Part 2 of 2: Kellee Maize is a Pittsburgh-based independent artist, rapper, singer, activist, and entrepreneur. Her music focuses on a variety of issues, including human rights, environmentalism, and the co-existence between religions–but the common theme is love.
Kellee has self-released five albums since 2007 that have collectively seen over 1 million downloads. All of her music is free and licensed through Creative Commons, and she has performed at nearly 500 shows, including Bonnaroo, Harvest Fest, Zeitgeist Media Festival, and MIDEM.
Additionally, Kelle has produced 20+ music videos with millions of views on Youtube, is verified on Twitter with over 116,000 followers & 55,000 Facebook fans, a the spokesperson for a Toyota Hybrid National Ad Campaign, the co-founder of Nakturnal, a female-owned integrated marketing and events agency, and is the #1 search result on Google for the keyword “female rapper.”
Table of Contents
3:50 – The concept of not doing free shows as an artist
9:30 – Why musicians need to stop worrying about getting signed
12:30 – Giving your music away for free–the legal way–using Creative Commons
20:11 – Three things artists should be doing today to grow their fan-base and move their careers forward
The concept of not doing free shows as an artist.
Well, I’ve done a ridiculous number of free shows in my life. And wouldn’t change that. What I meant by that statement is that it’s important to do free shows if it is a cause that you care about.
And it’s also important to do free shows in the beginning [of your career] because it’s not always easy for promoters to make money at events. It’s a complete role of the dice, there could be a thunderstorm or someone could get sick. There are so many variables that are a part of “moment-oriented” entertainment, it can be hard to get paid.
So once you have done those free shows in the beginning, you have to put yourself out there and get people to hear you. You gain confidence, you get feedback, you get your chops and feel comfortable on stage, and feel comfortable talking in between your songs, and connecting with people, and having weird sound problems, and all those things that go along with shows.
Once you’ve done all that, it’s important for musicians to demand that they get paid. I’ve seen a lot of situations–first-hand—where musicians are getting taken advantage of, and that is not good.
It’s also about time. The amount of time that it takes to prepare for a show. I know from my own experience and from artist that I know well, when you are going to be in front of people, there is a whole different level of preparation than if you were in a studio.
You want to look the way you want to look. You want to move the way you want to move. You want to do certain songs, and you want to be ready to respond to the crowd. It takes a lot of preparation. Shows are a lot of work.
So that time that you put towards the show could get you 100 new fans online in half the time, and those fans will support you monetarily, over and over again. And they will continue to support you and hopefully pay for a future show because you’ve created some demand.
Why musicians need to stop worrying about getting signed.
In my experience having been around artists that have been signed by both major and independent labels, getting signed can limit you in some respects. There are potential creative control issues, release timing and the shelving of projects.
There is a lot of dirty business that can go on with competition and how labels make these decisions. It’s a loan that you are going to have to pay back. I don’t think a lot of people get that. They are not investing money out of goodwill, they expect to get back every penny if they don’t, you owe them.
Giving your music away for free–the legal way–using Creative Commons.
I have a belief that, as an independent artist, the most important thing is for people to hear your recorded music. If they have to purchase it before ever experiencing you, I think you are cutting your arms off. You are not giving them a chance to reach out and touch and feel what you are trying to get across.
There is an incredible network online to distribute Creative Commons music, including FrostWire, Jamendo, Free Music Archive, and others. These organizations are really amazing, and they are run by awesome people.
And the Creative Commons license doesn’t prevent you from selling your music. You can still sign with a label, you can still distribute it, and you can still put it on iTunes. It’s still there. And then by the time you are known, most people are just going to go to iTunes and purchase your music anyway.
Three things artists should be doing today to grow their fan-base and move their careers forward
After every show, I hold my email list in my hand myself, and as people come up and talk to me, I ask for their email right there. I’ll also pass it around when I’m performing. I always have friends helping me and getting the emails of anyone that is interested.
Social media is another great opportunity to convert people and get their email as they are messaging you. Let them know that you would like to communicate with them via email because that is where they will find out about upcoming opportunities, and that is where I send my music first. My email list will get my album before anyone else.
Be conscious of people in your life that have skills that they want to explore that align with you. I believe that if everyone on the planet were really doing what they wanted to do, everything would align because things would come from your authentic self.
The best ways to reach Kellee:
On the web:
http://kelleemaize.com/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/kelleemaizemusic
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/KelleeMaize
Kellee’s article in the Huffington Post:
How I “Made It” in the Music Industry: My Top 10 Tips
3/25/2014
Creative Commons resources mentioned in this show:
Outro Music:
In Tune
Owl Time
Kellee Maize
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