It’s easy to get in our own heads as musicians. We can obsess over our gear, our marketing efforts, our touring schedules, and all that jazz. Being alone in our heads can lead to burnout, and worst of all a lack of forwarding movement in our careers. What we often fail to remember is that collaborations can be a multiplier without a ton of additional work.
EDM, Hip-Hop, and Pop artists have all had breakout moments from collaborations. But what about indie artists? What about the artists who are satisfied with writing as a hobby, or even just nabbing a few sync licensing deals? Well, there is plenty that you can do to send your career into orbit without having the resources of a big label behind you.
How can you leverage collaborations as an indie artist?
Be more productive.
Find another artist that compliments your skill set. If you’re a singer/songwriter, then pair up with a producer who can put some muscle into doing the parts of the songs you aren’t as interested in doing (e.g. mixing, mastering, arranging). Think about Billie Eilish pairing up with her brother Finneas, they make music better together! (Check out our “How to be a better songwriter and collaborator” post!)
Get more Fans!
When you collaborate with another artist who has as many, if not more, fans as you, you are able to reach out to an entirely new audience. New fans are ALWAYS a good thing! Consider doing an Instagram Live together, an album drop party, or maybe even a gig swap–go to each other’s hometowns and play at a show hosted by the other act. And then switch!
Get more Spotify Plays!
Collaborate on a Spotify Playlist with another artist. Spotify allows multiple people to collaborate on a playlist. Here are some artist-curated playlists to check out.
Create a new crew to hang with!
You’ll soon be able to easily do this on Tonic Audio by creating a community. Think about inviting artists who inspire you and genres you can imagine yourself collaborating on.
Cover another Artist’s song.
Sometimes it’s as easy as asking them for their stems. You may even find that your style of remixes gets you a different set of fans that might not initially have sought out your music. The band Pomplamoose does this soooo well. Love their groove on this yummy cover of Dua Lipa’s Don’t Start Now.
