What Does It Take to Be a Successful Independent Artist?
My goal in life is to live off a career as an artist, as writing music and performing is what drives me. I want to create a successful career outside of the major-label system, which I believe operates in ways that limit artistic control, placing commercial interests above fair and ethical treatment. Luckily, in today’s digital age, us artists no longer need to rely on major-labels to build successful careers. Now more than ever, we can share our work anywhere online, connect with wider audiences, and grow on our own terms. Despite this freedom coming with many challenges, it offers a sustainable path forward; one rooted in creativity, community support, and long-term development. This essay explores what it means to be an independent artist today, and how career sustainability can be achieved in an evolving creative industry.
A Career Without a Set Path
Most professions require qualifications, but independent artistry has no specific entry point. What matters most is experience and having passion to ensure ongoing development. A successful independent artist could have had a musical education through conservatoire courses, while others can be entirely self-taught, developing their craft through curiosity and experimentation. Other successful independent artists can go from performing at open-mics to small indie venues to then eventually selling out big venues, or from my own observations since the Covid-19 outbreak, simply writing songs in their bedrooms and posting them online to platforms like TikTok or Instagram. However, it won’t take just one of these experiences to create a successful career, but instead a combination of multiple experiences to build skill, resilience, and authenticity; qualities that a burst of inspiration or vitality can’t sustain over time. (K. Anders Ericsson, Ralf Th. Krampe, Clemens Tesch-Romer, 1993:365-367). I’ve been writing my own songs for nearly a decade, yet it’s only in recent years that I’ve come to recognise who I am as an artist and creator, and to understand why the things that move me do.
I remember some of the first songs I wrote; all I had to go off was what inspired me, as I was still in the very early stages of learning how to write. Indie-rock artist Beabadoobee’s early career mirrors this stage of artistic development; Her first-ever song, “Coffee” was written guided more by instinct and inspiration than by technical skill, using basic chords from one of her favourite songs when first learning guitar Elijah Shinnick (2023) This raw authenticity is what made her go viral after uploading it online. However, while this moment of visibility kickstarted the beginning of her career, it was not the reason for her long-term success. Instead, her continued growth as an artist and dedication to refining her craft led to a massive fanbase, critically-acclaimed albums, world-wide tours, and eventually a major-independent label deal with Dirty Hit (Shinnick, 2023). Her story proves that formal musical training isn’t always essential, as authenticity and inspiration can be enough to begin a career. It was her dedication to consistency with examples like regular releases, frequent posting, live performances, and collaboration that made her one of the biggest names in the indie-scene.
In contrast, R&B/Soul singer Sasha Keeble’s rise took her over a decade. Behind the scenes she spent years perfecting her craft and songwriting abilities, not in the limelight like Beabadoobee. It wasn’t until2024, her single “Hold Up” went viral on TikTok, which is what revived her career in what she described as a whirlwind, records Sophie Lou Wilson (2 October 2025). She now has over 1.5 million monthly Spotify listeners and is a big name in the UK R&B / Soul scene. These juxtaposing career journeys prove how there is not one defining path to becoming a successful independent artist. There are infinite ways in, but it’s the years of dedicated experience whilst staying true to yourself and your inspirations that will ultimately lead you to success.
Qualities that Build Success
I know that I will continue to have endless valuable experiences throughout my independent artist career, but it is the qualities I gain and develop from these experiences that will lead to long-term, sustainable success.
Community is one of the most crucial foundations of the independent scene, and learning how to build and maintain one is an important quality for success. The term networking shouldn’t be seen as a business tactic, I prefer to think of it as a way to create an indie-ecosystem that thrives on collaboration, sharing resources, and mutual promotion. As Bri Clark (2025) explains, community “helps grow your audience and gives new opportunities”. This reinforces that success is not achieved alone, but through meaningful connections that support independent artistic survival.
Having a strong network helps artists stay grounded in an industry where everyone aims for success. Kindness and reliability often lead to more opportunities than skill alone, as in today’s world that’s dominated by algorithms, genuine relationships remain our greatest anchor. This reminds me that how I treat others, both creatively and professionally, is just as important as the music I make.
In 2025, I got the opportunity to speak with three head A&Rs at Warner Records about what attracts them to new artists. Despite them being a part of a major-record label, I asked questions focused on what makes an artist successful, with the intent to gain professional industry opinions to apply into my own independent development. The first A&R (2025) emphasised the importance of community, saying he always looks at “the community in which they are part of” first when scouting for artists, explaining how an artist’s authenticity and cultural relevance indicate that their music resonates beyond talent. This insight helped me recognise that even from an industry perspective, success is closely tied to connection and cultural relevance rather than singular ability.
Gigging is another factor that strengthens community and develops consistency, both of which are essential for success. A&R 3 (2025) explained that live shows help artists reach new listeners, and performing alongside others increases exposure (Icon Collective, 2019). This encourages me to continue using live performance as a way of strengthening both my community, and confidence as a performer.
