The DIY Producer/Artist and Viability

[amanise]

Hi All
Looking for discussion of the idea of the DIY Artist/Producer thing and interested in any opinions/experiences whatsoever. I find myself in the position of really having the only obvious outlet for my 'work' (term used lightly) being via CDBaby.com. Like many of us now, being 'of a certain age' and never having been sufficiently photogenic - I never managed a successful music career with a label or anything. So when the options for home producing came along, that became a ray of hope. Sound familiar? Yes, I was one of those people waiting in the middle of the night for Spotify to go live and was amazed to get on so easily. Then I came across the early CDBaby, which I thought was amazing, I should add. Now, I'm still using it, There's about 2 hours of audio on there by me (yaaay - go me!) and I think I still get the same fee per stream as the big boys and girls. Quite flattering, but no streams. I am, however available on just about every streaming platform there appears to be and the list keeps growing. But no streams. Is this familiar? Is there a remedy? It's not a gripe - I just don't quite know what to try next.
Cheers All
Adrian

[Drew Stephenson]

Hi Adrian,
I think quite a few of us are in a similar situation with a similar set of challenges. There are some good ideas and suggestions in this thread: https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/view ... hp?t=84665

[Wonks]

You've got over 11 million artists on Spotify alone. Add on YouTube, TikTok, Instragram etc. and you've probably got at least 20 million artists and bands on the various streaming platforms, all looking for an audience. Once you're big, your work tends to self-promote, but even then you can't be complacent.

Just because you made some music doesn't meany people are going to be actively seeking you out, and they certainly won't if they don't know you exist.

To get anywhere, you need great music, great promotion abilities and something that differentiates you from the crowd. If you aren't 100% committed to pushing yourself, then do it as a hobby for your own enjoyment and just take what comes.

[RichardT]

It all depends what level of streams you are looking for.

Apparently 15,000 independent artists generated > $10k in Spotify revenue in 2022. That’s roughly 3,000,000 streams a year.

That’s a very small proportion of all independent artists who have released on Spotify.

To do that you need

- great music
- regular releases (roughly monthly)
- promotion
- a social media presence.
- luck

Depending on your genre you may need an image as well, but that’s not true by any means of all genres.

For testing the waters on promotion, I recommend Submithub. I think it’s the best of its kind.

[amanise]

Hi Adrian,
I think quite a few of us are in a similar situation with a similar set of challenges. There are some good ideas and suggestions in this thread: https://www.soundonsound.com/forum/view ... hp?t=84665

Thanks Drew - that's now on the list to wade through. It does look like a common issue. I wonder if being a creative musician and self promotion expert are almost mutually exclusive? There seem to be a lot of people like me who are creative in an artistic sense - but flounder at pushing it once its 'finished'. I'm the worlds worst at self aggrandizement.

[amanise]

You've got over 11 million artists on Spotify alone. Add on YouTube, TikTok, Instragram etc. and you've probably got at least 20 million artists and bands on the various streaming platforms, all looking for an audience. Once you're big, your work tends to self-promote, but even then you can't be complacent.

Just because you made some music doesn't meany people are going to be actively seeking you out, and they certainly won't if they don't know you exist.

To get anywhere, you need great music, great promotion abilities and something that differentiates you from the crowd. If you aren't 100% committed to pushing yourself, then do it as a hobby for your own enjoyment and just take what comes.

Completely agree. The ability to compose and create would appear, even, to be something which the majority of people have in them - rather than some mystically gifted few we thought it was before the advent of the computer age and Internet. Most of it that I've heard seems pretty good too. I am, in effect, doing what you suggest - i.e. the hobbyist. I'm happy with that really - but the driver to have it heard never quite goes away. I do enjoy wading though the streaming activity reports to see where it has been downloaded though. Does that make me mentally unstable? Also - I wonder what's going to happen when I need new studio gear if no money ever comes in. I guess that's when its time to finally get into a new hobby. I'm also always doing new music. To promote it I'd have to stop and do that much less rewarding activity. Yak. I guess obscurity is my thing.

[amanise]

It all depends what level of streams you are looking for.

Apparently 15,000 independent artists generated > $10k in Spotify revenue in 2022. That’s roughly 3,000,000 streams a year.

That’s a very small proportion of all independent artists who have released on Spotify.

To do that you need

- great music
- regular releases (roughly monthly)
- promotion
- a social media presence.
- luck

Depending on your genre you may need an image as well, but that’s not true by any means of all genres.

For testing the waters on promotion, I recommend Submithub. I think it’s the best of its kind.

Thats a great lead - thanks very much. Will definitely check that out.

[Wonks]

I don't blame you for wanting to get your music heard at all. You might try teaming up with someone who likes your music and is happy to have a go at the promotion side of things, and also push you to do some yourself.

Is this all home-studio stuff, or do you do gig at all with your work?

[Drew Stephenson]

Yak. I guess obscurity is my thing.

As the old adage goes, "If at first you don't succeed, maybe failure's more your style."

More seriously though, Richard T's suggestions are definitely worth following up on, especially if you don't have a live presence.

[amanise]

I don't blame you for wanting to get your music heard at all. You might try teaming up with someone who likes your music and is happy to have a go at the promotion side of things, and also push you to do some yourself.

Is this all home-studio stuff, or do you do gig at all with your work?

