Resources for Unsigned Bands and Do-It-Yourself Musicians

In the music industry, it's all about longevity. If an artist develops a solid core following, they can be assured of success as long as they are still playing. Look at Metallica, The Rolling Stones, The Grateful Dead, Iron Maiden, David Bowie, Abba, Bee Gees, Kingston Trio etc. The one thing they all have in common is that they have endured for decades, suffered through down times, yet maintained a public image, maintained a presence and have released a continually growing catalog of music.

On the other hand, you have typical One Hit Wonders and (these days) American Idol winners who are a flash in the pan and fade away from public appeal as soon as the novelty wears off. The industry is not choosy, they will promote anything that has wings. Artists of this nature that come to mind are Kelly Clarkson, MC Hammer, Shania Twain, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, etc. Most of the time, these type of artists are heavily tied to fashion sense and social trends yet fail to realize that when the fashion they are/were associtaed with moves on to the next trend, their careers will be sent off to GoodWill like a pair of parachute pants.

Outside of the pop music bubble, there exists a third scenario, occupied by artists who don't fit in to the square pegs created by the music industry. For the most part, these artists work in the genres of indie, punk, hardcore and outsider music. Artists of this nature genreally tap into smaller audiences in favour of doing something outside the norm. Examples of these types of artists are Boards of Canada, Roky Erickson, Sonic Youth, Nurse With Wound, Skinny Puppy, ANTiSEEN, etc. These artists labour in obscurity for decades yet are well known by fans who step outside the mainstream to find music that identifies themselves on a less commercial level.

With that being said, for any artist it is important you visualize ambitions and embark upon a path that will lead to a favorable end result.

Having been raised by a US Army Veteran, one thing my dad always said was "When you shoot them, they all bleed the same color"

How does this apply to the current topic at hand? It's simple... All artists, regardless of genre, style, aspirations need to take into account several cruical factors BEFORE embarking on a career in the music industry. These factors are what I call the 4 P's : Produce, Perform, Promote and Protect.

1.) Produce - All artists need to produce on a regular basis. Failure to produce will result in a has been career.
2.) Perform - If you're producing without performing, it's a wash. You need to get out and perform in front of people, even if it's open mic nights.
3.) Promote - All artists need to find an audience. Promotion and most importantly self-promotion are critical.
4.) Protect - If you've taken the time to create something, you need to protect it. This means learning copyright laws, contracts, distribution and anything that goes with it.

After that, everything else will just fall into place as long as you keep up with those four basic principles.

Yes, there a million differnt directions every career can take but minding the basics is what makes the difference between a successful artist and one that is forever creating in the bedroom.

OK. So you've read this far and you're wondering exactly what resources are available to the common musician?

There are a ton of them out there but you're going to have to prepared to roll up your sleeve and do some work. Nothing comes easy.

To start with, this modern compulsion with Social Networking is so wide open for artists more than any other demographic. If you're not exploiting sites like YouTube, MySpace, ReverbNation, BandCamp, CraigsList and Facebook to find your following, you're missing out on the potential to reach hundreds, thousands or millions of people who might appreciate your creations.

Yes, it's slow and tedious work that at times seems like it's not bearing fruit, YET you must keep up on these basic principles because YOUR FUTURE is at stake. If you don't care about your FUTURE, then don't bother. Do you think when Meetallica was playing crummy gigs to get the word out, living in cockroach infested housing, they didn't realize "Each person you touch might become a fan". So, you don't have to sleep with bugs, you've got the internet to exterminate the insects and focus on building your business.

Below you will find links to some of the best musician resources on the internet. I will do my best to keep this list updated but with the nature of the internet, there are no guarantees that these sites are functioning from one day to the next.

If you have a link to a specifice resource, please send me a message via Squidoo and I'll add the link.