Another key quality for success is the ability to adapt to rapid industry changes whilst staying true to your artist-identity. Indie-folk artist Searows highlights this balance through his career development. A clip of his song “House Song” went viral in 2023, which then boosted his following debut album Guard Dog. Yet, he maintained his distinctive “stereotypically pacific northwest” sound he says in an interview with Elliot Hoste (2023), and despite being shoved into the limelight, he didn’t let the algorithm or current trends persuade his sound. By the time TikTok helped him reach hundreds of thousands of new listeners, he had already spent years writing and producing in his bedroom, developing his craft to be where he is today. In reference to A&R 2 (2025), “artists aren’t breaking out by going venue to venue anymore”: this adaptation to social media is what now helps build global fanbases.
Another example of DIY virality is indie chamber-pop artist Erin LeCount. Her creative brand that expresses themes of religious trauma and coming-of-age provide her audience with an identity to relate to besides the music. This and regular posting earned her hundreds of thousands of followers online within a year. This DIY content is a quality that grew her appeal, as raw content often performs better than polished music videos due to the psychological effect of feeling more discoverable and personal to audiences, as explained by Burstimo (2024). In an interview with Teen Vogue, she said, “I think it’s the first time that I’ve been aware that there are people actively engaging and listening” to her music (Erin LeCount, 2025).
This shows me that viral success does not demand expensive production but being able to understand marketing psychology and creative branding. JensTheGuru (2025) explains that effective music marketing prioritises identity over promotion: Audiences often connect with the artist’s story first, and then the music.
Successful independent artistry demands a wide range of qualities, some that we have already looked at, but I believe that overall, passion is the foundation and key quality that supports each of them. Passion feeds into resilience, creativity, curiosity, independence, experimentation, and so on, turning continuous effort into habit and painting challenges into lessons. Without passion, the workload becomes overwhelming, but with it, the process becomes exciting exploration. Luckily, passion is almost impossible to avoid as an independent artist; why else would you be making music if passion wasn’t at the core?
This is where resilience forms, which is essential when facing the industry’s inevitable setbacks. Steve Luck (2024) stresses that artists need to bounce back from disappointments like low streams or slow growth to build a successful career. As stated earlier, it took Sasha Keeble over a decade, reinforcing to me that persistence and patience are necessary, and aligns with Gerald Klickstein’s (2009) idea that your habits make you the musician that you are.
Something I know I need to improve to become a better artist is my vocal technique and stage presence, as my confidence wavers on stage at times, ultimately affecting my ability to perform like myself on stage. Kristin Linklater (2006) emphasises that the best musicians and singers are relaxed in performance, so to do so, I will prioritise consistent vocal practice, warm-ups and cool-downs, and physical preparation before performing such as stretches.
Understanding Financial and Legal Issues
In my journey as an independent artist, I’ve learnt that understanding finances and legal rights is just as important as creativity. Without a label, I am responsible for funding my projects, booking gigs, and protecting my work. However, the community and team in which you surround yourself with can help reduce this pressure massively. For example, my manager books most of my gigs for me, and simply having friends who are good with finance have provided me a helping hand with understanding career expenses. Even in today’s digital age, live performance remains essential financially as it helps expand fanbases and build stronger, personal connections with audiences, leading them to buy tickets to your gigs or merchandise for instance.
Indie-rock artist Ayleen Valentine (2025) explained on stage that she was using her “life savings to be here” whilst touring, highlighting the financial risks independent artists often take. Touring remains valuable for growth but is financially demanding, meaning artists must set realistic expectations, as early shows often have small audiences. Shanthony Exum (2019) suggests treating first shows as “an audition,” since impressed listeners are more likely to return with friends. Over time, repeated gigs can lead to larger audiences and more sustainable income.
Gigging also creates financial and professional opportunities beyond ticket sales. It allows artists to connect with fellow musicians, booking agents, promoters, journalists, producers, sound engineers, etc, building a strong creative community to lean upon and learn from.
Finding trustworthy people is crucial when managing finances. Many independent artists are underpaid or unpaid by unreliable promoters, something I’ve experienced myself through gigging. I’ve found that developing my professionalism (such as using an EPK, press photos, a website, etc) has really helped to avoid untrustworthy promoters, as your professionalism aligns you with serious ones who value your work. A polished portfolio reinforces your artist image and improves your chances of being paid fairly, supporting financial security as an independent artist.
