11 Ways the Music Industry Makes it Difficult for Indie Artists to Succeed

You probably know it is challenging for indie musicians to succeed in the music industry today, especially when trying to compete with the major labels.  Although the Fair Digital Declaration was signed to stop practices that leave indie artist under compensated and uninformed in the marketplace, a lot of challenges still remain.  Here are 11 ways the music industry makes it very difficult for indie artists to succeed.

1) Indie music is being threatened by the online platforms it needs–  A prime example or this is YouTube threatening to take down videos from indie labels if their artist don’t agree to YouTube’s unfavorable terms.

2) Indie labels can’t afford to help artists– It is difficult for the indie labels to just sustain themselves, let alone artists who may or may not make them money.

3)  Moving to a a city that has a big music scene is expensive– Although you may be using social media to connect with fans and sell your music, that may not be enough to pay the bills, so you may need to move to an environment with a better music scene.

4) Many people don’t want to spend money on music especially from an artist they have never heard of– Many artists put out music, but for the most part, listeners don’t want to pay for it.  When listeners do pay for music, artists still have a challenge profiting with their music.  There are a lot of middle men who will want a percentage of your sales (e.g. iTunes).

5) Streaming royalties are very low–  Artist are making a very small amount of money per stream (e.g. only $.005 per STREAM) so your music will need to be streamed a whole lot (and consistently)  if you want to make more sustainable income from your music.

6) Even if you make it to a major label, you can’t count on security in your career–  You may lack sufficient health care, and may need to get a day job to make sure you can pay your bills.

7) Touring is a big risk– You may have a steady cash flow at a day job but if you go on tour your job may not be there when you get back.

8) Touring is very expensive– If for example you are driving around the country touring, you’ll be paying a lot on gas and other incedental fees.

9)  There is already so much music out there that many people won’t ever hear–  It’s easy for people to distribute music nowadays, but the challenge is making your music rise above the crowd and get noticed (note:  there is an app called forgotify for the 4 million songs on Spotify that have never been played once).

10) It is often not profitable for labels to sign artists– Labels rarely recoup their money so they are taking a big risk everytime they sign a new artist.

11) Labels no longer develop acts, they sign artists that are already popular– Labels want to make money, so if they can sign artists or groups who already have an established fanbase, they’ll have a better chance of recouping their investment and making profits.

Despite the many challenges, there is hope.  Indie labels, artists and songwriters are coming together collectively for fair royalty rates. Also, if you have real talent  and are dedicated, you can  have a very solid music career. You’ll also appreciate your music success so much more when you’ve put in the hard work to achieve your  goals.