10 Reasons Why Most Indie Artists Will Fail In 2014
By: Mark Ronald – CEO and Founder of “The Musicians Secret Weapon”
I’ve been in the music industry for over 10 years now as an executive catering to many major labels and artists world wide. Over and over again, I see the artists making the same mistakes…
I have been around enough major artists, and consulted with enough indie artists to map out the main things the indie artists don’t do that makes them fail…
In my time, I’ve totaled my clientele to over 15,000 artists world wide. Here is what I found out about why most artists never get taken seriously, and FAIL!
1. Surprisingly, most indie artists never tag their MP3′s.
No really, I’m super shocked. It was a diamond in the rough finding an artist that actually had their MP3 tagged correct. Get MP3Tag and tag it correctly or it will get overlooked immediately! No label executive will second guess. No tag, no demo, no listen = FAIL!
2. They give up way too easily.
Understanding and mastering the music industry as a musician is a long and tedious task. Don’t ever think it’s easy. It’s a sport that you have to practice on every day and night. Artists put out one song and expect so much. Never do that.
3. Their personal lives get in the way.
Major artists and indie artists both have personal lives, it just depends on how you deal with it. Major artists are not lazy, they will go out of the way, lose sleep and lose blood to make sure all is managed. This is called hard work 360 degrees.
4. They don’t know a thing about promotion.
80% of the music game is based on promotion, you can have the hottest songs in the word, but if you don’t learn how to promote yourself, you are out.
5. Their music just plain sucks
I used to get about 100 packages in the mail at Universal Music every DAY! I really did open each one and give every one a shot. Basically, out of the whole week, I’ll end up with one or two that were decent. Perfect your music and craft first and foremost. If you don’t have good music to promote, that is a death wish.
6. They have no public relations rep, but a bunch of other crap they don’t need
One of the most important person a artist needs to hire is a public relations manager, or a public relations source. Or in my opinion, buy The Musicians Secret Weapon to assist you! Without being seen on blogs and media, it’s going to be very hard to tell the entire globe your story; which makes it virtually impossible to get sales. Get it together!
7. They have managers when they don’t need it
Do you realize what happens when you have a manager to intercept your calls and business when you are not even signed to a major label or touring? IT MAKES YOUR CAREER HARDER! You don’t need a manager if you are not getting calls for random business every day. You have a phone, while you are independent, make it happen on your own!
8. Their entourage eats up the entire plate
I don’t need to say much about this. You don’t need an entire entourage as a indie artist. You aren’t 50 Cent quite yet.
9. They don’t make music videos or visuals to back themselves up
It’s 2014 now. If you are going to make a song, you need to have a visual. People need to know what you look like and know why you are different from every other artist.
10. They have no budget and want everything FREE!
Don’t get pissed when companies charge you for their services. This is planet earth and nothing is free. Do not expect people to put you on their blogs and help support you because you have good music. And even if you did have good music, that doesn’t mean anything. If you want to make it in this industry, you MUST have a budget to work with to handle all angles of your music career! Artists that play the game without money is like going to war without any guns. You will FAIL!
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