The Monday Mix - Managing Financial Distress As An Indie Musician

This will be the last Monday Mix article of 2014. We've had a great year, and we'd like to close out the year by empowering our indie music readers.

If you're an indie musician, probably the best way to judge your current financial situation is to simply look into your refrigerator or cupboards. I don't have to get too detailed, but I'm sure your diet consists of a lot of non-perishables and that your provisional inventory represents the extremely frugal side of your financial management strategy.

The fact is, "indie musician" is a tough racket. As a livelihood, music eats at our two most important commodities: time and money. Managing your career and all of its components can eat up years of your life, and there's a paradox of sorts: from a career objective, it seems as things move far too slowly, but from your financial management objective, things move far too quickly. Gear and transportation expenses, studio space and recording time, heck, even an uncontrollable amount of incidentals eat away at your savings and often lead to insurmountable debt.

That indie music's financial model is horribly broken is not a recent development. Music doesn't sell like it did ten years ago, merch doesn't move like it did ten years ago, and stored inventory represents a greater lag on your expenses than ever before. You find yourself discounting items, or giving away free music, with little recoup on your initial investment. It becomes a perpetuating and self-sustaining cycle of loss. It's gut-wrenching and willpower killing. I get it. I really do.

That music as a whole is forever tightening its belt isn't helping, and the end game is that niche music is realistically being squeezed into extinction by decisions that are made to advance the balance sheets of your mainstream competition. And that probably hurts the worst, that corporate downsizing is preventing you from even entering into the business model with even the tiniest advantage. You're talent is not in question, but in a corporate space that offers diminishing financial returns and fewer opportunities, talent alone has nothing to do with what is truly becoming a two-outcome career choice.

Water cooler talk regarding niche, indie music tends toward the negative. It’s easy to bemoan the current state of affairs or blame the decision makers for lack of foresight and suppression of creativity. Music has always found a way to trip over itself and depress revenue streams, and has fought piracy and advances in technology since the early days of illegally shared sheet music.

True fact: the accordion was once the most popular selling musical instrument in the world.

And while it is borderline emotional deflection to blame digital piracy, monopolistic broadcasting entities, evolving, ease-of-use technology or the predatory major record labels, it does nothing to boost your career or your financial efficiency. Accepting the prognosis means accepting death. It’s time to discuss treatments.

Even though we ain't got money, I'm so in love with you honey...

Let's stop romanticizing the persona of the starving artist. It only serves to perpetuate the reality. Music is your career. You can tell me that you're in it for the art but the truth is that art doesn't pay the bills and if that is your attitude it is usually enough to stifle your career. Nobody is asking you to sell out, but wouldn't it be nice to sell something?

And I'm not talking about a good night at a local venue or music festival where you move 25 units at little or no profit from your merch table. I'm taking about numbers that provide enough inertia to accelerate your indie music, niche business model.

Easier said than done. I know. My point is that it is easy to fall into the trap of the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Financing a music career is not a cheap endeavor. At some point you have to stop the bleeding or it's over. You are a business. Act like one. Do not disburse cash after each show to band members or use the little that you've made buying alcohol. Set the money aside as seed money for your burgeoning corporation. If you have a good week or a good month, disburse dividends to band members. It’s important to remember that each person in your band is a stakeholder in your business. That means expenses are covered and profits are re-invested before dividends are disbursed. You have to cover your costs first. If you do not, your resources will dry up and so will your business model.

Time is on my side, yes it is...

No it is not. Let me preface it by saying that I don't subscribe to the postulate that once you've reached a certain age your opportunities for mainstream success rapidly diminish. Good music is good music, and consumers will flock to good music no matter the age of the recording artist. Thirteen year old kids are still digging on Led Zeppelin. Robert Plant is 66 years old. Talent is talent and if you possess talent that doesn't change your timeline.

But time itself changes your timeline. At some point in your career you are going to have to decide if music is really the right career path for you. Your finances will figure tremendously into that decision.

Gigantic, gigantic, gigantic, a big, big love...

Put yourself out there. Tart it up a little. Or a lot. I read a great article on Forbes.com this morning:

Look at how we discover music now. It’s as easy as turning on your computer. There are literally hundreds of sites where you can make your own radio stations, create playlists, listen to streams of music built around your mood, your favorite song, a single word. We put the name of a band into a search bar and get a list of similar bands within seconds. A minute later you’re listening to a string of songs from bands you never heard before. It’s the drive-through of music; pull up, order and leave. There’s less of a tendency to linger on one band, less of a chance to become attached or devoted to a performer the way it happened when listening options were more limited.

