Indie True Issue 2: January 2025

In this Issue of Indie True Magazine

We talk about some new software developed by Abrasive Monologues’ Jon Hadley to help define artists in the independent music community as we interact with them.

We compare some distribution options and hopefully help you choose the one that is best for you and your goals. There’s a lot of options, but when you examine the pricing structure and features, it can really help you narrow down the right choice.

We find out a little bit more about Clysmic, and James Allan Stellar, the face of Indie Boom Shockwave. We roll out a new feature, the indie index that it so happens, is sponsored by Indie Boom Shockwave!

The cover art for this issue is from the Jon Hadley artwork collection, and is titled “The Long Walk Home.”

In future episodes we’ll be selecting artwork from the independent music community to fit the themes of the issue.

Table of Contents

• It’s a new year. It’s time to write hard and play harder.
• Distribution Comparison. Does it fit?
• Artist Profile: James Allan Stellar (Clysmic)
• Being present and accounted for… Why you need a website.

Read Time: Around 19 minutes.

Happy New Year! We’re glad you’re here with us in 2025 and we are looking forward to a year of amazing releases and growth in the independent artist community. Abrasive Monologues is more than just a label, we get our our ears dirty in a lot of different parts of the indie sphere. We’ve developed a new software backend to help enhance the SEO, and help define the artists we feature on search engines like Google.

Later in this issue, we’ll talk in depth, about why it’s important to have a website, even in 2025, over being totally reliant on social media, but before we get into that, we want to introduce Schemattic.

What is Schemattic?

The internet is like the universe in that it’s ever growing and ever changing. New people, places and things are constantly being added to it. How do you define and quantize everything on earth? You either guess from context clues, or you have the internet itself help you out. Schemattic is a system designed to help search engines like Google define people like independent artists. It does that through a system called relational schema, sometimes referred to as structured data.

Structured data provides a way to sculpt detail around a person, place or thing that doesn’t rely on educated guessing from context clues across multiple parts of the web. It’s how machine learning defines the world. Every page on the Abrasive Monologues website outputs relational schema to search engines about the people and artists contained in the page. Sometimes we’re sculpting detail, sometimes we’re sculpting differentiation.

Who is Jon Hadley?

Let’s take Jon for example. There are lots of Jon Hadleys on the internet. They’re all different, but how do you know which one to show someone when they type Jon Hadley into Google? The best way is to show them all based on how they are different. A year ago if you searched Jonathan Hadley, you got the Broadway performer, because he was the biggest, most relevant and well defined Jonathan Hadley and none of the other Jon Hadleys had any definition so it didn’t talk about them at all. So what happens now that Abrasive Monologues has put time and effort into definition?

Google throws out the most direct result first, then results that are most likely important to that specific user. I look up a ton of music related stuff so it grabs music Jon Hadley and puts him right there. This is one of the benefits of search engines over social media. Search engines prefer to give you good results, that are relevant to you, not popular results that relevant to them. Structured data is at work here, helping Google to tell the difference between music Hadley and theater Hadley. You can see this better if we look at the image tab.

This is a great visual, because you can see the gears turning in the search engine’s thought process. You’re presented with several Jonathan Hadley options. Across the top there’s a strip of filters that quickly present those options by topic, to let you narrow down. Notice though how theater Hadley and music Hadley are now distinctly different, and more important how music has one logo… our Jon Hadley. Since Google is still working to make sure I get relevant to me results, we also are presented with those items. It shows results for Warm Cyborgs, Abrasive Monologues, Recording Artist and Discography that all deal with our Jon Hadley.

Relational schema helps Google and other search engines that use machine learning to generate results and determine answers to questions like “what kind, which one, how many?”

Help Us Define Indie

So go forth, write hard, play harder and give us some amazing things to define this year. Interact with us. The more we talk about your work and promote our community, the more information Google has to work with to give us great discoverability to the world.

Are they all the same?

