…..Time, energy and money into your brand. This is a follow up to my previous post, “FYI DIY”, which I encouraged music artists to do it themselves. I didn’t say that to stir up a revolt against the record industry. I didn’t say that ONLY because unlimited resources are available for them to do it themselves. Being a music futurist, I made the suggestion analyzing two different scenarios that may affect the music industry.
Scenario #1) The market is OVER saturated and record labels are UNDER pressure financially to stay afloat causing them to take precaution as to who they decide to invest in. Where does this leave you? Well, if you’re amongst the million and one artists competing for this deal, what do you have to show for yourself? When investors ask you what can you bring to the table and why should we invest in you and your response is “I’m HOT!” and you pass them your demo; Is that seriously going to get you a deal?
Taking into account what I professed in the “FYI DIY” article, what if you in the door saying, “I have an established web presence and fan base. Here are my stats to show the amount of traffic I receive to my website. Here are the stats to show how many people subscribe to my RSS feed. Here are my stats to show how many people have downloaded my single. I can be a great asset to your company because I’ve invested "X" amount of dollars into my brand and here are financial statements showing how much I’ve earned in profits from the work my street team and I have put in.
With this approach, a record label is more prone to sign you because you not only believe in yourself, but you’ve taken the time to build you brand using the tools available to you.
Scenario #2) The power to decide is shifting to the hands of the people when it comes to how music is perceived, purchased and distributed. With this in mind, I pose this question; will there be a record label in the future? I’m pretty sure they will be around, but it won’t be in the same form you see it today.
I’ll give this example to better explain my point. In the 20th century, we were taught to establish a career with a company and invest in Social Security and Pension Plans. In the 21st century, establishing a career, let alone finding means of employment is a challenge. Social Security? Pension Plans? The media is stating that money will not be available in the future. So what do we do? Change the way we approach the situation. Establish and create your own career and financial success.
With that said, take control of your career and make the best of your current situation. It doesn’t take a lot of money to begin building a presence on or offline. Utilize the resources available to you to get a jump start. Become more INDEPENDENT and LESS DEPENDENT on someone doing everything for you. If that option isn’t available in the future, don’t be the artist that’s scrambling to find ground in a fast-paced, virtual and foreign environment.
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