We live in an age of outrageous opportunity for creative work where the historical barriers between an artist and their potential audience have been torn down, leaving them free to create incredible works of beauty and imagination that can then be instantly shared with the connected world.

Making the most out of that opportunity can be a hard journey and making a living even harder. When we meet up with artists to try and help them make sense of it all, this is some of what suggest.....

IndieLab Manifesto

For Independent Musicians

  • Do you really want to do this? A career in the music industry is bloody hard work and success is the exception, not the norm. The experience will be more fun than working at Tescos, but at times only marginally.
  • Forget the major label dream, unless you’re easily exploitable then the chances are that they will ignore you or worst, sign & abuse you. The major labels are brilliant marketing machines for mainstream pop music but unless you are the next Justin Beiber or have recently won Pop Idol then give it a miss.
  • There are some incredibly passionate business savvy people running great independent labels, there are also a lot of chocolate tea pots. Discerning the difference is not easy.
  • "The biggest asset an artist has is their audience"
  • Who needs a label? All the tools are available to DIY but it does mean a lot more work. If you go it alone you will have to be not just an artist but an artistic entrepreneur - which looks great on your passport but is less fun than it sounds.
  • The key to working independently is your ‘team’, this should eventually include (in no particular order) a trustworthy and hard working manager, an excellent music industry lawyer, a web geek, a connected PR person & lots of supportive friends.
  • “Be nice to people, it makes them want to help you.“
  • If you manage yourself you have to think like a business. We know that’s really boring and against the whole artistic freedom thing but it’s the unfortunate truth. This means that compromises have to be made, we know that the month in the vintage equipped studio is really integral to the vision of the album but considering that your last record grossed £500 can you really afford it?
  • "Artists shouldn’t just be thinking about creating singles, EPs & albums. They should be thinking about creating Internet content" Andrew Dubber
  • Despite the planted PR stories, making music costs money. If a label isn’t investing in you then who is? Who’s paying the rent?
  • Social media is about having a conversation and building a relationship with your fans. It’s not about shouting at them. One-way conversations #fail.
  • Budget for promotion – it’s vital. Don’t spend all the money on making a record that no body knows about.
  • “Try out ideas; if they don’t work then think of some other ideas. Fail quickly and inexpensively then move on.“

It’s all about the ‘Team'

You need people to help you record, distribute, promote and sell your music. Luckily the web is packed full people of people offering to help you for little or no charge. Assembling the right team is the key to any success story, get these guys on board.
  • If you want a homepage but don't have a web geek then get a OneSheet.com
  • Blogging is a great way to generate content for your fans. If you want something simple, easy to use and nice to look at then go to Tumblr , Posterous or our personal favoriate Wordpress
  • Bandpages Bandpages provide easy ways to create fantastic looking Facebook pages. With Fan Pages this good and all of the interaction possible on Facebook, do you even need a separate website?
  • If you want to be on Twitter, Hootsuite& TweetDeck are great tools for managing your account. You don’t have to document your entire life, just be part of the conversation.
  • Your music should be on iTunes because that’s where a lot of people buy music, the nice people at Tunecore, Zimblam, Orchard, EmuBands, DittoMusic can help you get it there. Find out who offers the best deal for your situation.
  • You want to sell your directly to your fans because that way you make more money. Bandcamp is a brilliant site for selling and streaming your music online, you can embed their players on your social media pages and set up unique download codes for emails or download cards. They are the bomb!
  • TopSpinMedia also have some great tools to sell your music, merchandise & promote it via email widgets. It’s not as cheap as other options but your web geek will love it.
  • SoundCloud is fast becoming the ubiquitous way of streaming your music online and on social media sites. Sharing your music via their ‘share via Facebook’ widget players allow you to drop music straight into your fans news feeds. Reviewers & bloggers much prefer Soundcloud links to huge emails stuffed full of mp3s.
  • DropCards are a really nice way of selling downloads at shows and you don’t have the huge initial cost of production like you do with CDs. They keep costs down but still allow fans to make post-gig impulse purchases. An even cheaper way to create download cards is by using MooCards with Bandcamp Download codes.
  • Building your email list is really great but as important is building up your Facebook fans and Twitter followers. People will be more engaged with social media meaning they are more likely to follow your news and be a part of the conversation.
  • SentricMusic should be in your team. Sign up to the publishing arm to claim your PRS royalties & get some great media placement opportunities. Read Simon’s Blog & download his Podcast.
  • MusicThinkTank is at the bleeding edge of the independent music industry; keep up with what they’re thinking.
  • If Steve Lawson can make a living out of making hour long solo bass albums then there’s hope for all of us.
  • BTW. You really need to go to Unconvention