Adam Ficek: Don't Fear, Indie's Future Is Bright

Well here I am again and this time around I've decided to have a look into the tea leaves and try to foresee the future of this genre we call 'Indie'

I reckon we're going pre-Beatles/Elvis rock'n'roll – a time before the shiny days of early pop music when it was the norm for bands and musicians to make their living by touring and more touring. Before the teenage market of pop, and the mass production of recorded music, musicians had to hit the road to earn a living – if you couldn't cut it live, it was over.

As the 50's crept in it became apparent that there was now money to be earned in other areas. Thus, the growth of the big labels and music model we have today was born. The business men of the time realised that they could make records and all the associated merchandise, and market it to the teenagers. With such high demand for pop music, it was a highly lucrative business. Making records, making bands, selling them - BOOM!

So what? Forward to today, people aren't buying as many records – load of “sharing” is going on. It's as simple as that. Right or wrong, it's happening. In today's poptastic bubble these diminishing sales are hitting labels hard – the money is drying up! The Big labels are struggling. I might be wrong, but the MP3 sharing world is not the same as the cassette influx of yesteryear.

But is it all doom and gloom? Not necessarily. The lack of money in our industry is starting to weed out the dead wood. The locusts have started move on to more fertile ground, if you're looking for a quick buck it's not the place to be.  

To make an impact today it takes a bit of hard graft, and the income is in playing live and selling directly to fans. Of course, if you already have a media profile it's a different ball game – but for the majority of us it's going to be a rewarding but challenging journey.

In this modern world of tweeting, spacing and facing there's never been a better and easier time to self market and create a community of fans around your music. It's an exciting time, all of us artists can hit an audience, discover new music and be much more in control of what and how we get our music out there. Obviously there is only so much you can do without the finance and weight of a big label but it is becoming increasingly easier to build a fanbase. 

Obviously,  I already have a small media profile due to Babyshambles, but it is very limited. Most of the momentum I have built up for the Roses Kings Castles project has been through the usual social networking sites – including my blog – and relentlessly emailing and pushing. It can be done. I don't have any management and have only just secured a small indie label for my next EP/album but I intend to continue growing, pushing, learning and grafting.

So the future really is bright for the independent artist, but stay alert as 'Indie' doesn't always mean indie!  Let's keep it real...hold on Universal are calling me.