In a rapidly changing, technology and consumer preference driven music industry, living as an independent artist means that we are forced to acquire a lot of skills and knowledge to build a sustainable career.
In a bid to help you make the right call, you have to know something about everything related to the music industry, from branding and marketing, live streaming, digital distribution, to recording, editing and producing your music, how to extend the reach of your fan base and much more. And all this of course is apart from the fact that you have to stay creative and deliver great music.
Here are some skills to learn as an Independent Artist to stay on top!
Personal Branding
Personal branding means marketing yourself (not your music). As an artist, it is an ongoing process where you constantly develop and maintain your reputation in public, and work on getting the attention of PR reps, brands, and other professionals in the field.
Marketing
Savvy musicians know how to use various online and offline marketing techniques to amplify their music reach, their unique style, and their connections. Some of the marketing skills to learn might include, email marketing, social media advertising, podcast interviews, flyers, selling merchandise, etc.
Technical Skills to Learn
For any given reason, indie artists must know the skills of how to record, edit, and master their own music. We don’t really have a production team to work on our music for us, so we need to educate ourselves on how to use quality software to do the magic for us.
Music Theory Concepts
Regardless of what you play, every artist should know some core music theory concepts – Form, functional harmony, consistent rhythm, ear training, reading, and literacy.
Analytical Thinking
It is not only enough to release your music on different platforms, but also you need to know when, where, and to which target audience you should release your music. That can be achieved by keeping an eye on your streaming platforms and social media reports.
File Conversion
While it may seem like an easy thing to do, it is important to know how to convert your audio and other media into the right form of file extension. There are tons of free file conversion tools and software online which you can use to convert your files.
Content Creation
Content creation for your social media posts, the process is similar to your music writing process, but this one can be in audio, video, and text written format. This content has to be informative, topical, entertaining, and convincing, and it can be used on your blog, social media accounts, or website.
Website Design Experience
Invest some time and effort into acquiring a basic skill to develop a simple yet high quality website design. You can easily select some quality themes for your website, set it up, and fill it with your quality content.