You should check out Raye- she’s a big UK singer who recently had a huge hit called “Escapism” She’s also a newly independent artist who went through hell with her former label Polydor who didn’t let her release her debut album and where she was stuck making edm collabs and now ever since she spilt with them she released her amazing debut album called “my 21-century blues” and is touring with Kali uchis and Sza
i love RAYE. as someone from the uk she was super popular with her EDM collabs and im glad that she is finally making the music she has always wanted to make!
The Major Music Labels won't allow this.......The entire Billion $$ entertainment industry consists of Mafias. They stand to lose a lot more independent artists become more successful (from a mainstream standpoint)
I see, but the industry only puts out and supports what will sell, instead of taking risks but even more sad is also ppl often don’t like indie music why idk
Creative control is one of the major reasons a lot of artist go independent. Mya also had creative differences with her label back in 2000 when recording “Fear of Flying”. She recorded a song called “Girls Like That” that she wanted to be a single and on the album but her label scrapped it. Being a part of a major label can be a blessing and a curse. Azealia Banks also struggled with creative control on a major label as well. She was making music before being signed. She already had her style and her own vision for herself but XL wasn’t having any of it. They wanted to put Banks in a box and be a top 40 artist but Banks didn’t want to do that. That’s what caused the friction between them and every other label Banks was trying to sign to. While major labels have the funding and connections, it’s very lukewarm because they want to mold you into what they see fit and it may compromise what you believe and what you see for yourself.
@@naomi.cannibalyes and it makes you question the executives. Do you actually see ME AS AN ARTIST? Does my opinion matter in this when I am the face and bringing in the money? Or is that just it? Am I just the cash cow?
@@Aries16603 so true! would really have me questioning myself and my abilities. I’ll also never understand why labels hire talented people who can write produce/ etc just not to let them
It seems to be a successful indie artist these are the things to do: 1) after creating your own indie label, make sure to sign either a global distribution deal with a major music company or a publishing deal with a major music publishing company, this is what helps your music attract attention from a wider audience 2) make sure you have a major fan following both on social media and in the underground music industry 3) make sure you are business savvy enough to either be your own management or sign with a management deal that can help you get connections 4) find your own distinctive, unique sound and style, indie artists are all over social media and in a way to stand out, you must be out of the box that can attract your own audience I always attracted on wanting to be indie with a huge following if I ever wanted to pursuit a career in music. It’s much better than being major labeled and having to be exploited for it, while not getting the profits for it
@@naomi.cannibal as someone who works in the industry this is the best way to go, grow in your craft and grow an audience. A lot of artists sign deal but with no audience the sad truth is labels sign audiences not talent
@@naomi.cannibal shoot, thank you so much for putting in the work!! You're by far one of my favorite pop culture channels, I really love how expansive and thorough the topics are. Wishing you nothing but the best!!! 💕
Tbh, I feel like indie artists can only be singer songwriter types, otherwise artists that require a team to write a song(and tbh they make up a vast majority of the music industry), would still require a label to thrive.
Hmmmm. Do u mean that indie artists need popular hit makers like Max Martin or popular producers to tweek their songs in a studio (alter the bass, clean up the backing vocals, make the beats)? I'm confused. I know that an artist won't have access to Max Martin or Diddy to give their song a catchy "hook" or a pop edge. Is this good or bad?
@@strawberrylime33 I think what you mentioned outside of making the beats is engineering. Music engineers do the mixing and mastering of audio to fix the sound quality before it gets out to the consumer. Some engineers are really good and some do bad jobs.
