Introduction
My main aspiration in life is to become an independent artist, who performs live, writes, produces and releases music. That is the ultimate dream for me, though I am aware that there is a lot of other work that must be done to facilitate this ambition. In this portfolio, I will be exploring the aspects that go into crafting such a career, including training, finance, copyright, marketing and why I believe that there are many advantages to being a self-employed/semi-independent creative, that lead to an enriched and purposeful life.
Qualifications, Experience and Skills
There are no academic qualifications that are compulsory to be an independent artist – however there are many advantages that come with a music degree, particularly one acquired in a practical conservatoire environment. Throughout your training you have access to lots of equipment, advice from professionals and the opportunity to make connections with other musicians. It is very rare that so many people aspiring for the same profession are found in abundance in the same space, so degree-level training in that way is quite unique. That being said, conservatoire training does not guarantee a successful career as a musical artist. You must be, of course, be musically developed, skilled and original to attract attention and build an audience. Furthermore, it is highly unlikely that I will be able to sustain myself solely from my artistic work, so having a degree will qualify me to pick up other music-related jobs to make a living such as teaching or writing to brief.
Marketing
You cannot talk about artist marketing in the music industry without bringing up record labels, and there are two types of them: major record labels and independent record labels. The main job of the record label is to ensure music of their artists is marketed, distributed and sold so that they can make a profit. The avenue you go down in terms of a label should be influenced by your own preferences and goals as an artist as the two types have different strengths.
Major record labels are rich companies that have international connections for publishing and distribution. All major record labels are subdivisions of “the big three” which are: Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group. Musicians signed to these labels are backed by big international teams doing the promotional and visual legwork for them. They also have million-dollar budgets behind their projects that allow them to hire the top producers, studios and session players in the industry for their tracks. However, the contracts for deals with major record labels are notoriously unfair and controlling. The most traditional deal is called “The Royalty Deal”. The musician is paid a sum of money known as the ‘artist advance’ to cover living expenses, and there is an agreed budget for recording and marketing with a royalty split – the artist receiving around 18-20%. The catch is that before a musician can make a penny, they must recoup what the label has invested solely through their percentage and with that usually being a very large sum of money it can leave creatives trapped in a deal where they have a huge debt they will never be able to pay back and no autonomy over their own work.
The alternatives are either signing with an independent label or going fully independent. Independent labels usually have smaller teams and only work with a handful of artists. They have significantly less money than the major labels, however, they are still able to market their artists using more grassroots local connections. Usually, indie labels offer what is called “The Net Profit Deal” which is far more artist friendly than The Royalty Deal. In this deal the royalty split is 50/50, and the investment must be recouped before anyone starts receiving royalties (including the label!). This means that artists pay their debt and profit off their work much faster. Personally, I would only ever consider signing with an independent label as I feel the advantages of major labels do not outweigh the disadvantages and it is not my aim to be ‘pop star famous’. I want my music to be listened to and received by an audience which is why I would need some sort of support in terms of marketing, but I would be satisfied with just having a modest loyal fanbase that allows me to sustain myself at least partially through music. My control and authority over my work is very important to me and I could never sacrifice that in the effort to ‘make it big’.
The third option of course is to be completely independent, which sounds scary but there are lots of resources and grants out there to help struggling musicians, for example the youth music ‘next gen fund’. These won’t carry you through your project, but they are a welcome financial catalyst that provide funding for album and ep campaigns, music videos, equipment and budgets for session musicians – like a record deal budget on a small scale. It’s important to have a website so that you can be found and represented, and to make connections in real life organising gigs, opening for other musicians and getting as involved in the music scene as you can so that people know who you are and what it’s like to work with you. It is difficult, but the fact that you are doing the legwork means that you reap all the benefits financially and are avoiding huge debt. It also means that you can be represented to your audience in the exact way you want, not in the way a major label thinks would make the most money.
Working Responsibilities
Being an independent artist is great in terms of control, freedom and flexibility – however the price you pay for that is a lot of work. Whereas under a major label, there are entire teams for marketing, touring, social media and music videos, when you are independent all that work falls into your own lap. You oversee your social media presence and visuals, you have to be your own manager and reach out to venues to coordinate gigs. It’s either you do it yourself, or you pay someone else to do it – which when you’re first starting out is a prospect far out of reach. An advantage of this is that you have variety, different tasks to keep you interested – however the downside is the fact that you must sacrifice lots of time and money you would rather spend on spend creating art, to do boring admin tasks.
