20/03/2026
Hi Everybody. It has been all quiet on the Western Front for quite a while!
I have been busy with many musical projects, hence the silence. It is now time to return to the posts of Youtube, Facebook, websites etc, etc, etc.
These days, one is required to be a chief cook and bottle washer, floor sweeper, carrot peeler, producer, media expert, tech expert, accountant, and to have a whole host of separate other skills, each with their own steep learning curve. There is more freedom, but the downside is more pressure and way more responsibility.
Gone are the days when you could play an instrument, or two, or three, and then go and get your music recorded by somebody, arranged, edited, mixed and mastered. Then promoted. That can still be done, it's true, and on the other side, some people have always leaned towards independence.
But the music industry has vastly changed from previous generations. It is now the age of the 'Independent Artist'.
The independent artist is required to do it all. And more.
Did I mention Tik Tok, Instragram, Twitter, Reels, Short Content, Long Form content, Distributing platforms like Distrokid, and CD Baby, (who submit to Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Deezer, and a whole bunch of others?) As well as Performing Rights Organisations, Copyright organisations-----on and on.
Distribution is very time consuming , along with all the details it requires, and all of the percentages that are owned by who, the publishing, the masters, the composition. It seems that you need to be a legal whizz to understand the complexities of music distribution, (it is hugely complicated, and all over the place). Once you've learned the system for ordinary distribution, then comes the sync licensing (for film and television), which is different again and requires "Metadata" along with a whole load of does and don'ts when submitting work for consideration.
For the actual music, and if you have your own studio, which many indie artists do, you are of course obliged to learn how to use it. That's not just sticking a mic up in a room and singing or performing or getting somebody else to perform. That's learning everything!
First of all setting up the equipment, troubleshooting, knowing how to store things correctly so that your latest greatest project doesn't get lost in the ether, knowing the systems on your setup, having the correct environment, the correct gear set up the right way.
Then using or acquiring all of the software that goes with your particular system, and learning the principles behind those software tools, as well as how to operate each one individually and in what order and circumstance.
As mentioned, there's the songwriting, arranging, editing, mixing and mastering to come. And performing if you perform. And playing an instrument if you do. Or capturing somebody else's performance if you don't. And knowing how to play and record virtual instruments.
If you do live work as well (many do due to immediate needs), I have to admit it's hard to find the time. You could of course live behind a computer with all of these other skills to operate, and some people do. But if you're an artist as well as an audio engineer, promotion and 'being out there' is a big thing. Not to mention that if you record yourself, you have to keep that aspect up because you have to have something to record.
Some people do go to studios to do their recording. But then if they write their own music, they still need the skills, and if they do covers, they still need to perform, to co-arrange, co-produce. Then the crunch, they need to pay the studio. Not cheap. And they still have to jump through all of the hoops with distribution. Or pay somebody else to do it. But still need a very good knowledge base of what they're dealing with.
Artists of yesteryore have been scammed out of millions because they didn't understand distribution rights. Oh well. Observation over. For now.
This was supposed to be short post! Got to run, I have music to create!
