It’s that time of year when New Music Weekly pays tribute to the very best independent artists and bands of the year so far. With radio always searching for the best new music on the planet it once again looks towards those artists that are making amazing music off the grid. All across the USA and around the world there are acts that are garage bound making some rather interesting and powerful music that too often gets ignored. It’s out of a quest here at New Music Weekly to bring some of those artists to the forefront that deserve attention and hopefully this will give them a platform to move to a higher level.

Too many young artists are going on the hope that via a social media platform alone they will achieve the attention they need to move to that upper level. The notion of simply being discovered by antics or by trying to be at the right place at the right doesn’t always do the trick in making better things happen for a new act that is considered “on the verge”. Hopefully we can give you some ideas in this issue to help expedite things.

As social media is a viable tool for national and universal attention, you can’t beat an organized plan in taking your music to radio directly. There are many talented and open music and program directors that report to us each and every week that are always looking for good new music to add to their programming schedule. You may have even noticed some of the biggest charts on the planet from Mediabsae to Billboard, the vast amount of major hit singles that are also listed on independent labels.

The idea and plan is simply to get your program started at radio from the ground floor. Artists can build their platform with radio station call letters and spins that if placed in the right direction could and can lead to the attention of a major label operation. This is what is referred to as building for an “upstream” where by the artists and bands realize that they can take is only so far but eventually need some help to take their project all the way to the top. You notice that some of these rising singles start on an independent label and then soon that label is attached to a major who has now offered their assistance.

Bands from All American Rejects to Imagine Dragons among hundreds of others started out as indie bands. Many of them woodshedded in home studios making original music and then figured out how to get on the road to build a following. If you add to that the new social media mix of things and the fact that music steaming can be available to all of the general public, you can see the many opportunities out there for new upstart acts can use as they attempt to seek and gain the type of attention they need to move forward.

Don’t just kick back and think that the labels will come to you, as that is very unlikely to happen. With some of the rather bad 360 deals that are being offered to new upstart acts, it may be best to hold on to your rights until you get a partner offering that make sense. Never give up your publishing rights away at any cost as they are the bread and butter you will need in the future to finally make a profit. Too many acts jump at the first situation that comes along and then they later live to regret the situation that they are locked into. If you truly have faith in what you are doing making the smart moves now will pay off.

New Music Weekly continues to offer the best tools of the trades in the music industry for new artists and bands to get their program started. With a panel of reporting that are open to independent artists and bands provided that the music is first rate, our stations will give you a shot you will need to start building a base. If you make your music accessible you may even be able to cross our formats from Top40, Hot AC to Country depending on the track you decide to release to radio.

We also provide music servicing and special advertising to put your messages “in print”. Our STS tracking services will allow for you to actually track your progress and get immediate chart activity. What have you got to lose and what are you waiting for?