Independent Artists: The Champions of Creative Control.
words by Nonjabulo Malinga
“Clarity is clear to see”, a turn of phrase that made it into the conversations and subtweets of young South Africans in 2019, and has aged very well since then. This lyric was made popular by then independent artist Ndivhuwo Elaine Mukheli, affectionately known by her stage name Elaine. Her self-released EP, Elements, made her the first independent female artist to reach number one on the national iTunes and Apple Music album charts. The R&B singer-songwriter shocked the music industry with her soothing sultry voice and unrivalled pen game. It really seemed like just she popped up from out of nowhere. I think she did and so will many more independent artists who see through the glitz and glam hoax of underhanded record labels that have left many talented artists bitter and broke. Could independent artistry be the wind beneath an exploitative, free-falling music industry?
What is an independent artist? They are defined as artists who produce, master, market, distribute their own music without the help of a major record label. Successful south African independent artists include Midrand-born rapper Shane Eagle, Tembisa-born DJ Shimza and as of 2015, Pretoria-born rapper A-Reece. Every year, more artists are betting on themselves, leaving the perceived comfort of being signed to a record label and taking on the risk and reward of being a oneperson show, from start to finish. The tide is shifting from the desperation to make money to the desperation to make art that is slow-cooked and well-seasoned. “The days of desperation for a record deal are kind of gone,” - Ditto Music CEO Lee Parsons in an interview with RollingStone.com. What is an independent artist desperate for that a record label might not generously provide? The batte between independent artists and record labels is over control. As an independent, there is plenty you let go of when you bet against a label but there is plenty you gain control when over when you bet on yourself. 100% of the profits. The most important selling point of record labels is handling the business aspect of your music and your art. The extra work of polishing your brand and making yourself marketable would steal you away from valuable studio time. Once the music is released and the money starts coming in, the people who are doing the business on your behalf usually take their cuts and you end up with money that doesn’t equate the value of your hard work you put into the project. As an independent artist, all the investment you make comes back directly into your pockets. So, you might be exhausted from running your body like a business machine, but you will be at peace knowing that the profit from your music and merchandise is all yours. 100% full ownership. It’s only fair for the creator of the art to be the sole owner of the art, right? Not when you sign a deal with a record label stating that they are entitled to the master rights of your music and your art. With these rights, they can negotiate to license and publish without your approval and make themselves more money off your heartbreaks that you turned into hits. You don’t have to bite your nails and pull your hair out about shady lawyers, deals and contracts as an independent artist. You have the liberty to decide who gets permission to use your music wherever and however you want. Although you usually learn this through trial and error, once you get the hang of things, you’ll be unstoppable.
100% creative control While the terms of the contract will determine how much of your music and your brand they can manipulate, labels usually take full control over distribution, marketing, visual art, the message and so much more. The most important thing that independent artists are desperate for is the freedom to make decisions about their creative vision. A heated disagreement about the direction of your next project or your next look is something independent artists do not need to deal with. For record labels, profit comes first but for artists, the quality and the personality of the art should profit. It's about artist integrity and as an independent, that is not comprised because you control it. “A solution built by an artist serves the artist more than the solution the capitalist comes up with.” – Nipsey Hussle. For those who cannot let go of the art, who birth it, labour for it and create a world for it, what is your solution? Those whose heartstrings are attached to it, who spoke it into existence and who see it as a way of life, what is your solution? Your solution is to continue to pop up out of nowhere. Your solution is to submit to your creativity’s insatiable desire to be shared, to be expressed and to be acknowledged. Pledge allegiance not to the industry but to the reason why the industry exists; to creative art. It’s getting easier to release music without a record label. It’s getting easier to have a thriving music career without a record label. Thanks to the internet and the titanic growth of streaming and digital download platforms, it is getting easier to pop up out of nowhere. Elaine’s clarity is indeed very clear to see. I believe her clarity is the first of many that I am thrilled to see popping up out of nowhere and take control for years to come.
