inspiration from these artists and embark on the path of making a career out of music. All an aspiring artist needs to do is dedicate his/her life to music. 

Learning just the technicalities of music is not something that would help you be a proficient independent musician. You need to accept music as your destiny right from the soul. No music classes can help you if you are not passionate about learning and creating satisfying rhythms for your audience. 

All you need to do is learn, practice, and remember the lessons forever. There is no limitation or course period of learning music. This article is the motivation for all the independent artists out there to make them believe that success is on the way. In addition, this article will also educate you on the evident ways you can grow as an independent musician. 

Who is an Independent Musician? Why are they Called So?

Independent music is also represented as Indie music, and the creators are termed Indie musicians. When someone produces music independently without the tag of any commercial record labels, the output is called indie music, while the creator will be given the title of an independent musician. 

In this approach, the process of trending music remains autonomous, as the recording and publishing aspects are attended by the musician. 

It needs a lot of struggle, hardwork, patience, and dedication to rank your music above the big labels competing against one another. Setting the internet on fire with just one big hit drop is the dream of every independent music artist. 

To help you get a glimpse at how the world is responding to the indie music artists, you should know that in 2018, all of the collective indie artists generated revenue of around $643.1 million. 

But the sad part is that 70% of all indie artists who depend on streaming revenues must produce around 3,000,000 streams to generate an overall revenue of $12,000. 

Over time, many independent artists get signed by some commercial labels and get contract money for the songs they produce. It takes their independent title, and the songs they write becomes the copyright of the label they signed a contract. 

Many musicians who start as indie artists have a dream to sign some label and be financially free. While there are artists who want to live and grow independently by keeping their song rights with them only. It becomes a personal choice once you earn a reputation and name in the industry. 

Ways to Attain Success and Grow as an Independent Musician

Let’s skip to the part where you have fulfilled your passion for music and are using your talent and teachings in the right direction of being an independent musician. Now, you have started your journey with a few music video drops with low-budget shooting and editing. 

The first few videos might not get the response you need because you will eventually be unaware of how much you should promote them over social platforms. The next question in your mind will be, How to grow as an Independent Musician in India? How to be successful in this career path? 

Here are some of the ways, as suggested by professional artists, for indie musicians to grow and thrive in their careers:

1. Keep Writing. Don’t Stop. Keep Writing

It doesn’t matter if you have already released a few of your songs that are trending on the chart or are just starting, you should always keep writing your ideas out. You need to build a collection of materials with fresh ideas to help you be ready for any trend sets. 

Give sufficient time to your creations and critique your music before the audience does that. If you feel stuck at one point in the song that you are currently writing, just pause it and move on to the next one. 

Do not discard any of the songs you have written, whether complete or incomplete. Even if it is just one line out of a fresh idea, it will be used someday in some song to fit the context. No idea is ever a waste! So, make sure you keep this in mind. 

Keep the recorder on when you are humming and writing the song. It is to ensure that your idea doesn’t get lost in the wind when you return to the text lyrics. There is no need to worry about being polished with your sound or voice while writing the songs. Just record it for the reference and mental callbacks to the moment. 

Listen to the demo once it is recorded, and then just think of how good it would sound when done with the polishing. The more songs you have, the readier you will feel like an independent artist. 

Imagine one of your songs just went trending, and the audience is demanding more. They are dropping comments for you to release the second part of a continuity song and think of the fact that you don’t have it ready. 

As an independent artist, you should know that the audience has a very small attention span, especially for the new musicians. If they like something and are expecting a response, then you should be ready to give them, at least when starting your career. 

Over time, when you earn your name and reputation, people will be bound to wait for your mind-blasting creation. But till then, be ready for consecutive hit drops on demand. 

2. Don’t Stop Practicing

If you are creating good music, then the taste of success will come to you sooner or later. But don’t let it carry you away from where you started. Do not leave the habit of regular practicing. You might be proficient in your ability, but focusing on core practice will help you experiment with a new thing and correct the possible flaws. 

