You got your mind blown away in part 1 and in part 2, things get even spicier! If you ever doubted your choice to stay independent, you won’t ever again after finishing this article. Read on to discover the other 5 definite reasons why independent music artists are the future of the music business starting now.
5. Fan culture is being replaced by Support culture.
Yup. Now people barely ever have the reaction of a teenage girl fanning over the posters of Justin Bieber when meeting their favorite celebrities. Those are a minority who are diminishing rapidly as now the teenage girl can have her own admirers on TikTok and possibly make money off of it too. We are too busy with ourselves to be hardcore fans of someone else. So how are indie artists making money as a result of the change? Simple. They thank their supporters instead of their fans. They show online how hard they work, how much they have to sacrifice, and just how much it sucks at times being an artist so their digital friends decide almost at a subconscious level that this artist is worth supporting. Now mathematically and logically, if group A is massively in a freefall and group B is predominantly on the rise, people who rely on group B will come to the surface. Meaning mainstream culture is doing bad and will be doing even worse in the upcoming years.
4. A solid mental health and major record deals don’t intersect.
At the rate mental health has been discussed and brought to the light in the past decade, has influenced the entire workforce and business practices across the globe. Now Gen Z adults are taking days off just for mental health reasons. Do y’all remember having this option as a Millennial? No, no, and another sad NO. But do y’all remember TLC admitting on the red carpet how broke they are despite their sales in the millions of their album? Yeap. And not to mention how many artists since have spoken on how rotten these contracts are. Add to the mix the unfair, inhumane, and sadistic expectations they are subjected to by their label thus no Gen Z or anyone after them is gonna sign on the dotted line. Resulting in fewer and fewer artists even willing to accept working with record labels.
3. Adult artists are on the rise and so are their fans.
What a joyous time to be alive! With the Me Too movement, the Epstein trials, the Weinstein scandals, and a scary number of famous men who’ve been revealed publicly to be on the wrong side of the law, people are finally being turned off by women who are too young and openly sexualized in the film and music industry. It’s wrong and it’s always been wrong. So pushing underage girls like Britney Spears on display for the world to fantasize over, would be abhorred in today’s society.
The second reason which ties into points 9 and 10 (read them HERE), is that being such a financially and mentally independent individual takes time. Usually about a good 30 years. And guess what? An exhilarating number of new indie artists in their 30s are showing up on the market thus paving the way for others to be accepted as adult artists in the next years even easier. In the past 2 years alone, we’ve met a shocking number of 40-year-olds starting their music careers. When this becomes the norm, every individual, at any age, will have the freedom and luxury of pursuing a music career without being judged. And yes, that means a lot higher competition in the music business from very qualified and well-developed, intelligent adults who’ve lived life and know a bad contract when they see one.
2. There is no more one formula to follow to make it into the mainstream.
The old-school idea was that you need to be a hot, young, white woman who does Pop music and you’re set. Nope, not anymore. If you don’t have a magnetic personality, a great voice, and stellar songs, you can be looking as much of a Victoria Secret’s angel as you want, but you won’t sell tickets or merch or get anywhere close to the respect true Popstars command. Here’s the shocker: in 2022 you have to be seriously good, almost legend-level good, to be looked at as a worthy artist by the people who know you and strangers alike. The old model relied heavily on stupid catchy tunes paired with a hotshot. The fact directly impacted the music business as these days any genre, any artist, any body shape, any gender can make it.
1. The power is in numbers.
The truly self-made artists, aka self-releasing, self-managed with direct input and decision-making power over their careers, have been growing consistently on the music market since 2015. Apparently, the business gave us a name: artists direct. Dumb name but alright. In 2022 alone artists direct have seen an increase in revenue of 5.3% or, if you wish to know the exact numbers, $1.5 billion more in direct revenue than the year prior. We’re on the rise and whoever says otherwise will see later on who the brands partner up with ⭐
Blue Rhymez Entertainment ©2022
If you’re on Spotify, help indie artists out by streaming the playlist below. Yes, your time and attention are just as valuable as a monetary donation, and in case you forgot, we offered you this article for free 😀
Blue Rhymez Entertainment 