I think there are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to what its like for an artist in the music industry.  The business has changed so significantly that many successful artists have chosen to break away from major labels and start their own.  Luckily,  there are many social networks out there for us like myspace, facebook, twitter, going, fusciology and on and on.  I was turned on by this company from someone that I know and I could not be happier with my decision to join them.  That company is Tunecore.  You can easily decide what digital distribution outlets you would like to have your music on that would be available for your fans.  The fee is so low and to be truthful I dont even remember what I paid.  I think it was $50 or less for having my music on Itunes, Rhapsody, Emusic, Napster and Amazon.

Its easy to look at artists that are signed by major labels and think oh wow they are rollin in dough.  Who knows they might not be. The horrible thing about signing with major labels is that they loan you money for everything and if you don’t pay them back with your the sales of your albums, merchandise and everything else your in debt to them.   The bad thing about being independant is that it takes so much time to promote yourself, book gigs and on and on.  However, that is if you don’t have a team to support you.  What I have seen other independant artists do is essentially form their own label where they have a booking agent, a manager, a publicist, a band etc.  They only have the essentials and when that team is solid theres no limit as to what can be accomplished.  I personally think that even if your signed by a label or you have a team around you as an artist, you should still personally take the time to promote yourself and even book gigs for yourself.  Now a days as an artist it is essential to learn about the music business.  Frankly, if you take the point of view that your just a musician and you don’t bother with all of the other details you probably won’t go very far.  If you don’t learn the ropes who will when your starting out independantly?  It basically leaves you wide open for being taken advantage of.  Never assume anything about someone that your working with.  Its business in the end.

I have sat on the side lines watching certain groups here in the bay area who are independant who I am very inspired by.  One of these groups is Zion I.  They are completely independant and have formed their own team to help support them in succeeding and achieving their goals.  I am never afraid to talk to people or to introduce myself because it is a time that you can learn a lot from someone.  Especially those that have been in the business longer than you.  This just reminds me that it is so imparitive to network as an artist.  So that means going out to events and meeting people who are in your community who are in the business.  Going out to just perform is not enough.  You must also be active in going out and promoting yourself as an artist.

It’s been a lot of fun getting to know people here in the bay area because everyone seems to be connected to each other.  The bay area is such a small place which is such a great thing because it make networking very easy.  I have emersed myself in the scene and I have had such a fun time doing it!  I am looking forward to meeting more people not only in the bay area but all over the world.  People in the business and also people who appreciate good music.  I just wanted to share some of these thoughts with you since I am so entrenched in this daily thought process as a singer songwriter here in the bay area.  Every day I am inspired to reach farther to push myself even more.  The reality is you are the only person who will want it that bad…to suceed to achieve your dreams.  Sure, you might have a solid team around you but really everything depends on you.  Your drive, your musical ability, your songwriting abilities and on and on.  I hope this has inspired you to not give up and to act on the things that you have said you always wanted to achieve.