SHAMIR, BLÜ EYES, AND THE BRAZEN YOUTH SHARE ADVICE FOR INDIE ARTISTS

Nearly 300,000 songs come out every single week. While this means that it’s easier than ever for anyone who would like to put out music to do so, it also means that it’s never been harder for aspiring musicians when it comes to cutting through and building a fanbase. There are tons of new apps, companies promising playlist support, and a million articles on what to do written by self-proclaimed “experts.” It can be hard to figure out what to do or who to trust.

Well that ends here! We wanted to hear directly from indie artists who have been picking up traction, gaining fans organically, and successfully releasing music independently. After all, who would know better than those doing it extremely well?

So without further ado, advice for indie artists by indie artists!

SHAMIR

WE ARE: THE GUARD: When did you first start releasing music, and what did you do? How did it go?

SHAMIR: I first started releasing music as a solo artist back in 2014, but was releasing music via Bandcamp with my band in high school a few years before. We always got good feedback for our music despite being completely DIY.

WE ARE: THE GUARD: In your release process, what have you found to be successful?

SHAMIR: I've found that authenticity is key, when it comes to music, promotion, and visuals. I think people can feel when an artist is being inauthentic and it's pretty awkward for both parties.

WATG: In your release process, what have you found to maybe be less worth it?

SHAMIR: I didn't have a radio person on my last record, yet I had some of the most play on indie radio in a while. I think I'm an artist that probably will never have a big radio hit so I don't see the point for ME personally, but if I had the budget I don't see why it would hurt- but I'm 1000% independent so had to keep it small.

WATG: Has the way you promote your music changed due to COVID-19? If yes, how?

SHAMIR: Well definitely, I think we all had to adjust! I would've never shot and edited my own videos before COVID! I was really nervous no one would like it or it'll look like crap, but the positive responses made me more confident in my skills in that area.

WATG: Is there anything that you know now that you wish you would've known when you first started?

SHAMIR: That I had the capacity to take more on for myself. I've always had this deep DIY spirit, but I always had this diluted idea that if I do too much on my own the quality would suffer, but that's not fair not only to myself, but also the countless independent artists that are really taking everything into their own hands.

BLÜ EYES

WE ARE: THE GUARD: When did you first start releasing music, and what did you do? How did it go?

BLÜ EYES: I started *actually* releasing music a little less than a year ago. I released a song on May 20, 2020 called “Some Days” - didn't do anything fancy. Just uploaded for distribution through Distrokid, asked all my friends and family to pre-save it (only like 20 of which did lol), submitted to a few outlets via SubmitHub (got a lot of rejections lol), and set up some Facebook/Instagram ads (where I had a pretty low click-through rate). I was honestly quite happy with the response at the time, considering I was essentially starting from nothing. The song got around 30-40k streams on Spotify in the first month or so, and after that I started seeing some decent streams on the algorithmic playlist side of things. Even though the release itself wasn't spectacular, I definitely saw a lot of value in getting onto people's radars as an artist that produced my own songs. Releasing that first track opened up the door to a lot of new fans who were eager to hear the next one.

WE ARE: THE GUARD: In your release process, what have you found to be successful?

BLÜ EYES: Gonna be classic here, but TikTok. All the way. Like I said with my first release - and the next couple releases after that - I was spending around $1k per song in promotion costs, and getting around 50k streams on Spotify, which is not a real return on that kind of an investment. My last four releases, I've leaned super hard into posting on TikTok, spent $0 on traditional advertising, and seen around 200k Spotify streams per song within the first couple weeks alone. It's incredible. I've also really prioritized nurturing my community following on TikTok (doing daily livestreams, responding to comments regularly etc.), and it's turned into this really incredible, solid foundation of a fanbase that I've just never had before. It's really amazing.

WATG: In your release process, what have you found to maybe be less worth it?

BE: Honestly, just spending any kind of substantial money on PR campaigns, ads, "playlist promo," or blog features, especially in the early stages of your career. No knocks to the people that work in these fields, I think they're very valuable in keeping the fire burning once you've got some heat, but they're not always the most effective fire STARTERS. Not to go off on TikTok again, but it's SUCH an incredibly powerful resource that will bring your fans directly to you, and it costs nothing. The energy that those fans on TikTok will bring to your music is your fire starter. Once you've got some solid buzz around you, THEN I think it can make sense to start spending some money and keep the momentum going. The reality is, all the playlist curators, bloggers, etc. are all on Tiktok, and I PROMISE they will find you and reach out about featuring you if they really love your stuff. Keep in mind, I'm really truly just winging it every step of the way still lol and all of this can change SO fast, but this is just my experience as of today.

WATG: Has the way you promote your music changed due to COVID-19? If yes, how?

BE: Honestly, not really - it's just sharpened the importance of social media to me. Obviously social media has always been important, but right now it's LITERALLY the only resource we have to get people listening. I think also COVID-19 just psychologically changed my perspective on a lot of things, especially the importance of having an "image" and being "cool" etc. All that is garbage right now in my opinion. Yes, branding is important, but right now, people are craving REAL PEOPLE to connect with. So the more real you are on your socials, the more people are inclined to listen to your music. At least that is my experience.

