The most important skill an independent musician should have

By andy On September 4, 2012 · 4 Comments

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I’ve said this before, but I think it’s so important that I’ll say it again: the fact that you had fun recording a song does not guarantee the fact that anyone else will have fun listening to it.

Got it?

Here’s what that means. In every aspect of this whole independent/self-released musician thing you have to be constantly aware of how you are being perceived from an outsider. This means that when you’re writing and recording a song, you have to be able to step back and listen to it with “new ear” and try to think “is this actually a good song?”. This means that you have take a look at your website and say “does this look like I care about presenting myself well to my fans?”.

Basically, try to put yourself in the shoes of someone stumbling onto your music for the first time. What do they see and hear?

Is this song actually interesting or am I just having fun making weird sounds with my instrument?
I really love this part of the song, but because of that have a stayed in a certain section too long?
Does the way I use Facebook and Twitter convey professionalism and consistency to the people who follow me?
Is the information on my various websites up to date?
How hard is it for someone who discovers my music to get to a place where they can buy/download it?
Am I promoting myself well or am I being too aggressive and annoying?

Being able to objectively answer the above questions is a very important skill to have. Once you’re honest with yourself about this stuff you’ll not only improve the music you make but also your professionalism, retention of fans, and the amount of meaningful relationships you have.

In the comments below, please share with everyone some other questions you ask yourself during the whole writing/recording/releasing/promoting process?

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http://www.facebook.com/Kroche Kevin Roche

Page bookmarked. This is brief and well said, Andy. It’s a good reminder for me.
kantefier

Thanks for your post, I find it very useful!
But there is another point of view for this problem. Many of independent musicians (especially those, who work alone, without a band) get very reserved and morose because of overwhelming self-criticism. They criticise almost everything they do, it does bother them so much that they can even stop working. That’s close to my story.
I was really surprised when I heard some of my friends rate one of my tracks so high. To me that was just a rough draft, undone sample of the track. But they had different thoughts about it.
- http://www.andyothling.com/ Andy Othling
  
  Yeah, taking criticism from others is a completely different issue. This is mainly about making sure you can step outside of yourself for a bit just for a sanity check.
- Speak Loud Advocate
  
  I completely feel the same way. I’m pretty critical of myself as well. It’s good to remember that OTHER PEOPLE are the ones who will buy/listen to your music. If they are digging it (despite what you think of it) than you are probably doing something right. That being said, don’t make music that you can’t be proud of. Keep working on your recordings until you get them where you want them to be…or at least as close as you can without pulling out your hair in an effort to achieve “perfection”