Distribution is a wild arena, with everyone offering roughly the same services and using a different gimmick or benefit to differentiate themselves from the others. Choosing one can seem like a daunting task, because you have several types of payment structures and then a whole encyclopedia of features and benefits to sift through before you decide which one best fits your needs. We’re not going to do a deep dive, but we are going to hit the high spots of some of the biggest competitors in the market, along with a free option.

A few things to consider as an indie musician…

Budget

If you’re brand new to the music scene, you may not want to jump head long into the distribution market just yet. I know, you want to get discovered and build a career. That simply isn’t how distribution works. A Spotify profile with 4 monthly listeners doesn’t get you anywhere. Pay your dues and learn your craft, that doesn’t just mean writing great music, it also means learning how to market it.

If you think you’re ready though, the first part of finding a distributor that fits, is deciding how much you want to spend. There are a few different pay structures out there and we’ll navigate through those in this article as well.

Unlimited or per Release?

Two of the major options that you’ll come across are pay per release options and unlimited options. Pay per release means you’ll pay a flat, one time, fee to release your song to streaming services. That fee is usually in the $9-$12 range, so if you release a lot of music very quickly, the costs could add up.

Unlimited distribution means that you pay a monthly or yearly fee like a subscription that covers all of your releases regardless of how many that may be. These services are usually limited in the number of artist profiles they’ll support before additional fees come into play. Many of the add-on features also result in additional fees.

Free distribution… Yes, it exists and it works.

Distrokid

Recommended or high volume releases and artists who don’t necessarily need free splits or a great value on cover licenses.

Distrokid and TuneCore are two of the biggest players out there. They’ve been around a long time and are great options for the beginner or advanced artist. Distrokid specifically, is a pay by the year service with three tiers. Splits are free for DK members to other DK members and are $10/year for non-DK members.

Tier 1: Musician $22.99 / year

With the Musician tier you get access to a single artist profile, with the Spotify verified checkmark, YouTube official artist profile integration and distribution to all of your major players. You cannot use your own ISRC codes or set a custom label name. You also cannot set your own release date, it defaults to 14 days out.

You also cannot post your lyrics everywhere without an additional fee and you can’t set your pricing at stores like iTunes.

Tier 2: Artist $39.99/year

In the artist tier, you gain an additional artist spot for a total of two artists. You gain the ability to set your own pricing in iTunes and customize your label name. Make sure that you’re not tripping over another label with what you choose, there can be very nasty repercussions for that.

Tier 3: Ultimate $89.99/year

You get access to RIAA monitoring, which hopefully you’ll need one day. 1 TB file sharing. Monitoring for bot activity and a search engine for playlist curator information… Could be useful maybe.

TuneCore

Recommended for high volume artists who don’t need splits and don’t create cover songs at all.

TuneCore has been around for a long time like others in the list. They once were purely a pay per release pricing strategy like CDBaby, but have now diverged into a pick-your-size strategy with pay per release options as well as yearly subscription options.

Their pay per release option is still all inclusive, while their subscription, unlimited distribution plans have additional fees for extra services, which is typical of subscription plans. They do have some interesting free options for beginners that allow distribution to social networks only.

TuneCore’s cover licensing is one the most expensive that you can find and is fairly complicated in it’s pricing structure. It leans more traditional in terms of licensing which may allow you a bit more freedom over where you upload your cover, but if you do very many of them, the costs will add up quickly.

Check out their pricing guide here.

CDBaby (Best for low volume, per release)

Recommended for lower volume artists that want an all inclusive price.

CDBaby has been around for a long time and they are well recognized in the distribution game. They have a well defined feature set, with only one visible draw back. They are pay per release. Their $9.99 price point covers both single, and album releases, and all of the add-on tools and services are included in that fee which is great! If you’re a high volume artist though, the costs could add up quickly. That said, they’re a very stable and safe service to use, and once you’ve paid the service fee, your music is online with streaming services forever.

Price Range: $9.99

Landr (Best for covers and splits)

Recommended by Abrasive Monologues. Best for high volume, splits and cover licensing.

