So although this article will inform musicians about the contractual changesand bargaining power with contracts

Rather than selling his music, Chance has allowed for all of his music to be downloaded orstreamed for free.102 He uses his music to further his clothing line and his touring sales.

because of the clout the duo obtained as independent artists, they were able toobtain more bargaining power in negotiations

Rather than focusing on physical album sales, like thetraditional contract, it seems that the focus here was digital sales.

one stated that if the artist did not sale 250,000 albums within a specific time frame, therecord company could rescind the contract,79 which they did in late 2014.

In 2011, when he finally released his debut album, he soldover 200,000 albums in his first week75 and the album, along with his other two, are now all certifiedplatinum.

Because of this, many videocreators and musicians post videos of their content on Youtube. In other words, Youtube has changedthe business norms of video sharing and made it to the point where if someone wants to share videosonline, they would do well posting it on Youtube.

record labels have a lot of power than unsigned, independent artists:larger economic resources, more education and access, and background law in music production,distribution, and marketing

iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify,

Because the costs of recording and producing has decreased, this has allowedmusicians that otherwise would not have created music to enter into the music field

Even though everyone has access to social media andthere may be many artists engaging in talking to fans, the benefits outweigh the negatives

With more than 73% of online teenagers and 47% of online adults using social media,musicians have immense access to consumers

In May 2003, according to the Bureau of LaborStatistics, there were roughly 300 independent artists generating a profit in the music industry.36 InMay 2012 that number increased to 1,830.

Other artists, like Chance the Rapper, are opposed to the 360 deals

Record companies have used these contracts to obtain revenue from:touring, merchandise sales, book publishing, fan club fees, sponsorship money, promotional ventures

Touring was important in so far that it brought in more record sales.20 Now, the opposite istruer: recorded music is used to promote the music and obtain sales from touring.

This contracting structure allowed the major label record companies to earn “85 to 90percent of the profit from music sales,” which was where a majority of the revenue came from

The reason musicians would agree to these contracts was because of the “high cost of recording,distributing, and marketing [the] records

Because of this, artists entered into contracts (“traditional contracts”) withmajor labels

Previously, artists needed major record companies to get their music to consumers because ofthe costs8 and the difficulties in the way consumers obtained music: radio, print magazines, television,and stores.

For the purposes of this article, independent will be defined as a musician who is unsigned to a recordlabel

how technological advances have changed the contractual agreementsindependent artists enter and whether this new change has benefitted independent artist

that this artist is the first artist to ever win a Grammy by solely streaming his music and giving itaway for free as opposed to selling records and singles

ocial media and the lack of interest in album ownership may take powerfrom the music star. But fans today are heavily invested in the actions of the star and constantly engagedwith music. Likewise, the star is now embedded in the culture he or she helps shape through direct contactwith followers

it can be concluded that modern college students areengaged with music more often than ever before because of the total time streaming services allow studentusers to listen to any of the millions of songs on the app, which have never before been available.

While active and moving throughout the day, users are constantly opening themusic app, showing they are constantly engaging in new listening sessions, wherever they may be

Spotify was the overwhelming favorite platform for the entire pool of respondents. Three users foriTunes suggests that the concept of owning music is not as relevant as past studies indicated.

Soundcloud has been more popular among lesser known artists and DJs for its socialmedia-type format that allows quick uploading and efficient access

Rather than just following an artist for the music they produce, daily aspects of life arenow a quintessential element followers enjoy and sometimes expect from celebrities through social media. Infact, this ability to stay updated on seemingly ordinary occurrences in an artist’s life is a driving factor for itspopularity among Millennials

With just one regrettable tweet, a music star can sabotage this craftedimage instantaneously. This continuous, omnipresent connectivity forces a more authentic, yet often less culti-vated, image portrayed to the public

continuously increasing number of people can tweet at amusic star through a single click on a mobile device, providing a means of accessibility that has never beforebeen achievable

MTV viewers in Nebraska were exposed to the same music as viewers in New York. Boostingfandom to an increasingly large audience in this manner maximized the reach of influence for an artist andcontributed to a further installment of iconic figures with the potential to become recognizable to a nation witha single popular video.

the time spent listening to music is greater than ever before due to constant access

Although sales of the physical productsharply declined through digital consumption, building a personal library of music is still influential in the psy-chological relationship that consumers have with music

Through these new forms of interaction, it becomes clear that the rela-tionships between artists and fans have changed.

users who engaged in downloading were 10-20% less likely to buy an album

major threat to the album concept came in the form of digital downloading and widespread piracy issues

Similarly, the presentation of the artist has changed greatly with technology. In previous decades, therecord label and savvy marketers could control the portrayed image of a music celebrity to mass audiences.Through social media, the freedom of interaction between music artists and their fans has never been greater.

