An Indie Musician's Diary Vol 2

The Music Making Hoax

As I get close to releasing my first album....

Let me just get this off my chest. You have to be crazy to continue as an independent musician these days because the whole industry is a freakin' mess.

It's fun to get started. you have great music, a dream of singing to the masses, maybe you even a band but if you knew what I know now, you'd never even start. Except for those lucky ones that have that perfect look and perfect sound, who are found by the successful A&R rep in the biggest record label in precisely the right time and who land that unbelievably great record deal it is all a hoax. Yes, I said hoax. Even then it is a hoax.

Just imagine, if you will, a bunch of hungry vultures around a dying cow and you'll get the picture. If you are an independent musician, you are that cow. All the companies that build their fortunes on us unconsciously dying cows are drooling today. All they have to do is sell you gear, get you plays for pay, get you to buy their distribution or buy their merch. It's all a hoax. there are tons of gurus that want to coach you for a fee and sell you ebook that "help you" hack algorithms.

The industry was never there for us indies and it isn't there for you and I today either. It is only there to get fat on your ideas, steal your music and they don't care what happens to you in the process. Hard truth, huh?

$$$$$$....

In the process of releasing my first album, I had to buy gear, guitar strings, a Macbook Pro, a DAW (program), pay sessions musicians, buy plugins and a course on how to mix and master. I had to pay an accountant and a videographer too. But I wasn't making any money. My hubby paid. God bless his little feet.

I was forced to watch tons of commercials on YouTube videos just to learn the tricks of the trade and I have had to pay a lot of money to get my songs mastered professionally. I had to pay to get the songs distributed widely (but at least I bought distribution on Black Friday!!) , and I've had to put in thousands of hours of work without pay to create a homepage, engage with my fans on social media, create graphics for Instagram, make podcasts, music videos and animations with music added (Wavves), and pitch my music to radio stations, etc.. All this WITHOUT pay. time and money ticked away.

Let's just mention quickly how little they pay us per stream. 1500 streams = a sold album, after costs and taxes are removed. I'll just leave this pic here for you. So go think. All this gear and stuff costs loads of cash and you don't make anything from streaming. You can't sell CDs because no one uses CD players anymore and you can't pay to make vinyls if you're not in money.

So you get a day job to pay for all this stuff and then you don't have time to create any music. Cabbisch? I hope you are getting the picture. If you keep on going, like I have done, you are considered a nutcase and that can be close to the truth. (Picture an ostrich in with its head in the sand while it is burning all around him).

And there is no guarantee that you or I will ever get more than a handful of people to listen to our music let a lone buy it. I have over 11,6 k followers on Twitter but, because I am "answer de-boosted" on the platform for no apparent reason, I get only one or two responses per post at best. They want you to buy ads on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and those ads have gone up considerably during the past two years. So they shut you down so you feel the need to buy ads. (I see through you Jack!).

I tried Instagram. Everyone else is cooler and younger than I am (same stuff really but not as cool and young as those on TikTok) and I feel like a fool even trying there. I do get responses from folk of all ages and continents but, often. they are of the "fishing for followers" types that comment once and drop you once you follow them. Again, they want you to buy ads in order to get fans. 

No one buys CDs so avoiding the investment in creating them is a no brainer. Also no one buys downloads anymore - why fill your computer when you can stream? If I offer a download for an email, most say no. Or they sign up, take the freebie and then delete themselves form the email list. And no one thanks me for the time it took to make that track or write that ebook. 

I have seen extremely talented and schooled musicians drop out because they figured the hoax out in time. But many of us indies keep hoping and paying...FOR EVERYTHING despite the bleak horizon.

I will say this. There are a few that think it is fun to keep doing music because they take it as a hobby. I know a bluegrass band close by. They are five people, they tour locally and even go to international bluegrass festivals. They have released five great albums BUT THEY ALL HAVE FULL TIME JOBS. Somehow they do it. But not full time.

So, now as I finally have figured this hoax out, I am beginning to see the need to get back to reality and perhaps see my music as a hobby and not as a calling. It is just too plain expensive. I guess I need some kind of job.

Wish me luck. I drop my first album March 27th about a journey from stress to rest. It may be my last.