Says producer/mixer/engineer Jonathan Wyman: ”The sheer amount of music that comes out now makes it difficult to keep up with new music. I’m 100% for the democratization of music recording and am not a major label sympathizer, but keeping up with and separating the wheat from the chaff in new music is daunting. The listener is faced with a constant barrage of new stimulus, and it’s hard to wade through it. I’m sometimes paralyzed in a pre-caffeinated haze in the morning, trying to figure out something to listen to while I walk my dog.”
-- Forbes Magazine, Where Have All The Rock Stars Gone? by Michele Catalano, publish date: 02/28/2013

Big obstacle. And I get to use my favorite phrase -- standing out in an over-saturated space is like screaming into a tornado. Nobody can hear you. So you have to put yourself out there. For many bands, their marketing cycle never comes full circle. You record new music. You look for gigs. You send out a few press kits. That's it. Why half-ass it? You don't get to be the prom queen by staying safely within your dedicated peer group. Be bold.

Here's the deal. The millenials are an incredibly privileged generation. For most members of this predominately marketed-to demographic, just surfing the net is too much to ask of those individuals, which is why services like Spotify, Pandora and Songza cater perfectly to their whims. The discovery process has become an aggregated, spoon feeding process. Millenials are absorbing curated song lists but in most cases no single band is defining the experience or the space.

Your spare time should be spent getting your music out to indie music blogs, streaming radio stations and popular music review sites. There aren't many independent radio stations left and many non-com college radio stations are converting to big music media distribution. Popularize yourself a bit by forcing yourself on the millenials.

If I could stick my pen in my heart and spill it all over the stage...

Freak it up a little too. Dare to be different. Innovate. I couldn't morally suggest committing suicide on stage with a Mont Blanc writing instrument in some occult-like ritual, but, there is this to consider: The legendary proto-industrial group COIL mastered the freak-marketing tactic, pressing limited-run vinyl with such accoutrements as drops of the band members’ blood. Collectors still pursue them.

Nothing says "buy me now" like limited editions. Sure, you're taking a chance, but you know your audience quite well. Cater to them. Woo them with must have items. Nobody wants a CD anymore. But if you're sitting on a stack of dusty, non-moving long players, why not customize them with numbered drawings or personalized cover art?

I love the city of Seattle, for example. In addition to a truly eclectic and happening underground music scene, Seattle has many amazing art and photography exhibits. But, what really catches my eye is all the downtown graffiti. It takes ordinary buildings, brick walls and park benches and makes them one-of-a-kind works of art that are lost forever once the city cleans them up, leaving a blank canvas for the street-roaming, spray-painting artistic congregation to re-imagine underground art for the entire commuter population. Do likewise.

There are more novel ways to escape the confines of traditional CDs-and-shirts merchandise. Jack White has turned unusual merch into a cottage industry; at this point, he could probably make a living just selling liquid-filled 45s on eBay.

Hey buddy, can you spare a dime?

If you don't know about crowd sourcing you are lagging the field too, too far to compete.

I love Kickstarter and Indie Go Go personally. But most of the crowd sourcing sites are great ways to minimize, if not completely eliminate, the bulk of recording and/or touring expenses. Use them wisely, but use them. Nobody likes a beggar, but your supporters do like to feel fully invested in your career arc.

Crowd funding gives fans and listeners verifiable opportunity to participate in your career in a much more personal space than just between their headphones. It also eliminates the "I don't like them anymore because everybody likes them now" faction. Once someone has monetarily invested in your career, you have connected with that fan in a way that it becomes a lifetime commitment. That's the psychology behind crowd funding. Crowd sourcing habituates the contributor, creating a nearly unbreakable continuance. I've seen it proven over and over.

I'm on Easy...Easy Street

The new financial model for indie bands, to the extent that one exists, is a modular one. Different approaches will suit different bands and different needs.

For the foreseeable future, it will be challenging and complicated for independent bands to do their thing without committing financial suicide. That’s a bitter pill, but even the angriest discontents of the current state of affairs would likely agree that it’s worth swallowing. Just be smart about it. A penny saved is truly a penny earned. You chose your career and only you can successfully navigate it from point A to point B to points C, D and E and beyond. Managing your finances, recognizing the realities of limitation and seizing opportunity when it presents itself are key. We've heard countless times that we make our own luck. In a business where success relies on luck in such a paramount way, it is important to utilize that concept fully.

Happy Holidays, and thanks for reading.

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK

Sadnecessary by Milky Chance



Purchase: Amazon | iTunes
Stream: Soundcloud

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Sirens by Hydrogen Child (formerly Super Water Sympathy)



ABOUT THE MONDAY MIX

Programming Note: Monday Mix Playlists now run for two consecutive weeks in an effort to double the exposure for our indie artists, and because we have had a number of requests for people who miss the show. Also, the Monday Mix will re-air at Midnight CST each Monday night.

