Unsigned Music Artists

1. Unsigned Music Artists

2. Entry Points
• In the modern day, there are so many ways for musicians that are
not signed to a record label to share their music and spread
themselves to a wider audience.

3. Social Media
• Social Media is arguably one of the most revolutionary inventions
of the modern day world.
• Today, through the use of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more
it’s so easy to share a message to hundreds or even thousands of
people.
• Nearly 2 billion people are on Facebook, which just shows how
easily a message can spread. Many bands use Facebook as an
initial starter platform to get their music out there before
branching out to other online platforms, such as Bandcamp and
SoundCloud.

4. SoundCloud
• SoundCloud is a platform that is growing all the time. It is
extremely popular for new, upcoming artists. Often, SoundCloud is
described as the ‘Facebook of Music’. Essentially many of the
same concepts can be used on both such as private messaging.
• However, with SoundCloud there is a much more music-based
focus as only audio tracks can be uploaded to your profile as
opposed to status updates, videos or images.
• Many musicians use it as a place to begin sharing their music as it
is free and easy to use and is checked regularly by people from big
record labels such as Sony & Universal.

5. YouTube
• Since it’s creation in February 2005, YouTube has become a huge part of our
society.
• So many musicians have been discovered through uploading videos to YouTube,
such as Carly Rae Jepsen, Greyson Chance, Cody Simpson & PSY.
• Such have been the success of these artists, that it has become a common
convention for record labels to search for the next big star on YouTube. It is very
common for upcoming artists to post covers or original songs on YouTube.
• Examples of popular unsigned stars that use YouTube as a platform are Noah
Guthrie, Julia Scheer and Lynzie Kent.
• Another common path for YouTubers to follow to earn a recording contract is
through TV Shows such as The X Factor and The Voice. They both invite
potential winners from platforms such as YouTube to participate in their shows.

6. Bandcamp
• Bandcamp is a privately-held company founded in 2007.
• The idea of this site is that unsigned artists can make money from selling their
music.
• For instance, the artists can upload their albums, share it on social media or
another platform and the audience can choose how much to pay for the album.
• Many artists choose to give their music away for free, but others give a
minimum price that people have to pay. This can have it’s pros and cons
however, because many people are not prepared to pay money for unsigned
artists that they know little about, which is why many people choose to give
them away for free.
• This can look good for record labels though because it shows that the artist
already has experience of selling and distributing their music.

7. Website
• It is very easy to create a website nowadays, using software such
as Wix, Jimdo and Weebly.
• Artists often use these to present more information about them,
advertise gigs, link to their other media platforms and sometimes
link to Bandcamp where the audience can buy their music.
• A website is a good way to compile all of the different information
that’s presented across the different media platforms. I also know
from personal experience that if you want to know anything about
an artist, the first point of call is usually the website, as it’s
expected to have all of the information that the audience would
need.

8. Radio
• Though radio is slowly becoming less and less popular, it is still a
strong platform for unsigned musicians to get their music out
there.
• Many local radio stations such as BBC Radio York, BBC Radio
Manchester invite local unsigned artists onto their shows to
perform and perhaps advertise any gigs that they have upcoming.
• Though it doesn’t usually stretch much further than the local
area, it’s a very good basis for getting the name of the artist
known within the community. It can then very easily spread from
there.