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What Does Independent Mean? (Music Business Advice For Independent Artists)

3,988 views · Published 1 September 2017 · 9:30 · Indexed 23 October 2026

Channel: Prestley Snipes · 2017 · Education

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What does it mean to be independent? Are you an independent artist? Do you have an independent label? If you follow all the rules in my book, you may have several record labels calling your phone looking to sign you or your act. Being independent is really a blessing, if you are fortunate enough to be able to generate monthly revenue from your music and pay your bills. Any record deal that you sign will come with some sort of compromise. If you aren’t willing to compromise, then you shouldn’t get into agreements with other people and other businesses. When you are independent, you really cannot fail. Any profit made, is a win. You become somewhat of a slave to the label when you owe them millions of dollars. I personally would not want to owe anyone millions, unless I was 100% sure that I could generate it back. Think about this. Would you rather take $2 million dollars and owe someone, or would you rather earn $2 million dollars on your own time and not owe anyone? This is what you must consider before signing a record deal. Are you mentally in the position to handle a large amount of money and is your brand strong enough to make the labels investment in you worthwhile? You must think about this before you sign a deal because if things don’t go as planned, you could end up at the record label’s mercy.

You have to use your best judgment before signing a recording contract. Upon signing a record deal, you are typically giving up rights and control of your music. Usually you give up a percentage of control in your master recordings, copyright, publishing and often times, you may be giving up some creative control. Record companies aren’t just giving you money because they like you, they are loaning you money to create a project, with hopes of them earning a profit on the money they loaned you. If you ever hear an artist say, “they got an advance”, that means that a record label loaned that artist some money to produce new projects.  New pressure also comes with signing with a major label. If you don’t live up to the expectations of your success, it may compromise your brand.

This is an excerpt from Chapter 15: Getting A Record Deal... Or Do You Really Need One from my book "How To Make It In The Music Business: Using Social Media Marketing To Build A Large Following" for Music Business advice which will help you succeed! 

The book will teach you how to successfully start marketing your brand online. The book covers all aspects of being successful in online branding, not just the music business. Various topics are covered such as: Starting an LLC, Getting Your Music in All Digital Music Stores, Social Media Marketing, 360 Record Deals and Contracts, Entertainment Lawyers, Split Sheets, Online Marketing, Advertising and Going Viral, Publishing, Building Successful YouTube Channels and Gaining Millions of Subscribers, Getting Major Record Deals, Starting a Record Label, Publishing Deals, Royalties, PROs, Instagram & Twitter Marketing, How To Properly Use Social Media, The Rise of Streaming Music and More! Learn how to stay relevant in the New Age Digital Music & Entertainment Business by reading this book! Ousala is a Grammy Nominated Songwriter and Publisher from Brooklyn, NY. He is the author of “How To Make It In The Music Business: Using Social Media Marketing To Build A Large Following”. Ousala started his career in entertainment as a filmmaker and was titled “most depraved director in New York” by NY Daily News after producing the controversial “Criminals Gone Wild” documentary in 2007. In 2008, Ousala contributed in the production of The History Channel show, “Gangland”. Ousala began working in the music industry as an artist manager and publisher in 2011. Within three years, Ousala’s first artist management project became a huge success. By 2014, Ousala secured his artist a major publishing deal as well as a major recording deal after co-writing a #1 Billboard hit song, which was later Nominated for a Grammy Award. In 2016, Ousala was honored at the 29th Annual ASCAP Rhythm And Soul Music Awards for “Tuesday”, which was among the top ASCAP songs on the 2015 year-end charts. Ousala’s work has appeared in The Washington Post, New York Magazine, The Fader, XXL, The Source, Mass Appeal, among others; he has also appeared as a guest on Fox News programs including “The O’Reilly Factor”, “Geraldo At Large”, CNN’s “Out In The Open with Rick Sanchez” and HBO documentary "Noisey: Atlanta".

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