Being an independent artist also means being self-employed. You don’t get the same entitlements that you would in the average 9 to 5. This means that added to the list of responsibilities, you must manage your pension, holidays (no sick pay) and taxes. As a self-employed person, you are entitled still to claim expenses – which is really important as a musician. Often the life of a musician relies on the ownership of expensive equipment and travelling for jobs and gigs. This is a necessary requirement of the career, so it would be unfair to expect musicians to pay for this all on their own. You can claim money back from the government yearly for all sorts of things such as: phone bills, train/bus fares, petrol, training courses, etc.
It is very rare that someone can make a living simply from being an independent artist, so it is likely that I will have to consider what is known as a ‘portfolio career’. This is a very common structure for self-employment, in which people take on lots of freelance jobs in order to facilitate their creative passion. For me, if I wanted to keep my career strictly musical, these jobs would likely consist of: vocal tuition, session backing vocalist, writing for other artists and writing for media. However, it is also an option to have a non-musical job alongside your artistic work – it’s all comes down to personal preference.
Financial and Legal Aspects
Artists generally have three main revenue streams: gigging, royalites/ copyright and merchandise. The advantage of being independent is that the money made from these will not be diluted by a major label – especially if you write, produce and play yourself. There are two aspects to a song that can be copyrighted as it is considered intellectual property, and they are the ‘publishing rights’ and the ‘master rights’. The publishing rights are in regard to the actual composition and belong to the publisher and author of the work. They are protected until 70 years after their death. On the other hand, the master rights involve the copyright protection of the recording itself. These usually end up belonging to the label (if there is one involved) and are protected until 70 years after release. Again, the advantage of being an independent artist, is that you will own both the publishing rights and the master rights of your work. Royalties and Copyright are managed by the Performing Right Society (PRS) and Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS). If a songwriter is a member of PRS, they will receive royalties when their registered songs are played on TV, broadcast on the radio, performed live or even played as a recording in public. This is because under UK Copyright Law, creative work is automatically protected with no need for registration, so long as it is recorded in a material form. PRS provides MCPS (Mechanical Copyright Protection Society), with administrative services and together they ensure that the owners of copyrighted works receive the royalties generated from their use. PRS pay members when their work is played to the public, and MCPS take care of money made when the work is copied (e.g. CDs). PPL on the other hand takes care of royalties mainly for performers, when the work is broadcast in some form. The money made is split between the performers on the track and the master rights holder – and as an independent artist if you are the master rights owner then that means that you will receive the majority of the royalties generated.
Another revenue of income is, of course, gigs. According to the musicians union, the national gig rate for performances up to 3 hours in gigs and pubs is £154.40 per musician. If you make sure to organise gigs regularly, that can contribute a decent chunk to your living costs. As mentioned above, the career of a working musician involves a lot of compromise so it’s important to remember that gigs don’t always have to be you as an artist. You can make money in a function band or doing backing vocals or accompanying another artist and all this contributes not only to your income but is also an opportunity for networking and making connections and friendships within the industry.
Development and Progression
It is difficult to say what the trajectory of an artist will be. The career of a freelance musician allows so much flexibility you can switch up what you’re doing depending on how your interests and skill sets develop. As you navigate the industry, different opportunities come up, and you have to try everything at least once even if it’s so that you know to never take that sort of job again. Regardless of whether you ‘make it big’ or not, you will still develop as a person and artist which is the most important thing. At the end of the day, you are doing something that inspires you and enriches your life. Yes it’s a risk that comes with hardships and complications, but I would personally rather try than resign myself to a 9 to 5 that I know will make me miserable.
Bibliography
Pastukhov, D. (2019)A hard look at how record companies make money: royalty splits, types of record deals and the label business model. Available online: https://soundcharts.com/blog/splits-and-profits-record-deals-analysis
[Accessed 07/01/2025]
Icon Collective. (2025) Indie vs. major record labels: which is right for you? Available online: https://www.iconcollective.edu/indie-vs-major-record-labels
[Accessed 07/01/2025]
Create/OS. (2021) Record deal simulator. Available online: https://dealsim.createos.app/ [Accessed 08/01/2025]
PRS For Music. (2025) Prs for music. Available online: https://www.prsformusic.com/ [Accessed 04/01/2025]
PPL. (2025) What we do. Available online: https://www.ppluk.com/what-we-do/ [Accessed 04/01/2025]
Musicians’ Union. (2024) Live engagement rate of pay. Available online: https://musiciansunion.org.uk/working-performing/gigs-and-live-performances/live-engagement-rates-of-pay [Accessed 04/01/2025]
Government UK. (2024) Expenses if you’re self-employed. Available online: https://www.gov.uk/expenses-if-youre-self-employed [Accessed 08/01/2025]