Landr has been in the music industry for a while and is working to expand their offerings into the distribution space, which is good. Competition in the space is great for artists. Their offering is fairly strong too. They are more bundle focused and offer an unlimited subscription model that you can bundle how you want with other services that they offer like their sample library or their mastering suite.

One of the strong features that they offer is the ability to handle splits with other artists for free. As long as the releasing artist has a Landr subscription they can royalty split with other artists without a commission being taken.

Another strong feature for artists that do cover songs is the ability to license a song for life with only a $15 fee. That’s industry leading at the moment.

Abrasive Monologues uses Landr for distribution in 2025. Formerly, we used Distrokid but the recurring cover fees for songs that make little money doesn’t make sense.

Check out their pricing strategy here.

Price Range: $49.99-$89.99

RouteNote

Recommended for those just getting started.

RouteNote is an interesting option and a good one for beginners. RouteNote lets you distribute for free up front. It offers a surprising amount of freedom with the meta data for a free price point, but you have less control over your release dates. The way their system works is they take a commission from what you earn in the streaming space. If you have a song that goes crazy and you want 100% of your royalties, you can pay a one time fee and collect all of it.

For a free service, they offer a lot of freedom, some good promotional tools that rival others on the market and are a good value for those that want to get started, but don’t want to make an up front investment just yet. They do not allow cover songs.

Check out their pricing strategy here.

Price Range: Free – $45

James Allan Stellar

Before we get into Clysmic, let’s set the stage behind the band. James Allan Stellar is one half of Clysmic, but he’s also important as an individual. James is the host of Indie Boom Shockwave and a few other live stream shows that feature independent music in a casual and fun setting amongst friends. James describes one of his biggest struggles as depression, and his creative process and art as a way of quieting that noise.

He’s choosing to use his art to benefit himself and his entire community. That earns a lot of respect from Abrasive Monologues, which is part of why we’ve added James as a blog author and partnered with his effort.

Clysmic

Where are you from? Wasilla, AK and Kansas City, MO

Who are you as an artist?

Clysmic was formed in 2009 from the ashes of Allan Alpha and Glenn Omega’s former project, Glory Pit of Hell. Releasing their debut album in 2010 and a follow up EP in 2011, the band decided to go on hiatus after life got in the way… Life does that, you know? It just gets in the way sometimes. But what can you do? You move forward. You may get knocked back. You may get knocked down. But, keep moving forward. Never lose sight of your dreams. That’s all Clysmic wants from this whole experience, to remind you to never lose sight of your dreams. You want to know about us? Look inside yourself.

I think what James is describing is so common in the indie space. We have day jobs, responsibilities and life just gets in the way. I love the emphasis on moving forward which becomes the mission statement really behind Clysmic as a band… Chase the dream and just keep moving.

What is one of your largest struggles as an artist?

My biggest struggle is probably depression. It’s a constant battle.

What is your most recent, ongoing or upcoming project?

I pretty much always want to work on art. Music, sound, visual, doesn’t matter. I just like to create. Makes it so I don’t hear my demons.

Why are we even talking about this?

Why is a website even relevant in 2025? Well… if you’re reading this, that’s part of the answer. Let’s dive in and talk about why a website is still very relevant to you, even in todays digital landscape of social media channels.

Over the last 20 years or so, we’ve seen the social network grow from the likes of MySpace and an early Facebook to what it is today. It’s become a sprawling network of people yelling into the abyss saying, “Pay attention to me!!!” The opportunity to yell into the abyss is great, and valuable, the only problem… The abyss is a giant echo chamber and all anyone hears is noise. The social network is saturated and that’s not going to change. Further, there is no magic solution that will cut through the noise in a reliable manner. Each time you figure it out… They change an algorithm.

Why do they do that?

The ugly truth of the matter, is that when you cut through the noise, it becomes about you. This isn’t good for the social network. It’s not good for the social network because you’re pulling away from the big name artists that pay far more for the attention. Let’s not even get into doing what we’re doing and taking traffic completely off of social networks and putting it on our turf.

