If we are to believe the press stories, the Internet is liberating hundreds of thousands of artists who, free from the shackles of record companies, are now able to market their material themselves to their adoring fans. Is 'Doing It Yourself' as simple as they'd have us believe?
So who's got mud on their clogs?
The rise of Arctic Monkeys and MySpace has been exhaustively documented elsewhere, but it's still worth saying the band are a great example of an act who have gone from brand new to internationally established in less than the time it took to release a single. This is a very democratic revolution, involving all genres and - perhaps more surprisingly - acts at every stage of their careers. Take Mick Hucknall for example. He too has recently chosen to release material via his website.
Or how about the case of dance act Underworld who, under their ‘Riverrun’ banner, have released multi-media download-only packages via their website. And you can add to the list Hard-Fi, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Michael Nyman, Paul the Girl, Exileinside, Philip Glass, Imogen Heap, Kathryn Williams, Nizlopi and so on. All of these artists have done a spot of DIY along the way.
We've all long known that there are three simple steps to musical success.
1. First you make some music.
2. You let people hear it.
3. If they like it - you make sure they can buy it.
Previously, it's those last two steps that have been (arguably) the trickiest, but that's the real beauty of the net; it's an immensely powerful tool which will allow you to market your chosen music - worldwide - in a very cost effective manner. In short - and think about this - right now, at this precise moment, you have the opportunity to allow millions of people around the world to hear you sing and play. This is your potential fanbase. How you choose to make best use of this opportunity is down to you. But don't just wait for someone else to make it happen for you. While you're waiting you may as well 'Do It Yourself'.
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