10 Essential Tips for Independent Artists

A Guide to Musical Success

In this blog I will go over the 10 essential tips for Independent artists to be successful. We all know how hard it is to produce beats, write bars, post on insta, work full time and promote your music with the time available. Over this last year I have been networking and have built together a dedicated team of rappers, singers, artists, marketing gurus, graphic designers, bloggers, music connections, distribution channels, videographers to help independent artist get to a place where you can make a living from your music skills! Here are my top ten essentials:

1. SOCIAL MEDIA

Today the world is yours for the taking with social media readily available for everyone. The key to utilising these marketing platforms ensure that you have a clear view of your goal. Remember that its a numbers games, the % of interaction is roughly 10%, If you have a lot off followers or subscribers who are not interacting with likes, shares or comments there is not much point as there will be less chance of monetizing as your client base will be smaller. Read more in the ebook Download Now!

2. BRANDING IS EVERYTHING 

Think about making a good first impression, if you have clear, concise and unique branding you will be able to grow your reach faster and create a much more robust brand reputation. Keep it simple, the most effective branding is very clean and minimal, think of Apple moving from coloured Apple to a grey symbol. Companies are represented by the small square of a App box so all you need to say should be shown in this small image. Ensure that the branding is uniform across all platforms, this is more professional and will allow you to increase your prices to make more money. 

3. OVER POST AND ALWAYS OVER PROMOTE

This is easy! Be completely shameless and always shout, scream, rave about your product! this should be a regular habit in your marketing schedule the more your promote the further you will get in your exposure and you are more likely to get sales. 

4. COLLABORATE WITH OTHER INDEPENDENT ARTIST

Music is a universal experience, gone are the times of turf wars and crew battles this is the age of Independent Artist collaborations! There are many super groups that are formed throughout the years, LSD (Labyrinth, Sia and Diplo) and Kids See Ghosts (Kanye West and Kid Cudi) creating amazing music thought the power of collaboration. One of the great things about being independent is the freedom to move into which ever project you want, take advantage of this and don't be afraid to speak up to gain the best fusion!

5. UTILIZE YOUR DATA

Don't be cocky and assume that you can make a snap judgement on trends occurring on your social media. Be Smart and analyse all the data available to you and implement this into your marketing strategy straight away. While in the thick of social media growth I would analyse every week and adjust.

6. KNOW YOUR CONTRACTS

If you want to be legit, you can be, always have the upper hand and read every sentence in a contract before you sign. If you have any misunderstandings once you have singed its hard to plead any ignorance and the stress just isn't worth it. Download the Ebook now for more Advise!

7. MONETISE YOUR SKILLS

If you have a knack for crafts, reviews, writings, painting whatever it is make sure that you are able to do it to a professional standard. This way you will excel a skill you enjoy and can even develop new skills that your enjoy and can monetise. It may take you a little while to figure our which skilled you can use but always keep and open mind. 

8. WWW. WHATISYOURWEBSITE?

GET A WEBSITE ASAP! This is your store front, imagine a shop with no windows or inviting advertising, this is your business without a website, no one will see where you are or what you do unless you have a Digital Shop Front! You can create one page websites yourself with ease and website builders. Allocate enough time to work on your website, use this as a hub for Music Streaming and social media links to your work or product. 

9. BUILD GLOBALLY AND LOCALLY 

Ok so now you have over 10k followers you have a100 people visiting your website weekly but the most important support are those closest to you. Don't forget to rally the local community around you for honest feedback and review and a primary fan base and clientele who you can build a much stronger rapour face to face.

10. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER 

And lastly, most importantly, keep your mind open to the knowledge still to be learnt. Everyday try to make it your task to learn something new about your industry or compellers to ensure that you stay ahead of the pack. Share the knowledge you have learnt with others to again improve your own skills and strengthen your mastering of the skill. 

With these 10 essential tips you should be able to release music and start to get some exposure. Il see you in the next blog post!

Stay Blessed, 

Nila