It may seem from a very indie standpoint, but
most of the bands you come to love - save from an exceptional few - come from indie backgrounds. Plenty of bands you hear on the radio now started the very same way. To me, any band worth its cred starts out honestly and with indie persistence. it is the basis of existence for most bands that go on to outlast others. It's the hard groundwork that keeps you driven.
Heck, even Sean Kingston was indie on MySpace - that's how he got started. How about The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Colbie, Panic At The Disco, even Fall Out Boy, Marie Digby. Tons. I'm sure you guys can name even most of them than I could.
An interesting fact is
the indie market has eaten into a large chunk of the share of the music industry. The
combined sales of the indie market is larger than the individual pie share of the four major labels, namely, Universal Music, EMI Music, Warner Music, and Sony BMG. Granted, on an individual company basis, indie companies don't sell as much. But
it is a FACT that major labels scout indie labels for talents and buy over shares from the indies or the companies themselves under a corporate umbrella. So I don't see anything wrong with it being a very indie-focused effort. It is the starting point of possibly bigger things to come for you if you try hard enough.
This post is merely a means to perhaps provide a starting point for musicians to get their music out there. There is perfectly nothing wrong with being heard and staying within Singapore. But let's be honest here -->
most musicians are hungry for a greater number of people listening to their songs outside of this geographically limited space we call home.
But the truth of the matter is, most local musicians either
1) do not believe they are 'good enough' to deserve being heard by others
2) don't know how to go about doing it.
This is not the case of ALL musicians of course. But it does apply to the majority, at least from the large number of local bands I have interviewed during my work for LIME magazine.
This is a severe underrating of our own talents, because if we don't even believe enough in ourselves, you can forget about others believing in us.
And in order to earn that respect and that recognition outside of Singapore, that extra mile needs to be traveled the good old fashioned way. It ALSO increases your chances of getting picked up by a label, getting on movie soundtracks, gaining fans worldwide, making a decent living out of your music, and thus, providing you with the avenue to continue doing what you love.
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The extent of your success will be determined by three things;
the quality of your work, the hard and well-thought out effort you put behind promoting and marketing your music, and sheer luck.
Even with the best marketing team behind you, if your product is crap, no one will bite (e.g. Paris Hilton's album - which i actually like!) . But at the same time,
even if you have the greatest album in the world and are playing in the greatest band in the world, without the proper marketing and promotion placed firmly behind you, your success will never reach its fullest potential. They must come hand in hand. And of course,
a combination of both will increase your chances of luck -- that chance of getting that huge break.
And I don't know about you guys, but I'd rather have that minor chance of success rather than to sit back and do nothing while listening too much to skeptics and cynics.
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QUOTE:
"Anyway, are you not worried that the internet is also a large pirate bay, which does not only plunder your cash for album sale, but your ideas, creativity and many other things?"
Well, in the music industry, it is very important to get yourself copyrighted before you put anything out there to prevent piracy.
There is always always a chance that someone will plunder your ideas and ideas and creativity
But think of it this way;
Would you rather there be thousands of people listening to your music and appreciating it, or would you rather sit in your room in fear of your 'creativity being stolen'?
Sure, nobody would steal your ideas if you're never heard. But then, what's the point? You
HAVE to put yourself out there, subject yourself to the risk of that happening in order to get any chance of possible returns.
So would you rather live in worry and wonder what could have been?
Or live out your dreams to the best of your ability?
BUT of course, taking the right path to ensure your copyright is covered and your legal protection is crucial in protecting your artistic credibility and your hard work.
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The fact is; people are natural skeptics. Only if you go on to prove them wrong do they start to take you seriously. But wouldn't it be great if there was a conceited unified effort from our scene? in order to succeed, YOU, as an artist, have to have a fire burning within you, a need to prove your skeptics wrong, a fighting desire to succeed and overcome failure. That is what separates mediocrity & obscurity from recognition and being content with your music career. If I had listened to James when he told me "You really don't have a clue" then well, I'd be an armchair critic (Kudos to Visa!
love you homie!)
Levan