20 years ago, the only people releasing albums and mixtapes were artists who either signed record deals or had paid a professional studio. Today, just about anyone can create an album and release it. Services such as YouTube and Soundcloud allow anyone to share their music with the world, and anyone can use iTunes to sell their music if there is an audience to buy it. This allows artists who may not have been discovered otherwise to make a career out of music.
This has a brought a new meaning to the term "underground" artist. 20 years ago, this would be the unsigned artist paying a professional studio to record/mix their album. Now, many of these artists are creating music without ever paying a studio. Really, it only takes a few hundred dollars to create a home studio (excluding the price of a laptop or computer). Artists can network with producers from all over the world, who are often willing to collaborate for free, or for a very low price. This allows a great number of people to produce near studio quality albums from their own homes.
I am personally thankful for this innovation, as it has allowed me to hear a great amount of music I may have not heard otherwise. If you don't use Soundcloud, I would highly recommend it. Using it will allow you discover new music that you wouldn't otherwise be exposed to.
Who knows, maybe you or someone you know will be the next artist producing a home studio album.
Thanks to my friend Matteo for developing the version of the "Media Cycle" theory I used in this post.
This short post was very effective for my blog. Simply put, I wrote to explain how and why independent artists are flourishing in todays music scene. I wanted to give my readers an understanding of how music has changed over the last decade, and insight as to why I believe it is so incredible and important.
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