As the year is winding up, the pandemic continues to remind us of numerous problem affecting indie artists. Ask indie artists, record labels, event businesses, booking agencies, and many others with affiliation to the music industry. They will all have something to say about the year. While the pandemic and its effects are not the focus of this article, there is a spillover effect that has added to the issues bedeviling independent artists and the industry. While we may not be able to pinpoint several problems affecting indie artists, we’ll dwell on the pressing ones.
Excessive Experimentation By Indie Artists
Look at it from this angle; the modern indie music is not bad in itself. What is alarming is the feeling insincerity that comes off the boundaries being pushed hard by these indie artists. Not to cite an example, but most of the recent indie artists are not sounding as if there is any burning yearning for self-expression.
What you’ll notice when you detach from indie music and carefully analyze the songs is the uninspired, unremarkable, and forceful trial of new sounds. Maybe there is a need to more without programmed drums, vintage visualizers, falsetto vocals, and the pretentious music videos.
May Be Indie Music Does Not Have a Direction in Mind
Before addressing this problem affecting indie artists and the industry, it’s necessary to correct a notion. Music does not have to be innovative before it is considered acceptable. Nonetheless, we are all just avoiding the fact that indie music is a bit stagnated and does not know where it’s headed. A lot is filling the music space with the tag of indie music; almost everyone is hiding under the ‘indie” tag regardless of how they sound and their music philosophy.
Most of the indie artists you love are just going through the motion and waiting for the next innovator. In the words of Joyce Kettering, indie artists majorly lack a clear vision. That’s why they are making a mess of opportunities available. It’s a situation of doing too much at a time without explicit knowledge of where they are headed.
The Promotion Difficulty of Indie Music
Interestingly, millions are in love with indie music. The problem of marketing is persistent despite the presence of an available market; not so much is invested in marketing. While there may be a focus on indie music, less is done is expanding the reach of indie music.
What this problem translates into is the lack of funds for pushing indie artists into the mainstream. More than ever before, it has become difficult and expensive to record, fund artwork, and distribute physical copies of music.
Lastly, Over Reliant on Tech and Streaming Revenue
If you think this is the biggest problem affecting indie artists, you are not far from the truth. Everyone is happy about how technology has revolutionized the music industry, but this has dug a hole in album and vinyl sales.
With every technology, there are shortcomings, and for this problem, it’s the issue of fake streaming. Annually, there are about $300 million lost to fake streaming. A massive loss to indie artists.