Its all home studio work. It gigged a whole lot as a younger muzo, but prefer the studio process more now. I can control my exposure to high SPLs more easily. Teaming up with someone who likes doing the promo side sounds like a good idea. I need someone with boundless energy who never sleeps and hasn't become disillusioned yet....

[Stickman0_3]

When I started out, I had to build my way up. I did a couple of local newspapers, first with a phone call to see if they were interested in my story, and if they were, I was offered an interview, this then gave way to other things such as local radio, my tracks appearing on mixtapes, more internet opportunities, etc

I have webpages at -

Facebook
LinkedIn
Soundcloud
Mixposure
Reverbnation
Spotify

I'm going to say that it is hard work. As I don't gig and work by myself doing everything (my choice), I can be promoting my music online most of the time. Also, the recording of the music is the easy bit, promoting it needs 90% of your time.

There's no hard and fast rule of how to go about it. Just keep trying to find ways to promote your music. Of course, someone else would probably do things differently to me. I signed up to Ditto Music in 2007 as an outlet for my music and do everything else myself.

[amanise]

When I started out, I had to build my way up. I did a couple of local newspapers, first with a phone call to see if they were interested in my story, and if they were, I was offered an interview, this then gave way to other things such as local radio, my tracks appearing on mixtapes, more internet opportunities, etc

I have webpages at -

Facebook
LinkedIn
Soundcloud
Mixposure
Reverbnation
Spotify

I'm going to say that it is hard work. As I don't gig and work by myself doing everything (my choice), I can be promoting my music online most of the time. Also, the recording of the music is the easy bit, promoting it needs 90% of your time.

There's no hard and fast rule of how to go about it. Just keep trying to find ways to promote your music. Of course, someone else would probably do things differently to me. I signed up to Ditto Music in 2007 as an outlet for my music and do everything else myself.

Brilliant - thanks Stickman. I am the same - preferring to (try) and do everything myself. But then comes the dreaded promo. I will definitely check out Ditto Music. That's a new name for me. I wonder how many of these online promotion tools are there to milk hopeful people with loads of effort invested in a track, for a bit more money before closing the door though. How did I ever get this cynical? Oh me, oh my.

[Stickman0_3]

No problem, you're welcome.

[Drew Stephenson]

I will definitely check out Ditto Music. That's a new name for me.

I use Ditto for distribution, they charge an annual fee rather than a per-release fee (as CDbaby do?) so it's a case of choosing the one that best suits your planned approach.

[soundesigner]

I have started back in 2002 composing (if that's the term) my music (?) and having fun. Then wanted to share it with the world and see what happens. Prepared nice demo and sent to around 100 different labels around the world. Got few replies, and eventually started releasing albums as free mp3 on a US netlabel. But still wanted to do proper CD release, which finally I did on my own "label" and so far put out over 20 albums over the years, including CDs, two cassette tapes, two single releases and two tracks on two compilations. In the meantime I moved abroad (I am originally from Poland) and around 2011 started playing live shows and created my own ambient nights which I am still doing to this day (next gig is on Sunday btw if you happen to be in Edinburgh).
Long story short, I play music simply because I love this sh*t, and even dreamed about having a career or making some sort of full time living and doing just music, but at the moment it is what it is ...

[amanise]

So it looks like you maintain a good wide portfolio of activities. I notice that even the successfully self producing artists also seem to almost produce their own work as a sideline and will spend most of their working day producing for other people. Variety seems to be key to success!

[Spells]

I did bits of audio work for others over the years and after a couple of false starts doing solo stuff, I'm enjoying starting another new solo project. One thing I've noticed is talent and effort alone is nothing without promotion. You have to target listeners of similar styles of music... I'm only just now getting to grips with this myself but can sense an actual direction / roadmap, which is great.

Put some money aside for promotion. Get a couple of articles on the go and pay to target listeners of similar styles on Instagram and Facebook. It does work. It becomes a money game in the end.

[Stickman0_3]

Hi amanise

How are you getting on with promoting your music?

Stickman

[amanise]

Hi amanise

How are you getting on with promoting your music?

Stickman

Hi Stickman, it depends how you look at it

I've been giving SubmitHub a go - with pretty predictable results and I've put up a quiet SoundCloud page for sharing tracks in the 'Self Promotion' forum on here. That was great - I got some really quality feedback and was then able to redo the mix (in a small but transforming way) on my three new tracks I've done this year but not released yet. That whole exercise really helped and took quite a lot of energy because I am very reluctant to thin things out (like most muzo's I suspect).

I'm still about a million quid short of being a millionaire though (joking...)
The thing is - I hate doing the business bit - which is why I was NOT a success as a concert promoter! I'm currently toying with the idea of subscribing to the Unsigned Guide - but I think I'd be too old for anyone on there. It depends how willing I am to put myself through humiliation I suppose - still mulling it over.

So far I haven't been able to get any streaming of any older stuff I've done going - but I might have to write that off. It's all good fun!

Thanks for asking! When you have to describe it to someone you end up seeing that its not all stagnant after all

[Stickman0_3]

Well, just keep at it. Good luck.

[amanise]

Well, just keep at it. Good luck.

Thanks very much - I appreciate that
Good luck to you too Sir!
Adrian

[soundesigner]

So it looks like you maintain a good wide portfolio of activities. I notice that even the successfully self producing artists also seem to almost produce their own work as a sideline and will spend most of their working day producing for other people. Variety seems to be key to success!

I try to keep myself busy with music releases and playing gigs whenever I can. But it's a solo endeavour and I do not produce for anyone