Raye is one of the best examples of someone who went through hell with her record label and then went to independently release the masterpiece “My 21st century blues”. She deserves all the grammys etc for how fantastic she is
Lauren Jauregui truly deserves more love, her voice, her artistry, visuals, her sound i just love it all and you can tell she puts her all into her craft
I hope you do a video on Hollywood records they have such a unique story of going from being formed by Disney so they can buy the publishing rights to the soundtrack albums of their popular animated musical movies to then trying and failing at being a label for alternative rock and hip hop artists in the 90s then following the signing and success of Hilary duff spent the 2000s and early 2010s having a wide range of successful teen pop stars like Miley Cyrus, Bridget mendler, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, the cheetah girls, Demi lovato, Jessie McCartney, Jonas brothers etc and then by the mid and late 2010s completely fallen off due to their refusal to adapt to a new era of music and as a result many artists who was failed/sabotaged by the label are now thriving with new labels (Sabrina carpenter, dove Cameron, coco Jones, Tini) now less than 10 active artists are signed to Hollywood records majority of which are artists that are only sign for contractual obligations and have signed joint deals with other labels who put more promotion and funding for them.
Blackground Records has always been spooky to me. Barry Hankerson’s connections with Gladys Knight, Aaliyah, R Kelly and other artists always reek of burnt bridges.
Also I’m not sure if you’ve ever touched on it, but a video about publishing and masters and ownership would be interesting. So many artists have had to re-record their music because their current or former label wouldn’t make it available for streaming, and some followed suit seeing that they could make money off of it because they don’t own their music.
You mentioned American Idol and so many memories came flooding back!😊 1. Jessica Sanchez with her amazing voice yet failing to make it mainstream, 2.Pia's shocking elimination 3. singers making it to the live shows even though they aren't very good, 4. The mishmash of judges. What a fun time I had watching that show!
I gotta say I Love when I see videos like these acknowledge Lauren’s career. As her fan I’m glad she has gone independent since now she is able to own the rights to her music and explore her creativity to the fullest by producing, directing, writing etc. But on the other end it’s unfortunate so see the decrease in budget, promotion, and big collaborations which often times causes them to go unnoticed
If you dont know who Snow The Product is you should check her out. Shes a Mexican American rapper/singer independent artist. Her story is really interesting. A deep dive video on her would be cool. She has achieved alot for being an independent artist. She did a song for Black Panther Wakanda forever. She did a song with Lauren jauregui. She got nominated for a Latin grammy in 2021. She has alot of interviews about being Independent. Her and her family works on her videos and she does her own merch. Shes been doing music for more then 10 years. Also love that you mentioned Lauren aswell.
So glad to see someone mention Dawn 🎯 Even in conversations about Independent Artists or Underrated Artists, her name is still rarely brought up and I find that strange. That’s how u know someone is truly underrated for their efforts, she’s more consistent than some Mainstream artists 👌🏾💯
It would be great if you would do a post on the number of songs played on the radio in heavy rotation by independent music artist, compared to that of major label music artist, or award show awards, etc.
One thing I like for every independent singer and group is to be in THEIR creative control and OWN their music masters and have a company/record label for distribution and promotion instead of record labels controlling the artist of how they want to hear.
I’m not sure how he’s doing these days, but Ryan Leslie has some really good interviews from a few years ago about getting his music out to his fans and getting a direct payment from it as an independent artist. Almost like having a personal relationship with him.
this is why Brent faiyaz is my favorite artist there's an old documentary with him and his manager talking about a label wanting sign him for a low amount.
