As the music industry continues to
change and technology continues to grow, more and more artists are staying
independent. You may wonder why an
artist would want to stay independent instead of signing a record deal. As an independent artist I will say that it
is nice being the only person in control of my music. In a record deal the artist loses all of the
power, while the record label executives, publishers, and distributors become
the ones with all of the power. The
artist will also loose a great deal of profit from his/her own music.
Yes, there are artist who make
millions of dollars every year because they have a record deal with a major
label. However, imagine how much these
artists would make if they owned the rights to their music and were able to
keep the majority of the profits. For
the artist that would prefer to chase their dreams alone there are many routes
they can take. Today I will be focusing
on publishing and distribution. It has
become much easier for an independent artist to publish and distribute their
own music while maintaining the copyrights.
Print On Demand companies have
become a new music industry trend for independent artists. According to (Renegade Producer, 2016), “Independent music distribution and the
self-distribution model offers you a way to make your own music available to
potential fans without handing over the rights to your music to a record
label.” What is the easiest way for an
independent artist to publish and distribute their music to potential
fans? Print on demand companies such as
CD Baby and Tunecore are a great tool for independent artists looking to sell
their music. With sites like these the
artist maintains control over the rights and is only required to pay a low
registration fee and very small commissions.
For example, with CD Baby you can register an album for $89 and CD Baby
will basically do the majority of the work from there. They will affiliate you as an artist with the
performing rights organizations along with registering your songs with the PRO’s
so that you can receive royalties from the use of your music. They will also distribute your music for you
physically and digitally worldwide to help maximize your reach. They do all of this plus more for only 10% of
your sales. For an independent artist,
this means that you get to keep 90% of the money you make. You won’t have a bunch of other hands dipping
into you revenue.
For independent artists, these print on demand companies are like
one-stop music shops. With the PRO registration
you will also gain another source of revenue.
Every time someone streams or uses your song, you will get paid. Knowing that you are in control over you own
music will definitely make your life as an artist less stressful and bring you
a higher return on the music you work so hard to make.
References:
Renegade Producer (2016).
Discover Independent Music
Distribution Options for Electronic and Dance Music Producers. Renegade Producer. Retrieved on May 18, 2016 from http://www.renegadeproducer.com/independent-music-distribution.html
CD Baby
(2016). CD Baby Pro: Boost you
income. CD Baby. Retrieved on May 18, 2016 from http://members.cdbaby.com/pro.aspx?gclid=CN-V_aj-48wCFQkyaQodFqkHpA
