Artist Development & the New Indie Music Reality

Read this excerpt on Artist Development from a Bob Lefsetz blog post:

So if you're a new act, stay indie. You've got to, in order to be in control of your own artistic destiny ...
And indie is about forgetting everybody else and focusing on your fans. If your fans are burned out on your music, you must make more ...

Artist development is not about growing your audience. It's about writing, recording and playing, and finding out if someone is interested. Your music is your calling card. People are only attracted when they can feel the passion and the excitement, which doesn't come from hype, but people, testifying one to another and occasionally in media. In other words, there are no shortcuts.

And if you're really good and have success, business people will come to you. Like flies to sherbet. That's when you hire a lawyer and decide who to play with. Please hire a lawyer. A bad deal can kill a career.

And a lawyer can craft a deal that allows someone to run with your music for as long as he or she generates success, otherwise you're free again.

And you don't want to be with the usual suspects. Not unless you make Top Forty music. The usual suspects only know how to do it the old way. They're all about the money, and you're all about the music. It's a bad fit. They're about instant stardom, you're about paying your dues, discovering exactly what it is you do that appeals to people.

In other words, you're in charge of your own artist development. We live in a DIY world. If you're waiting for someone to rescue you, to make you famous, you're delusional ...

There will always be a few superstars, culture demands it. But the new era is about tons of journeymen. Your goal should be to make a living playing music. If this is not enough, give up.

I'm sold. But I've been preaching this message for a couple decades, so I may be biased. What do you think? Please leave your comments below.

Read his entire post here.

-Bob

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