Independent musicians choose a very different path from the traditional pursuit of a record deal. As a result, they don’t receive the same financial backing and access to contacts that a record company can provide, so why do so many musicians choose to remain independent? How can they achieve success without the help of a record label? And what impact have they had on the modern music industry?
Jon Gomm, an astonishingly unique guitarist, found success in 2011 when his video Passionflower went viral and amassed over 14 million views on YouTube. While other artists, including Justin Bieber, went on to sign record deals following YouTube success, Jon decided to remain independent. When I asked him about this he shared a cautionary tale about the dangers of record companies;
“It happened twice to people that I know really well, friends, who made an album for a major label which has then either not been released at all or not been released properly. That’s just one example, it’s kind of anti-music in a way.”
This way of working of course makes sense in a purely business world. The label casts its net wide and signs a couple of artists to create music for one target audience, but only continues to work with the one they believe will make them the most money. But, music isn’t pure business. It’s people’s art and dreams, which means that using them in this way is unfair, especially when those artists who aren’t chosen realise that because they have sold away the rights to their songs, they can’t even release the album independently or re-record any of the songs they used.
This is one of the main reasons Jon chose to stay independent - he wanted to remain in control of his music and his own career. Signing to a label is to lose control over what you can choose to do with your music and while it can benefit many musicians, it is also a big risk. As Jon told me:
“There are big stars in the world with big contracts and even though those stars are worth millions they have to consult people about the things they do because they are an employee.”
Some musicians may not mind this. After all they are rich and famous, but there are also many musicians who would never want to compromise their artistic integrity and sacrifice control or be forced to do something that went against their beliefs.
However, Jon does believe that labels are in a weaker position in the modern music industry. Thanks to the sheer number of record companies available and the power that musicians have if they have managed to gain success independently, record companies have to listen to artists more.
“I have more power now. I’ve got a target market, I’ve got a track record so I can go to a record company and say: ‘What can I do for you and what can you do for me in return?’”
The bottom line comes down to money, for both the record company and the artist. Artists needs to earn enough money to support themselves with or without the label so if they are signing a record deal they are going to want to make sure that they are gaining from doing so.
“The final decision comes down to money for myself .If they’re going to take 50% of my record sales then I’d want them to be selling at least twice as many copies to make it worth my time. And I’m going to want to know what their budget for the marketing of my stuff is going to be, what are they gonna spend on my music.”
In choosing to be an independent artist, you don’t only have to rely on yourself however. A great deal of finding success as an independent artist is down to building a team of people around you to support and help you during your career. This list includes producers, videographers, stylists, promoters and many more. Jon believes the key to building a good team around you is to make sure they are a good reflection of you as an artist and to remember that at the end of the day, your team is your responsibility.
“It’s about finding people who work the same way as you want to work and who understand what you’re about. The important thing with your team is at the beginning of that relationship you say: ‘the buck stops with me.’ If you treat people in a way that you wouldn’t want to be treated yourself that’s not ok and I consider that my responsibility.”
Finally, thinking about the modern impact of independent musicians, Jon spoke about social media as something they have helped to shape. Social media today provides a platform to promote things, including music. Facebook pages and paid adverts are all things that were inspired by the early success of independent musicians using MySpace.
“All social media advertising, was invented by independent musicians. As soon as MySpace existed, it was full of bands to the extent that the site changed to accommodate that… the way social media is used for marketing was created by independent musicians, we invented that… Now Facebook is obviously used in the same way, but they charge for it”
Therefore, the way that modern independent musicians are now using Facebook for self-promotion was very much started by the last generation of independent musicians. Changes in social media has been for the benefit of musicians as it forces them to think about how they want to present themselves to their audience as they can directly communicate with fans.
“The best thing about social media for a musician is I can use it to try and figure out what my identity is... When I put something on Facebook that’s me trying to represent me and my thoughts… You figure out who you are as an artist by how you want to speak to your audience.”
Control, responsibility and impact – all things that are important for an independent musician. Control over your own career, responsibility for your music and team and having the impact to shape not only the music industry but, with other independent musicians, change the way things such as social media are used.
