While the music industry is teeming with rags-to-riches story, anybody worth his salt will tell you that landing a record deal is difficult as hell. Talent is the easiest commodity to trade and discard under the kleig lights so if you think you can coast through your skills again, you’re in for a hard reality check. The Grammy Award winners and the top sellers all went through a period of hard work and even hunger pangs before they enjoyed the position they’re in now. Apart from the very lucky few, they all share a common experience: indie music promotion.

What does that mean? Basically, you sell yourself. Some artists might be picked up by a record label before they earn their reputation in the streets, that’s more the exception rather than the rule. The reality is, recording artists like Nelly Furtado (who first toured the local bars singing covers), rapper 50 Cent who did his bit as a mix-tape artist in the streets of New York and even the Beatles, who started in the indie music scene and honed their musical talents playing 12 hours a day in Germany, just to name a few.

Other musicians have joined indie music promotion bandwagon in busy streets through live performances, or bringing along a CD player and inviting random strangers to listen in and give their assessment. Of course, one or two instant fans may fork over the money to buy your CD. It’s a hard way to make a name for yourself and promote your music.

There’s no accounting the traditional way of touring the circuit– small bars, dingy diners and even honky-tonks to sell your tracks or CDs.

With the advent of the Internet, particularly video sharing sites like YouTube, the indie music scene has never been stronger. It’s a direct way to gauge public reaction and music reception by the number of hits your video gets.

You might be surprised to find out that there are websites dedicated to helping you earn money by uploading your songs or CD and allowing them to help you. Immediately after registration, they assign a crack team to give you all the edge you need. They also train you and provide you the necessary skills in the whole music-making process to increase your chances of success. Every successful CD, for instance, will be submitted to Neilson Soundscan, which is a software that tracks each music sold.

Now you know that record producers always follow the rabbit through the hole, where the trail of money is. Maybe a record label will notice but the main concept is to provide you leverage in the negotiation process. Instead of you begging for their affirmation, you get to dictate the terms especially if you are already thousands of CDs on the website, and that means you already have a captive audience.

Like all things in life, there’s no guarantee of success a record producer will take notice but the bottomline is you’re already earning money from your original compositions and also a share from the CDs sold by others on your team. Indie music promotion is empowerment to the highest degree and a much better route than toiling on the streets, begging for the attention of pedestrians too busy to even care.