Independent artists and collaborations are on the rise.
The independent artist sector is growing at a notable pace, specifically a 25% increase in revenue since 2018 to $821 million for 2019, according to a February 2020 UK-based MIDiA Research consulting report, “The Changing Nature of Music Creation,” in collaboration with Stockholm-based Amuse independent record label and digital music distributor. Following the trend, Amuse today launched Amuse Pro, its new tier of service supporting the growing sector of independent artists, collectives, labels and managers.
Amuse Pro features royalty splits, team accounts, multiple artist profiles and quicker releases to support the 85% of “artists direct,” or 3.1 million artists, that do not employ managers and handle their own career admin tasks. Subscribing artists pay $7.99 per month, or $59.99 per year, and retain 100% of their royalties and music rights. The product is differentiated by its simple design and openness to every artist, producer, manager and label – meaning that any artist can upload music to the platform free of charge, prerequisites and applications.
Last year Amuse launched its Fast Forward data-driven royalty advance service that utilizes machine learning to enable emerging and independent artists to retain music rights while collecting up to six months of future royalties as needed.
“It has always been really important to me to include everyone and allow them to participate in a meaningful way,” says Diego Farias, co-founder and CEO of Amuse. “Modern artists have the ability to create their own virtual labels, but they can’t do it alone – they are all part of a new ecosystem in which collaboration is at the center and there are no borders.”
A close up of two DJ"u2019s performing and working the mixer at an open air nightclub.
According to MIDiA, the rise of empowered, independent artists is transforming the global music industry. Much like streaming altered the distribution of music, the study reveals that individual artists are redefining music creation and fairness of compensation.
Artist collaboration also continues to grow in the U.S. and the U.K., illustrated by the study’s finding that almost one third of unique tracks found on Spotify’s Top 200 list include a featured artist or collaboration in the song title. In late 2019, the share of independent music distribution on Sweden’s Spotify Top 50 list, which included many self-releasing hip-hop artists like Dree Low, reached a high of 44%.
MIDiA also found that artists are releasing more tracks than ever in a three-year cycle, which is credited tolarger album sizes, EPs and unique versions. As faster release cycles require powerful marketing and promotion to compete in an attention economy, it is fitting that Amuse Prosupports music distribution to social media platforms including Instagram and TikTok.
The world’s 3.7 million independent artists is a diverse group including rising stars who are attracting larger audiences and progressing label deals, the study finds. The group also includes former label artists maintaining independent latter-stage careers, enthusiasts with small audiences and established independent artists who have found their global niches and are powering the artist segment as a viable career.
“Traditionally, being signed to a label has been seen as the ‘next step’ of an artist's career, but the development of digital tools like Amuse Pro has made building your own team and career a very viable option,” explains Mark Mulligan, chief analyst at MIDiA Research. “But this collective tendency doesn’t really stop in the emerging or independent artist sector. Our research shows that when it comes to creating hit songs, the size of teams creating those songs is increasing, through featured artists, producers, writers and other collaborators – up and coming artists will need to compete with this.”
