AFM Indie

We recently posted a blurb about SoundExchange’s concise and genuinely useful New Artist Checklist. If you haven’t seen it yet, here it is.

The checklist is great. But take a look at the number of items on it. Putting aside the work of practicing, rehearsing, composing, booking gigs, networking, promotion and performing, there are thirteen, count’em, thirteen potential areas of exploitation.

We are all responsible for our own careers; it is each musician’s job to ensure that he or she is protected. However, let’s not lose sight of the forest for the trees. The music industry is huge, and in it are many individuals, companies and corporations whose business plan fundamentally involves exploiting musicians.

There is no substitute for careful attention to the financial aspects of your career, but at the same time, an exclusively individual outlook (aka DIY?) leads to the same old story of musicians getting the short end of the stick, again and again and again.

That’s why we think a union of musicians is so important. The AFM has a large dedicated staff, working day in and day out on behalf of musicians. Artists need somebody to push back and help shape an industry that by and large has made a ton of money off musicians but not returned a lot of it to us.

Back to personal responsibility… labor unions, including the AFM, are democratically-run, grass-roots organizations. The only way that we can be effective is for our members — working musicians — to be involved. So get involved! If you haven’t joined the AFM, consider joining. If you have, start making your voice heard.

And the next time you see helpful career advice for musicians, think about how much money is riding on us not following through.

SoundExchange just published a great New Artist Checklist, on how to launch your career and protect your creative output. Check it out and pass it around! It’s a great reality check for new and established musicians alike.

We’re pleased that they plugged the AFM, calling us one of the groups “doing great things for musicians.” Indie artists at all stages of their careers are finding that the AFM helps them with a lot of the details that go into making a living in music.

Just to name a few — for recording projects, we offer an extremely easy agreement called the Joint Venture Report that allows band members to divide up album revenues and protect themselves if the album is picked up in a soundtrack or other commercial situation.

One service we’re really excited about is the newly-minted GoPro Tunes, which allows our members to sell their recordings and receive their entire sales revenues, minus credit card processing fees.

Lastly, every artist needs a website, and every artist needs instrument insurance. We offer both, at fantastic values. For instance, you can get a fully functioning website and domain name for as little as $30 a year.