NETWORKING IS A MUST

NETWORKING IS A MUST

“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.”
I’m sure you have heard that saying before from a superior about getting a good job and the same principle applies in the music industry. Networking is a must for indie artists because it allows artists to branch out in many ways and also helps keep spending down through the barter system.

Whether you realize it or not, other musicians in your area are competition. Meaning that the more successful musicians there are in a region, the harder it is for up-and-comers to bridge the gap. However, having competition isn’t a completely bad thing either. Here is a list of what artists can do to create benefits by networking with competitors.

1. Barter –

When trying to minimize costs when producing music, many bands choose to adopt a DIY philosophy which keeps all the production in-house which provides all the necessities either free of charge or a lot lower than getting work done elsewhere.

For example, hip-hop artists need beats and many artists save money by making beats themselves. Often this economically friendly approach saves money, but leads to a sacrifice in quality. I have found that the best producers, audio engineers, graphic artists, etc are the ones who can focus on doing what they do best. Recording drums on a $100 condenser mic stationed in a garage for a rock band will never sound as good as the $50 an hour session in a professional studio.

Paying for everything also has flaws especially for indie artists who struggle to make their craft profitable considering the hours spent in the studio. This is why trading in-house services that you are good at to another for their services can benefit both parties. That way your band can spend more time focusing and improving on what they do best while not having to pay for the other services.

2. Collaborate –

Collaborating is very similar to bartering, but is more mutual. For example, a famous collaboration was the Jay-Z and Linkin Park collaboration which fused hip-hop and rock musical styles. Collabs are useful because it not only allows artists to mesh with each other, but attracts artists’ fanbases to each other. The die-hard Linkin Park fans who never really got into Jay-Z by themselves were more likely to give his music a chance after the collab.

On an indie level, the key to collaborating is to focus on getting collabs with artists who are at your level in quality or higher. Collaborating with less known artists has less benefits and usually yields lesser quality music. This is why more successful artists usually charge for collaborations. Charging $1,000 to $10,000 depending on the artist may seem excessive to some, but some artists may actually make their money back by the popularity of the song. For example, paying $10,000 to get T-Pain on a chorus would most likely grant radio play and would boost ITunes sales for customers searching for T-Pain songs.

Networking is beneficial for artists of all levels since it enables them to branch out and minimize costs while attracting fanbases that are unfamiliar with your music.