Unsigned artist

An unsigned artist, unsigned band or independent artist is a musician or musical group not under a contract with a record label. The terms are used in the music industry as a marketing technique. Bands that release their own material on self-published CDs can also be considered unsigned bands. Often unsigned bands primarily exist to perform at concerts.

In more recent years, the Internet has helped promote the music of unsigned bands. Artists often post their music as MP3s on websites such as Bandcamp, SoundCloud, Myspace, PureVolume, GarageBand.com and SoundClick.

UK unsigned bands and musicians are able to use such services as The Unsigned Guide to gather music industry contact names, phone numbers, websites and social media links, as well as information on how to get signed or market music independently.

Song pitching websites, such as TAXI allow unsigned musicians to see which record labels (and other music companies) are currently seeking new music.

Further, companies like Sentric Music and the royalty payment service offered by Last.fm can help in generating income streams for unsigned bands.

Many unsigned artists used to sell their music and music-related merchandise without the financial support of a record label, while often seeking a recording contract through the recording of demos. Recently, the Internet has helped promote independent artistic material. Artists tend to post their music on websites such as MySpace, and ILike, and sometimes have their music played on podcast shows like Kooba Radio. In recent times, artists such as Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead, who once had major label record deals, have started to release their music independently.

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Wikipedia