True Indie — If You Love it, Support it

True Indie focuses on how to support your favorite artists in today’s age, supported by Abrasive Monologues. If you are lucky enough to remember a time before social media, and before Netflix, then you remember a time of ultimate curation. The bands on the radio were all backed by major labels, but hadn’t yet merged into a single monotonous sound, and you had choices of who you listened to that were different, and unique. Over time, the algorithm took hold of everything and those unique sounds started to merge into one, big profitable sound. Soon, there were no options. One band after another shed their uniqueness, in favor of a poppy, generic tone with very few exceptions. Commercially driven music goes through these cycles repeatedly every few years following what the algorithm says is trendy. To those of us that remember choice and variety, it has caused us to shed the radio station. First we shed the radio station in favor of custom tailored CDs from our mp3 collection. Then the world progressed to streaming… Then streaming became a fairly open industry, which has given rise to a new kind of indie scene that can be truly global in scale.

Before streaming, you found new indie music by going to a show in your local town, most of the independent bands that you were familiar with, you also went to high school with. Streaming changed the game dramatically for independent artists, but not necessarily for the better. Streaming created a very wide open market, and for the consumer, a very overwhelming listening experience. The question now becomes how do I support the artists that I love in a world that is saturated with indie artists?

Don’t Feel Bad for Not Supporting Everyone and Everything

The freedom to choose is the spice of life. You don’t have to like everyone and everything. Independent artists are many and their flavors wildly varied, and that’s what indie music is all about. We don’t need the attention of all the fans, just our fans. The biggest key here is that when you do find a band you love, you support them like crazy.

Know What Support Actually Looks Like in a Digital Age

Most indie artists, from any sphere, produce their art because they love doing it, and it makes them feel good when that art finds someone who it resonates with. That said, resonance does not pay the bills. Looking at music specifically, we make perilously little from streaming. We love that you do it, but in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t the best way to offer your support.

There are a few great ways to offer support for an indie artist that you love, both monetarily and non monetarily

Remember, an indie artist has a day job too, and we understand that not everyone can afford to contribute in dollars and cents. That’s not really why we love you anyway. Here is what a great supporter looks like in the digital age.

Follow & Share us. Did you know that in your friend circle there’s likely several more people who would like our music, but will never hear it? There are even transparent ways of sharing us that don’t require clicking a button. Spotify can post your currently listening track to Facebook for you. You can use our music in your Instagram or Tik-Tok content. Discord has a similar feature that allows you to broadcast what you’re listing to. That helps us find people that resonate, and cut through the noise of the internet because the suggestion came from you personally.
Buy our music, as opposed to streaming it. I’m not saying spend every dime you have on music. I am saying that if you find yourself in love with a particular song that you have on repeat for days… Buy it. The $1 you spend on it will be worth several hundred streams to the artist. Which leads me to the next way…
Gift it. If you have a friend who loves this oddball band from New Jersey and you want to get them something special, buy them a T-Shirt from the merch table… or the online store, whichever applies. Music itself is hard to gift because the age of the CD is gone and no one wants 1,0000 accounts and services to listen to music, but everyone wears shirts. That one T-Shirt could be worth six months of streams to an artist.
Show Up. Support us by being there when we’re playing live gigs. Show up when we’re being streamed on a YouTube show, or being interviewed on a podcast. Share those items. You’re not only supporting the artist you love at that point, but all indie artists and those that recognize them for their work.
Say Hi. Indie artists are accessible, real people who put so much of themselves into their work. We love it when we hear that our work spoke to you, supported you through a rough time or made you feel a little less alone.