As an artist, I have ZERO interest in signing a record deal with a major label. I want to not only own my masters, but also maintain creative control! It'll take a distribution.publishing deal though, for a tiny fee of my revenue. 🙌🏾
The independent route is the way and will be the future! Yes, there are pros and cons with it as well as being with major labels! But after watching videos and hearing artists share their experiences with signing to major record labels…some not having a good lawyer or reading their contracts or just a bad deal overall…signing with a label is NOT all pretty because there is SO much to deal with business wise and people wise! If I was signed to a label, I’ll use them! Sign a 2 album deal…make the connections and once the deal is over…go independent! 🤷🏽♂️ work smarter and not harder! These artists that sign these 360 deals and 4-6 album deals is CRAZY to me! It’s like signing your life away…no to limited creative control…probably not seeing your money like you should…deadline to meet…But this is just my thoughts! Well done on this! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
I found this really encouraging. I've been passionately pursuing a music career as an independent artist since 2020. It's been tough to stand out amidst all the noise on social media, streaming platforms, and RU-vid. While making music comes naturally to me, the real challenge lies in marketing and promoting it. It's not only difficult but also costly. Getting your music to the right audience requires immense effort, technical know-how, and relentless determination. Despite publishing over 600 videos on my RU-vid channel, I have fewer than 2k subscribers. I've hired and fired multiple music PR personnel and agencies, yet I haven't seen any significant results. I just wrapped up my final music video for the year and I'm exhausted. Major record labels tend to pick up viral artists because breaking through the noise is incredibly tough. They also benefit from artists who handle everything themselves, as they take most of the profits. Personally, I own all the rights to my music, so handing them over to a label doesn't make sense to me. I've encountered many artists who struggle to finish a song, and I believe labels prey on their dependency, creating a toxic relationship. I hope that artists can learn to manage themselves and retain full control of their work in the future.
Really enjoy your videos! I would love to see a video focused on the tumblr indie era. I didn't listen to a whole lot of music by the artists, but I remember being exposed to a lot of them (Lana Del Rey, Marina and the Diamonds, The 1975, Artic Monkeys, Melanie Martinez, The Neighbourhood, 21 Pilots, etc.)
I really hate how the label treated Tinashe. I'm really happy that she is independent and doing things her way. Also I love how Dawn Richard always presents quality content through being independent.
Idk how it took me so long to find you but I love love love the topics you discuss on your channel and how informative and concise you are! Definitely one of the best video essayists I’ve come across on youtube, thanks for all the amazing content ❤
I always comment the same thing, but I just love your channel so much ❤️😭 you talk about pop culture in such an informative yet entertaining and personal in a way
Good video! 👏🏽As an independent musician, I would like to see this side of the industry become as normal as the major label musicians. As you said, many major musicians went independent and I support it because they can actually be artists! We find treasure from independents!😊
@@naomi.cannibal My list Jessie j Iggy azealia Azealia banks Leona Lewis, Melanie Martinez, Estelle, Tori Kelly, Meagan Trainor, Sam Smith, Macklemore, Colbie Caillat, Vanessa Carlton, Stacie Orrico, Paula DeAnda, Zara Larrson, Cassie, Gabrielle cilmi, Christina perri, Bryson tiller, Macy gray, Jordan sparks, Ella Mai, zayn, I have so many more but Thai is a good list to look at
Russ is biggest independent rapper in the world with 7 billion Spotify streams Multi platinum albums And sold out Hollywood Bowl and staples centre He is estimated to earn 200-300k$ a week as he posted the proofs on his social media
Arctic Monkeys is my favorite band, I just saw them in concert in September and they were amazing- hands down the best show I’ve ever been to. They don’t need help, they’ve been filling arenas for almost 2 decades!
I would love to see the video about American idol winners! I also would like to suggest if maybe sometime you could do a video about the Kpop industry labels, and how HYBE is no longer “big hit” but also how HYBE bought out Scooter Braun’s management rights to Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber. Crazy stuff!