If you are an independent band, coming together in one room and practicing together in sync would keep your skills balanced and on track. Missing out on one or other members on every practice day will break the rhythm and sync. As a result, the final product will suffer. 

As an individual artist, you need to experiment with the strengths, weaknesses, body language, and style that you can pursue. Practice different genres and try to find out more of your strong zones. If you find yourself weak in specific areas, focus your practice on improving and perfecting it. 

3. Find Some Open Mic Gigs

Few people will be aware of your name, music, and style when you have just started as an independent musician. Try to expand it with additional efforts, rather than just waiting for the streaming platforms to do it. 

Go to cafés, restaurants, open mic shows, public events, and others to showcase your music skills. Draw the attention of the crowd or group of people and give them a free taste of your music. Let them see, hear, feel, and remember you. 

Start finding gigs only when you are ready with your songs and ample practice. When you are in sync with the song in your head, do some gigging out in public. There are many cafes out there that give out opportunities to independent creators and artists to showcase their skills. 

Every gig matters! Some might even pay you a nominal amount, while some might be for free. But give your best to each of them because you don’t know someone might just come to you from the crowd and give you an opportunity. 

Even beyond that, you should respect what you do, and irrespective of what you get in return, you should fulfill your passion. Moreover, these gigs will build your confidence and get you more followers and subscribers. 

4. Create a Good Impression

Be humble and generous with everyone you perform or collaborate with. As an independent artist, your networking and the connection-building game should be excellent. Every connection you make in this industry might lead you to something big. 

You need to get out there in the music events and talk with every professional whenever you get a chance. Be courteous to the people of this industry, as they would like to work more often with approachable artists, and music style can be their second preference. 

If you are being rude or are approaching with too much overconfidence after a few of your hits, then the doors of opportunities will close for you very soon. You must avoid being uncooperative and keep yourself in a stronger position to take on future jobs. 

5. Promote over Social Media

Social Media is a powerful mode to promote almost any content you want. So, independent artists can use it to their benefit and promote their new videos or music albums amongst their followers. Proper promotions will eventually improve your profile as a musician. 

You can use the platform to share the music and connect directly with your followers or direct them to the platform where you have launched the new music. Whenever you are promoting your songs over the social media platforms, you need to keep in mind a few the important tips:

1. Don’t spam your followers with multiple promotional posts. Set a time and order of posting the promotional contents. If you invite people to follow your social media page and check your new music, personalize the invitation first. If they don’t respond, do not repeatedly send emails and messages to the person, it is negative spamming and will hamper your reputation. 
2. Maintain the engagement rate in your posts so that the followers can react with something to them. You can give the trending beat of your song to the post and draw the attention of your audience. Add pictures, polls, videos, and other such things to make things more engaging. 
3. Sponsor the posts to make them more visible to the larger audience group. Paying for some of the posts to get featured on the feeds of people is a strategic way of promoting valuable content. If your music and post have the potential, then they will draw the attention of many music lovers. 

6. Drop your Music in Trending Platforms

The internet is very grateful to the content creators today. Every type of content and skill can be displayed over the internet to get a deserving response. For independent musicians, it is like heaven today, where it is easy to get people to listen to your piece of art. 

You can upload your finished and finalized music over platforms such as Spotify, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, YouTube, or others. With the right promotion, people will listen to your music in an instant. But as uploading music is easy now, many rookie and beginner artists also put up unfinished and unpolished songs on the platform. 

The platforms get flooded with new music every day. Many dedicated creators also upload their music and wait to get a deserving response. You need to spend some money, time, and effort to go beyond social media and promote your songs to get them heard. 

Get some hits first, save some money, and then you can increase your promotion budget! 

Parting Words

So, if you had the dream of being an independent musician, now is the time to buckle up and get going with your writings, lessons, and practice sessions. It is never late to fulfill your passion! So, when it is to music, you are always young to add rhythm to words and give out a soothing feel to the ears. 

Try out the ways specified above to get good results in terms of earnings and opportunities. Make sure you are not just stuck with online releases, but go and be part of small and big shows to market yourself and be eventually successful.