Guerrilla music basic training series; Doing it yourself

Doing it yourself

You’ve most likely heard of singer/songwriter Ani DiFranco. At age 20, she started her own label, Righteous Babe Records (www.righteousbabe.com), and began performing a growing number of solo acoustic shows. Coffeehouse gigs led to colleges, then larger theaters and major folk festivals.

Over a seven-year period she sold more than 400,000 copies of her many independent releases (an average of 66,500 units per year). In one year alone, DiFranco performed 130 shows and generated almost $2 million in gross ticket sales. She’s been written about in glowing terms by just about every major magazine and newspaper.

Note: DiFranco was one of the early indie music pioneers who, in the 1990s, accomplished all of her success without a major record label, commercial radio airplay, MTV exposure, or advertising. “If you are disgustingly sincere and terribly diligent, there are ways for any serious artist to operate outside the corporate structure,” she once told the Los Angeles Times.

According to the Righteous Babe website, “Along the way, she has inspired countless other musicians to rewrite the rules of the recording industry by striving for self-sufficiency and refusing to allow art to be subsumed by commerce. Small wonder, then, that Ani made CMJ’s list of the 25 most influential artists of the last 25 years, taking her place alongside U2, Nirvana, the Pixies, and Radiohead.”

So the next time you get down in the dumps because that major label recording contract hasn’t come your way yet, pause and realise that – like DiFranco and other self-supporting musicians – you may be better off as an independent artist.

And don’t think the example used here is a rare, isolated case. Granted, most indie acts don’t reach such impressive levels. But there are thousands of songwriters, musicians and bands turning a decent profit. And they’re doing it their own way – doing something they have a real passion for: making and sharing music.

Putting your music career in focus

This series was written to help the artist get a grip on the confusing topics of music marketing, promotion and sales. The concepts, ideas and suggestions in these articles are simple. That’s not to say they’re always easy. There’s work to be done here, but it’s the kind of activity that’s well within your ability to pull off.

The problem with most independent music people, even the ones who take lots of action, is that their effort is wasted on the wrong activities. By the time you finish reading and working this and subsequent series, you’ll have a much clearer idea of how to direct your energies.

There are a few essential principles that run throughout these series. They include the following:

1) Question everything you’ve ever been told about the music business. If you get involved in the music biz for long, you’ll encounter plenty of people – some with impressive résumés – who will offer you their best music business advice. That’s fine. The more information you take in, the better educated you’ll be. But remain flexible and open-minded. The rules are changing quickly, so beware of anyone with an outdated, black-and-white view of the music world. These days, you get to pick and choose which existing “rules” truly apply to you – and you can create more empowering rules that suit you along the way.

2) Give yourself permission to succeed. The biggest mistake you can make is waiting for someone or something else to deem you worthy of pursuing a music career. You don’t need an official sanction or a green light from anyone other than yourself (and the segment of the fan population you serve). So go ahead and give yourself approval right now!

3) Whenever you take action to promote your music, you must know exactly why you’re taking the action to begin with. Action by itself is not enough. You must know the purpose behind your actions. What is the real outcome you desire? The best way to make sure you’re going about things effectively is to come up with a plan that makes sense, have very focused goals, and realise that you need to provide a benefit (or solution) to everyone you connect with in the music business..

4) Think outside of your mental box. Human beings are creatures of habit. We become victims of our own routines. Therefore, it’s no surprise that we slip into a narrow way of doing things. Habits are quite useful when they involve brushing your teeth, getting dressed, and driving a car.

But when it comes to promoting your music, this routine way of thinking – and acting – is stunting your progress. When you market yourself the same way you’ve always done it, or the same way a thousand other artists have done it, you become part of the great indie music swamp in which everyone looks and sounds the same.