I would love to see a video on Dreamville. I feel like they have strong brand recognition right now and some of the most talented artists out right now. I wondered what exactly the label does for those artists and how involved J Cole is
maybe you could check/talk about Jesy Nelson, the ex-member of Little Mix, wich was signed with Polydor and then had an atrocious debut and then parted ways with it. I'm assuming she's independent, because she released her now debut single, "Bad Thing", wich haven't been promoted at all, and to know that 9+million people follow her on ig and the video haven't even reached 200k views is kinda surprising. obviously, the drama that involved her and Little Mix destroyed her career and people's perception of her so...🤷🏻♂️
@@thatimokoena8357 it kinda involved her, Little Mix & Nicki Minaj in a Blackfishing drama that ruined her career, made Nicki more polemic and Little Mix more kinda queens (🤣🥺💀). the song itself sexualizes Black people/culture and black "bad boyz", knowing that she's a white woman, so maybe you'll understand it's kinda polemic. Personally, i don't think that it's bad from her to tan as dark as she wants cause it's her life, but i also understand why black people/culture feel attacked or not aprecciated (because she, as a white woman, doesn't have to go through the difficulties that means be a black person in this society, doesn't have to go through racism, etc). it seems like Jesy scrapped the 1st single of her future project, album, etc, because when she started to announce Bad Thing, she deleted everything from ig, meaning a new era coming i guess
Good afternoon: I can understand, why some artist go independent. The own something they created. I believe alot of artists are gonna independent, they want to own their music. Not someone else.
as an unknown artist i don't trust record Labels because i feel like once i sign it is no longer mine it is the label's music and plus i don't want the label to tell me "oh sorry it's not good enough don't release it" i want to release Everything that i write (good or bad) "why release songs that i think are bad?" just because i think a song is trash doesn't mean other ppl will think it's trash to 🤷♂
Yes! It came from independent artists, but a lot of artists we consider to make “indie” music like Lana del Rey, Lorde (moreso when she started out) have been signed to major labels basically their entire careers. So I just wanted to differentiate and make it clear I meant artists signed with indie labels
If you’re reading this and you’ve not listened to Mya’s song, “Ready For Whatever,” I implore you. It’s in my top 3 favorite Mya songs and it’s so hypnotic. Such a smooth, sensual, addictive jam.
idk if you know what pc music is (if you do, PLS cover it), but one artist who was from that label was GFOTY. she was a part of the label since 2013 but then quit in 2018 and went independent. i have no idea why she did so, but i thought it would be a straightforward and really good example.
Is that your natural eye color? 😍 edit: I appreciate your research and videos! You are very much appreciated!! Edit edit: just because you say you’re “independent” doesn’t mean you are 👀
Guys Ive actually started working for Music NFTs now and so far I have seen wonderful development with the artists. They have much more freedom and are able to escape the hell hold of labels and CMOs. The law are incredibly unfair to artists today.
Could you possibly do a video on the Pink Christina Aguilera feud or just Pink being a mean girl bc apparently I’ve lived under a rock and didn’t know she was mean????? Lol
please do know diving into Syco Music, Modest Management and Columbia records and their conection with Little Mix not being promoted in the US, 5th Harmony and One Direction. There´s A LOT to dig in there.
I think Instead of working with big named producers, more indie artists should be looking for small producers whose skill you have faith upon. This might be just be but i dont look at “oh who produced this song!?” That much..nor does the name of producer effected my interest. Im a taylor swift fan so i can only speak on her but before she debut her career, she fought to have nathan chapman who was a nobody-producer to touch her work bc she believed in his skill despite scott (her manager)’s connection with several big named country producer. Even after she went pop, she went to jack antanoff and eventually promoted him to be a big named producer we had today. It doesnt have to be a brand named producer, u just need to believe in ur value. Also, prominent producer often sucks and has horrible contract. Max martin needs to be credited in songwriting even if he didn’t write them. He wanted the credit soo bad until lawsuit happened with taylor swift shake it off about the lyrics being similar to other songs did he come out and said: i didnt write them, taylor wrote it all! Like…. Taylor coulda have a solo writing credit
Agreed and I think it sometimes helps when the artist and producer grow together and really get to understand each other. But I think it’s fair for them to get the credit bc sometimes the production really makes the song pop
@@naomi.cannibal just my opinion but production is production, songwriting is songwriting. If they didnt help alter the melody or lyrics in anyway than it shouldnt be credited.
@@sknight2810 People deserve credit for their work no matter what- but I will say it can be confusing at times to credit them with the songwriters thought