Another essential financial issue for independent artists is understanding and collecting royalties. Ron Sobel and Dick Weissman (2008) teach that royalties are payments made to rights holders for the licensed use of their music. Alongside streaming royalties from DSPs, Indie Music Academy (2026) note that royalties come from multiple sources, and independent artists must actively collect them to avoid missing income. These include mechanical royalties, songwriting performance royalties, artist performer royalties, digital performance royalties, neighbouring rights, sync royalties, and print royalties. While label-signed artists have teams to manage this, us independent artists need to handle it ourselves. This is why joining organisations like PRS for Music is essential, as you can stay on-top of royalty income, ensuring we are represented and rewarded for our work (PRS, 2026)
Legal awareness is equally important when dealing with financial issues. Copyright laws affect ownership and credit, and without understanding these rights, it is easy for someone to exploit your work. Copyrighting your music “makes it easier to prove that you own the work” and enables legal action if necessary (David J. Moser & Cheryl L. Slay, 2011). Understanding copyright therefore protects both creative control and long-term income, making it a key part of being a successful independent artist.
Conclusion
With this research, I’ve come to understand that becoming a successful independent artist is defined by balance, passion and identity; learning to navigate the many demanding aspects of building a sustainable career, whilst nurturing the passion that keeps you motivated, with the courage to remain authentic to yourself and your art in an ever-changing industry.
Works Cited (in order)
Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993:365-367) The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance. Berlin-Dahlem, Germany, R. Th. Krampe, 1993, pp. 365–367.
Shinnick, Elijah. (2023) “From “Coffee” to Coachella: The Rise of Beabadoobee.” The Voyager, 17 Apr. 2023, uwfvoyager.com/3707/features/from-coffee-to-coachella-the-rise-of-beabadoobee/. (Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
Wilson, Sophie Lou. (2025) “Sasha Keable: Turn the Page | Cover Story.” Crack Magazine, 2 Oct. 2025, crackmagazine.net/article/profiles/sasha-keable-cover-story-interview/.
(Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
Clark, Bri. (2025) “Why Indie Musician Networking Is the Key to Growing Your Career.” Vampr, 4 July 2025, vampr.me/blog/why-indie-musician-networking-is-the-key-to-growing-your-career/. (Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
Grace Baird. (2025) A&R Warner . [online] Google Docs. Available at:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1i36mth0Fu4ohjYUPZzYW7YQtkTm4FYuV/view (Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
–PQ, R. (2019). How To Build A Fan Base For Your Music. [online] Iconcollective.edu.
Available at: https://www.iconcollective.edu/music-fan-base-tips (Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
Elliot Hoste. (2023) “Searows Is the Ethel Cain-Approved Singer Making Timeless Indie Folk.” Dazed, 17 Oct. 2023, www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/61113/1/searows-ethel-cain-approved-singer-timeless-indie-folk-funny.(Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
Burstimo. (2024). Music Promotion Tips You Need To Do AS SOON As You Release
A Song | Music Marketing. [online] www.youtube.com. Available at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fsP_jjhV8E (Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
Dodson, P Claire. (2025) “Erin LeCount Sparked 1,000 TikTok Fan Edits with “Silver Spoon.” Now, She’s Back with the Haunting “Marble Arch.”” Teen Vogue, 21 Mar. 2025, www.teenvogue.com/story/erin-lecount-tiktok-fan-edits-silver-spoon-marble-arch-interview. (Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
JensTheGuru. (2025). The #1 Marketing Mistake Independent Artists Keep Making.
[online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1vxUS6axyk
(Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
Luck, Steve. (2024) “Beyond the Music: Essential Skills and Qualities for a Sustainable Music Career.” Musiciansunion.org.uk, 19 Dec. 2024, musiciansunion.org.uk/news/beyond-the-music-essential-skills-and-qualities-for-a-sustainable-music-career. (Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
Klickstein, Gerald. (2009) The Musician’s Way : A Guide to Practice, Performance, and Wellness. 2025. Oxford University Press, USA, 6 Aug. 2009.
Linklater, Kristin. (2006) Freeing the Natural Voice: Imagery and Art in the Practice of Voice and Language. Hollywood Drama Publishers, 2006.
Valentine, Ayleen. (2025) “TikTok – Make Your Day.” Tiktok.com, 2025, www.tiktok.com/@lexidanceoff/video/7566282787054030094?lang=en. (Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
Exum, Shanthony. (2019) “How to Book a DIY Tour.” Thecreativeindependent.com, 26 June 2019, thecreativeindependent.com/tips/how-to-book-a-diy-tour/. (Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
Sobel, Ron, and Weissman, Dick. (2008) Music Publishing: The Roadmap to Royalties. Routledge, 18 Aug. 2008.
Indie Music Academy. (2026) “Music Royalties Explained: The Ultimate Guide for 2026.” Www.indiemusicacademy.com, 2026, www.indiemusicacademy.com/blog/music-royalties-explained. (Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
PRS for Music: royalties, music copyright and licensing. (2018) “PRS for Music: Royalties, Music Copyright and Licensing.” Prsformusic.com, 2018, www.prsformusic.com. (Accessed 5 Jan. 2026).
Moser, David J, and Cheryl L Slay. (2011) Music Copyright Law. Boston, Ma, Course Technology, Cengage Learning, 2011.