WATG: Is there anything that you know now that you wish you would've known when you first started?

BE: SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT ABOUT POSTING PERFECT CONTENT - IT'S ABOUT DOCUMENTING YOUR PROCESS!!!! For so long, I despised social media because I thought that the lighting needed to be perfect, I needed to put on a full face of makeup, and my outfit had to look great in order for the post to matter, but THAT'S NOT TRUE. Like I said before, just being real and documenting your everyday process moving through this CRAZY world of being an independent artist is wayyyy more interesting to 99% of people than how perfect you look. Plus, you don't have to do anything differently really! Just capture on video/photo the things that you're already doing to move your career forward and I promise people will eat that shit up.

Oh also, another thing - push vs. pull marketing. You know when you see something that's clearly an ad, trying to get you to click something? That knee jerk reaction you feel to swipe right on by? That's push marketing - pushing something in your face saying “HEY HEY LOOK AT THIS GO BUY THIS.” Versus - “Hey, I made this today. I think it's pretty cool - what do you think??” That's something that PULLS you in, gets you interested, and gets you commenting, BEGGING for the link to click. THAT'S the method you want to use for your music. I swear, every time I post a video with a caption like "it's out now, go stream!" or "link is in my bio!" it flops SO HARD. But if I caption it "I wrote this song for anyone that feels lost sometimes like me," or "some thoughts today," those are the videos that blow up the most, because people like to feel like they found something on their own. Then, of course, I have to go respond to 1k comments asking where they can find the song, lol, but it's totally worth the effort.

WATG: Anything else you'd like to share?

BE: SHARE YOUR ART! Especially "unfinished" stuff that you're really vibing with. People loveeee unreleased content - it makes them feel special and “in on” your journey. And as an added bonus, by the time the song comes out, they already know all the words!! When you get to be Justin Bieber status - ok maybe then you can be precious with the stuff you're working on. But for now, who cares!! Share it with the world :) That's what music is for right? Plus!! Then you get to see what songs people really connect with before you even spend money on a final mix, master, cover art, etc. It's a win win win really. And also lastly have FUN, friends. That's what this whole crazy thing is about. We're not making life and death stressful decisions every day for work - we get to make MUSIC. How cool is that?!

THE BRAZEN YOUTH

WE ARE: THE GUARD: When did you first start releasing music, and what did you do? How did it go?

THE BRAZEN YOUTH: We first started releasing music when we were all in high school. Honestly, we had no idea what to expect. We always said that our 2016 release of The Ever Dying Bristlecone Man was kind of a test run to see if we were meant to be a band. However, we struck some luck and somehow got into the Spotify algorithm and it gave us all some hope that we could keep growing. Since then, we've just been doing DIY touring, and since COVID hit working on another project.

WE ARE: THE GUARD: In your release process, what have you found to be successful?

THE BRAZEN YOUTH: I'm not sure if there is a method to the madness. Targeted ads (even if you only have a little bit of funds) help. We used SubmitHub a couple times, too! I'd say that we grew the most through touring basically. After releasing The Ever Dying Bristlecone Man we released a couple more projects and toured on them immediately.

Touring was the best way for us to connect with fans and meet people face to face. It has given us an enormous amount of gratitude to know that people are listening to our music and want to see us play live. It’s super inspiring, you know? I think any artist can relate to this, as being listened to- and heard- is something everyone wants. So, when we’re able to share our music and know that we’re making an impact on people, that impact is also impacting us. It fills our hearts up and makes us want to hear each and everyone's story as we share ours on stage.

WATG: In your release process, what have you found to maybe be less worth it?

BY: You know, I think if you're an independent artist, working with a PR company might not be the best move. I think that self promotion and doing your best at running your social media is going to be your best bet at the end of the day. I think working with a PR company has to come much later, or else it could be a waste of money. Then again, it could also be very good. It's kind of situation by situation, so I'd just recommend being wary of how much they're asking for.

WATG: Has the way you promote your music changed due to COVID-19? If yes, how?

BY: Yes, simply we're not touring. Even our social media presence has slowed down a little bit. It's very hard to keep up in this secluded environment, but like everyone we're still doing our best.

WATG: Is there anything that you know now that you wish you would've known when you first started?

BY: Don't be afraid to wing it at first. Your release plan will develop as you release more music, especially as you begin to grow and learn more- not only as an artist, but as a person, too. The idea of releasing music can be much easier than one might think. It only takes a bit of research and your willingness to put yourself out there to get started.

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Well friends, we hope that this has been helpful. Being an independent artist is extremely hard work, but with the right mindset and tools, you can set yourself up for success. A huge thank you to Shamir, BLÜ EYES, and The Brazen Youth for sharing their wisdom on how to release music. Stream their music!!!!!

Arielle Tindel is from Cleveland, Ohio. She recently graduated from Berklee College of Music with degrees in Music Business Marketing and Songwriting. In her free time, Arielle can be found gardening or playing bass.