Here, we can consistently communicate with you. We are always available 24/7, we can control the ways in which we interact and make them more meaningful. We can build anything we want here, anything to benefit a listener… a fan. We are beholden… To no one.

Why do the algorithms shift like they do? The answer there is pretty simple. For the same reason botted playlists owners give you a day or two of mass listener injection. They hope that after the taste, you’ll come back for more, and that it’ll be worth money to you now. How many times per use does X ask you to sign up for their premium service?

You have to always remember that they are a business. Businesses like a social network need to monetize their customer base through bombardment with ads, or they need to charge for membership. X is a prime example of both. Meta is doing the same thing with Instagram and Facebook now.

Who owns your speech?

Have you ever read the terms of service to a social network? It doesn’t honestly matter what it says, does it? It was written to keep you in check, by their state of play. How much control of your content do you give up when you post it to a social network?

Maybe you’re like a lot of people who post something they created to Facebook and get slammed with a copyright claim that gives you zero options to show ownership? Maybe you’ve gotten clips muted or removed on X?

They don’t want your content for themselves. They don’t want your content at all, unless it’s working for them. Did you ever notice that people can make reels from your music all day, and they never get claimed against? This is because the reels being created serve to keep people on the service. What you need is your own space… Where you can maintain consistency in communication, define it for yourself and build your brand.

Who are you as an indie artist?

Can you describe yourself in 140 characters? What about 280? If you are boring enough to fit into 280 characters, what does that say about your as an artist? I’m not trying to be mean. I’m trying to be thought provoking. Keep that it mind.

Can you curate your entire narrative 140 characters at a time? Can each of those mini doses of you be made interesting enough to read the next one, and the next? How many tweets does it take for me to get to know you a little?

Brand identity is important. To build one, you have to have a solid informational base, that is all inclusive and in one central spot. What does a website do for you that social media does not?

• A biography that tells your narrative, background, influences, in a fashion that isn’t dictated by character limits, can include photos and be stylized to match your persona.
• Professional images that don’t move around. They stay where you put them so that fans can find them again.
• A blank slate that can be stylized to fit not only your personal narrative, but your genre which helps fans quickly connect you to your musical style.
• Control of your image, on your terms.

All of these things are so important when it comes to building connections with potential fans. Fans are listeners who not only click the play button, but venture into the wilds of the internet to find out more about you, because they see something in your that they want more of.

Do you want the people who are willing to connect with you on that level limited to a social network’s drab color scheme? I hope not. Social media should be supplemental to your brand identity. It should be used for quick updates and quick interactions, but at the end of the day, all roads need to lead to your home page.

What’s new with you?

The artist website also offers the opportunity to directly engage with your fans. Through a newsletter, you wind up in your fan’s inbox on a regular basis. You’re still not limited to 140 characters, you’re still able to make it uniquely you. Granted, you do have to be engaging to make it work, but the hard part is already done when a fan gives you their email address.

Your website is your area to offer exclusive content and give your fans an opportunity to engage with you on a level that social platforms can’t offer. You can sell merch directly to your fans, tickets directly to your fans, member-only exclusives directly to your fans. You can create a sense of belonging and community with them. My personal favorite, which we plan to implement soon is the loyalty system. You complete an activity that helps push one of our artists and you earn points towards music and merch.

Discoverability…

One thing a search engine is not, is a social media algorithm. If you look for Abrasive, you will find Abrasive… In many forms. The reason for that is because unlike the social platforms, the search engines make money for doing a good job and showing you relevant search results.

As you get better at building your brand and your online presence, you can use analytics data from your website to direct traffic more effectively, position yourself more effectively.

A well-optimized website acts as a central hub that consolidates all online presence, integrating links to social media profiles, streaming platforms, and music releases. This centralized approach ensures that fans can access a musician’s entire catalog and upcoming projects in one seamless experience. Now, that’s a recipe for engagement.