The Monday Mix airs from Noon to 5:30PM CDT each Monday and is designed to help you get through that brutal after-lunch, energy-sucking span that kicks off every work week. This particular show will be a mix of old, deep album cuts and new indie music with a lot of genre crossover. No Adele. Sorry.

What else does The Monday Mix do? Well, it helps you discover new indie music by combining some really great under the radar tracks with more established songs that were, once in fact, under the radar as well. The hope here is that the culture shock of discovering your next favorite band won't be so enormously imposing if we surround the new stuff with some of your old, familiar friends.

Jivewired supports independent musicians by paying royalties for airplay on Jivewired Radio. Please help us support indie artists by listening to our station and by purchasing indie music. Thank you. The links on the radio player will give you download options if you really dig on the music and some of the songs are offered for free.

To listen, just press play on the following radio widget or use this link to open in a new window that will allow you to listen when you navigate away from this page:

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MONDAY MIX PLAYLIST FOR 08 DECEMBER 2014

1. Set Me Free by Left On Red
2. Wrapped Around Her Finger by Mikey Ohlin
3. Save Me by Jeff Campbell
4. Cecilia and the Satellite by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
5. Hang Me Up To Dry by Cold War Kids
6. Hold That Thought by Ben Folds Five
7. Skinny Love by Bon Iver
8. Stolen Dance by Milky Chance
9. bad_news by Bastille
10. Cool Kids by Echosmith
11. Between You & Me by Cary Morin
12. Open Season by High Highs
13. Chartjunk by Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
14. Ghost by Halsey
15. The Fall by Rhye
16. The Hard Way by Massy Ferguson feat. Zoe Muth
17. Good Change by The Big O Trio
18. Brighten It Up by Matt Stansberry & The Romance
19. Ex's and Oh's by Elle King
20. Falling by HAIM
21. Downpour by Lovebettie
22. Colorful Kids by Ha Ha Tonka
23. Final Clap Fever by Gram Rabbit
24. Radio Radio by Elvis Costello & The Attractions
25. Runaway by Mr. Little Jeans
26. California by Hydra Melody
27. For You by Josh Garrels
28. Crash by Whitney Monge
29. Tell You Somethin' 'Bout Yourself by The Nick Moss Band
30. Like You Do by Jay Stolar
31. Go On, Say It by Blind Pilot
32. Letters From The Sky by Civil Twilight
33. The Race by Caroline Pennell
34. Don't Worry 'Bout Us by Julia Massey & The Five Finger Discount
35. Butternut by Hugh Bob & The Hustle
36. Some Rivers by Munk Duane
37. Stay by Sheila Swift
38. Hold On by Alabama Shakes
39. A Token Of The Wreckage by Megan Slankard
40. Neverending Math Equation by Sun Kil Moon
41. Digital Witness by St. Vincent
42. Knocked Up Cheerleader by Low Litas
43. Assume The Position by Lafayette Gilchrist
44. Gooey by Glass Animals
45. Summer Nights by Iration
46. Nothing Left To Burn by Hip Kitty
47. If Raymond Carver Was Born In The 90s by Library Voices
48. Serpents by Sharon Van Etten
49. Four Walls by Broods
50. All Your Gold by Bat For Lashes
51. San Francisco by Brett Dennen
52. Can't Change Me by Lydia Loveless
53. Little Bit Of Somethin' by Emma Lane
54. Little Too Late by Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers
55. Nothing But Our Love by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.
56. Big Dream by Desi & Cody
57. Give It Time by Eric Lindell
58. Milwaukee Man by Hugh Bob & The Hustle
59. Blood Red Youth by California Wives
60. 1901 by Phoenix
61. Some Place by Nick Waterhouse
62. The High Road by Broken Bells
63. Big Love by Matthew E. White
64. The Woodpile by Frightened Rabbit
65. You Haunt Me by Sir Sly
66. Until We Get There by Lucius
67. Steal Your Face by Goldenboy
68. Your Own Ghost by Gold Motel
69. On Blue Mountain by Foxygen
70. Parted Ways by Heartless Bastards
71. Friends Of Friends by Hospitality
72. Dark Doo Wop by MS MR
73. If You Were Here by Cary Brothers
74. Everything You Took by Lee Bains II & Gloryfires
75. I Think I Like You by Sirens
76. Too Many by Drowning Clowns
77. Push (Get It All Mix) by SPC ECHO
78. Greatest Lovers by Luke Sital-Singh
79. Tokyo Sunrise by LP
80. 100 Yard Dash by Raphael Saadiq
81. Put A Light On by Generationals
82. Inhaler by Foals