While the digital music revolution inarguably hurt music industry giants in terms of sales, it also leveled the playing field between big music businesses and smaller ones like indie record labels. Advancements in home recording software allow musicians to record at low cost. Digital distribution platforms also let artists and small labels sidestep larger industry-controlled distribution channels.

This caused revenue in the music industry to plummet

Composers can produce film scores from their home studios. Musicians can play for fans around the world through livestreamed performances. Songwriters can record albums and release them on digital distribution and streaming platforms without ever landing or signing a record deal.

Consider the progression from the phonograph and analog tape machines to digital recording software and internet-based streaming services

Thus, many people in the music industry began to focus more on live music as the digital era decimated album sales.

The digital era has been tough on the music industry, but it has also opened the door for emerging artists who might otherwise never have gotten the exposure they deserve

Recording artists and publishers are also focusing on placing music in TV shows, films and commercials to generate revenue from licensing and royalties

In general, the digital era has led to a democratization of the music industry, improving opportunities for artists and professionals of many types

With advancements in technology, access to music and other types of entertainment has expanded

In Europe, the projected revenue of the music streaming segment is over 6.7 billion USD for 2021.

the music streaming industry is booming, with almost one-third of Americans listening to music via music streaming subscriptions

each cost about ten dollars per month, in comparison to customers paying about a dollar per individual song on iTunes

Music streaming services offer millions of songs from thousands of artists for a recurring fee each month, allowing users to access music at a much cheaper rate than previously possible

There are different marketing strategies and tools that facilitate, monitor, and planthe marketing content of independent musicians without the need for a third party. These tools,which include social media platforms, have made it easier than ever to spread their contentaround and take matters into their own hands. It’s given artists hope and opportunity so that notbeing able to be signed with a label no longer means the end of their career. Independent artistscan find their own opportunities for social media marketing

Because othersites like Youtube and TikTok don’t compensate enough for starting artists, artists can promotetheir Patreon link to receive a more stabilized income

but the artist would have to seekand market their music on different platforms rather than relying on YouTube for monetary gain.This is due to the low amount of revenue per stream of $0.00154 on YouTube

Artists have beenable to connect with their viewers through the Community, Live, and Ticketing features

hat attractedindependent musicians to TikTok was its simplicity and faster profile growth, considering thatthere are more people using TikTok. What makes it so unique is that independent musicians canupload a video with original audio for their audience to use. Independent artists may utilize theviral trend of dueting a cover song or their own song in order to receive direct interactions withthe audience

Since the rise of TikTok’spopularity as a competitor, “Reels” and “IGTV” have continuously been pushed so more peoplewould spend more time on Instagram.

With how prominent social media hasbecome, marketers and advertisers have turned their attention towards reaching audiencesthrough different social media platforms. Setting up a social media strategy will helpindependent artists set a goal to carry out when using social media platforms.

Chance The Rapper, a hip-hop artist, released free music up until he started to gain moreattention after his first solo mixtape 10 Day, which led him to be featured by Complex magazinein their “10 New Chicago Rappers To Watch Out For" article in 2012 (“Chance The Rapper”)

By using monitoring tools, an independent artist is able to see what’strending about them and what people think about them without anybody having to use hashtagsor mention tags

Voids was no longer able toperform live and had to turn to social media to promote his new music.

Even though social media platforms are accessible andmake it easier to find online connections, sometimes the connections online are short-lived. It’sdifficult to make sustainable connections when online communication is limited. Without a label,independent artists are not taken as seriously because they don’t have a group of reliableconnections ready to market.

In the 1990s, MP3 started to take off, and it began to affect many musicians' music sales.

However, this alsomeant that more artists felt the need to join record labels because of the established connectionsthe label had for marketing

Independent artists learned what kind of music trends arose during theyear, which was a great way for them to adjust or modernize their music according to the market

Radio would determine what people wanted to hear and this would directly link tohigher sales (Goslich et al.). Getting music on the radio was the main marketing goal. Forexample, The Weeknd’s song “Blinding Lights” was played for about 19 weeks on the top spoton radio (“The Weeknd Makes Radio”)

Radio was the next natural progression of media. Radio gave musicians a widespreadreach, considering that independent artists didn’t always need to hold a live performance to meet

Much of the music promotion from using printmedia would rely on word-of-mouth, and print media would include scheduled informationabout an event (Aitken, “The Internet”). However, a downside of print media was the physicallimitation. A person would need to purchase a copy of a magazine or newspaper to get newsrelated to musicians (Aitken, “The Internet”)