Why we’re in debt to INDEPENDENT MUSICIANS & how to clear this debt.

Independent musicians have changed the world as we know it. Without them, we’d be poorer, less social, emotionally and physically unhealthy, creatively finished and on the verge of extinction.

Sounds dramatic? Here’s five reasons why we owe everything to Independent Musicians, and why we need to start paying up!

First up, let’s define an independent musician. They are musicians who have not signed with a major record label, either because they have been unlucky getting a deal with the majors, or as with most cases these days, it’s because musicians want complete creative control over their work, most importantly maintaining their creative rights to their music. Or they’ve signed with a MICRO label — a ‘studio-in-a-bedroom’ label that’s looking to change the world but has zero money.

Now we’ve got that bit sorted, let’s take a look at some famous INDIES who have changed the way we live.

I’ll list a few of them here:

· Adele

· The Beatles

· Barbra Streisand

· Taylor Swift

· Dolly Parton

· Elton John

· Buzzcocks

· Elvis Presley

· Celine Dion

· Drake

· Kendrick Lamar

· Bob Dylan

· Lil Wayne

And thousands upon thousands more.

All of these artists started their lives with small, independent record labels, funded by creative visionaries who were standing tall at the time against the major record labels and their creative control of musicians.

Now, there are millions of INDIE musicians all over the world, who are either signed to unknown labels, or who are doing it for themselves, and we’ve got to love them because of their anti-establishment passion.

According to Forbes online, if you’re an INDIE musician in 2023, you now belong to the fastest growing sector of the global music business. Forbes also quoted digital music distributor ‘Amuse’ who reported that independent artists generated more than $643 million in 2018, a 35% jump from the year before. Fast forward to 2023 and technology and social media are propelling these figures even further into outer space.

In 2019, Mark Mulligan wrote a substantial report for those ‘Experts in Entertainment Intelligence’ MIDiA that stated, “The rise of independent artists is one of the most important changes to happen to the modern recorded music business.”

And while we’ve dropped some SUPERSTAR US artists into this pro-INDIE salute, let’s not forget the UK’s INDIE MUSICIAN obsession, which can be traced back to the 1970s and the launch of tiny INDIE music labels such as Rough Trade Records, Virgin Records, 4AD, Young Turks and so many more.

So loved are INDIE bands that the BBC recently gave us its MUSIC for MISFITS doco, that cited the birth of the INDEPENDENTS in the UK with the track SPIRAL SCRATCH from Manchester group BUZZCOCKS. Check out this powerful ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT song here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dS0mf8CsBSY

So, let’s get to the FIVE WAYS you can thank INDIE musicians, clear the debt we collectively owe them, and get some feel-good action along the way.

1. CHANGE YOUR MUSIC, CHANGE YOUR LIFE

So, this is the RADIOSPARX tagline and trademark, and we think it says it all. Change the way you see music, reach out for it, and it will literally change your life. Search out new artists through your chosen streaming platform and get to know them. INDIE musicians and bands are often SUPER-TALENTED, so mix up your playlists to favour INDIE artists and get to know them with some research. Learn about their stories, who they are connected to, who they are, as fellow human beings on this fast-spinning planet, and follow them on the socials. Whatever your beloved genres are, you’ll find superlative INDIES if you choose to look. Favorite them, buy their tracks and fall in love with the alternative.

2. RECOGNISE THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF INDIE MUSIC

Yes, you read that right; all across the INDIE music sector you’ll find music that will CALM you, CHILL YOU OUT, LOWER YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE, EASE LONELINESS, MAKE YOU SMILE, MAKE YOU DANCE, RAISE THE LEVELS OF THOSE FEEL-GOOD CHEMICALS in your bloodstream, and get you MOVING. Every time you dance to your favorite INDIE band, scream out a THANK YOU for the music.

3. STEP OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE

Know that for all the crazy rules we live by, there is always another way, a sweet place where people are challenging the STATUS QUO through MUSIC, art, theatre, writing and more. From radical call-to-action political style music, a la BILLY BRAGG, STING and MIDNIGHT OIL, there’s a place in music for all global souls who feel they don’t fit into the mainstream, and you’ll always find your TRIBE within the INDIE MUSIC sector. Go find your tribe and make it your mission to support them.

4. IMAGINE THE NIGHTMARE then WAKE UP!

Imagine the nightmare — there is no such thing as an INDIE MUSICIAN SCENE anywhere on the planet. Imagine a world where the only music you could listen to, was the music sold to you by the BIG MUSIC CORPORATIONS; music that they had calculated — via clever algorithms- would be the next big hit. Imagine a world where there was no PUNK, no GOTH, no CHILL-OUT, no POP, no RnB, no DANCE, no CLUB music. Imagine a world where there was no MUSIC experimentation, no risk-taking, nothing alternative, nothing destined to flop then rise again.

Now please wake up from the NIGHTMARE, and write a love letter to your favorite INDIE band. THEY NEED YOU, seriously.

And finally….

5. RECOGNISE THE BEAUTIFUL RELATIONSHIP YOU’RE IN

Relationships come and go, right? Well, the relationship you have with INDIE MUSIC is a forever-marriage of two like-minded spirits; you and the beautiful force that is INDEPENDENT MUSIC. Your boyfriend/husband or girlfriend/wife might give you years of grief until you dump them or they dump you, but INDEPENDENT MUSIC will be your FOREVER-LOVER, your soulmate, your GO-TO SAFETY ZONE, your everything. Do they ever talk back? Give you hell? Make you feel less-than? The answer is NO.

So, stock up on INDIE MUSICIAN tracks, go watch them perform, buy their MERCH, and feed that soul-connection. That band/fan relationship is soul-enhancing. The INDIE band needs you/me as much as we need the INDIE band. Repay the debt & enter MUSICAL PARADISE. Your mission is complete.

Until next time,

Meryana @ RadioSparx.com