Using technology and social media to break into the mainstream

Iqbal (centre) says being indie gives them the flexibility they needed in producing and performing music (Pic courtesy of IQBAL M)

Talented individuals are now able to reach out to wider audience and achieve success on their terms without major label affiliations

by NURUL SUHAIDI

TECHNOLOGY has transformed the independent music scene, giving artistes the power to create, distribute and promote their music without relying on traditional record labels.

Being an “indie” musician signifies a departure from mainstream norms and major label affiliations, emphasising uniqueness and innovation in style, marketing and presentation.

Gaining recognition for talent and music used to be a formidable challenge, but in today’s digital era with the Internet, social media and various music promotion platforms, emerging indie artistes have a better shot at success. The Internet has levelled the playing field, allowing talented individuals to reach wider audience and achieve success on their terms.

For aspiring artistes, especially in local scenes, there are numerous ways to kickstart and promote their music independently. Mastering online music sales and utilising social media and digital platforms can establish a strong foundation before making a physical presence on stages, ultimately building their brand.

Creating and sharing music videos on platforms like YouTube and social media channels offers an expedient way for independent musicians and bands to connect with their audience. This can lead to significant milestones such as securing recording contracts and gaining favour with major label audiences.

Additionally, indie artistes can leverage dedicated platforms like Spotify, Bandcamp, Soundcloud and others designed to promote independent music. These platforms offer valuable exposure and potentially open doors to recording contracts and larger audiences.

Technology has not only made music production more cost-effective but also elevated the role of social media in charting an artiste’s course, facilitating the sharing and monetisation of their music and aiding in community building.

Using Digital Audio workstations (DAWs) is another avenue for self-production, ranging from software programmes on a laptop to integrated standalone units. These tools, along with home recording equipment, are crucial for newcomers. Modern DAWs feature advanced interfaces that streamline the process of refining music and recordings into a polished final product, negating the need for expensive studio time.

Each artiste’s journey is unique, and the most suitable apps and tutorials will depend on individual preferences and requirements. It’s wise to explore various options, read reviews and select tools that align with your musical style and workflow.

Self-Taught and Self-Made Songstress

Independent singer and songwriter, Steff Fleur, refused to be “manufactured” by the studio. Instead, she committed to building her own name as an indie artiste by focusing on her raw talents and strengths to be recognised in this music scene.

Growing up with music-playing family members, the Sarawakian’s love for music began at an early age, inspiring her to share original songs on Soundcloud and YouTube.

This was when Spotify was barely there, Instagram was still a photo-sharing social media site with limited features and TikTok wasn’t born yet.

Producing music independently, she learned the instruments like piano and guitar on her own instead of taking professional classes. She has written songs on her guitar since high school, eventually becoming a guitarist and built her presence in the local arena.

According to Fleur, being an indie artiste is challenging and they often share the same struggles of being a business owner because it takes a lot of work to promote their music on these platforms.

From conceptualising, to recording, perfecting the visuals and audio, copywriting captions, most of the time indie artistes are running things by themselves to ensure the right number of elements match the relatability of current music trends.

Despite that, she said being an independent musician gives them greater flexibility and freedom to present their art and ideas, and curate the shows. It also gives them the freedom to choose who to work with such as creating their own teams well as deciding future collaborators.

“However, the learning process of how it works to release music professionally as well as curating a performance is a fun and insightful process to go through.

“Doing most things independently gets you to meet and network with potential collaborators and other musicians that you may work with in the future,” she told The Malaysian Reserve (TMR).

However, as technologies and various new platforms grow, indie music is becoming accessible. New and young talents can easily enter the scene, which leads to the local music scene becoming saturated.

“As much as I love that social media has expanded to cater for especially creative content and marketing, the market for music has become extremely competitive and saturated,” Fleur added.

She noticed that many creative youth and aspiring artistes are stepping ahead with their innovative ideas. Most are equipped with better access to technology and information that they need to make higher-quality goods and music.

“I tried overcoming this when I started out. I was honoured to be compared to Yuna or Zee Avi in the early days, however, I didn’t want to be known as someone else, I wanted to be my own brand,” she said.

“Focusing on my own sound and vocals helped me stand out and be memorable to my audience. I could gather inspiration from other artistes, but at the end of the day, I have to become Steff Fleur,” she added.

While most artistes find comfort in their online audience, Fleur found her strengths in the offline scene, focusing on sharing music live instead and having the physical audience to do the sharing for her.

“I enjoy performing live. I enjoy the energy that I give out and the energy that is bounced back to me. In a way, I reach out to my audience by providing them the musical experience that they will enjoy, remember and talk about,” she added.

As a music curator whose goal is to deliver entertainment to their audience, she shared that testimonials and word-of-mouth recommendations have helped her grow and reach out to event organisers that provided her with the right audience she needed.

“It’s a win-win. I’m grateful for the opportunities that were found through event organisers scouting my live performances, which got me to play at local music shows,” she said.

Fleur, a Borneo-born artiste, since her involvement has gained her fortune. Her song so far was used as the theme song of one local TV drama called Tilit-Tilit Cinta, which made its way to Netflix as the first Sarawakian-language episodic drama series.

According to her, these days, the good thing is that the gap between an independent musician and a record label is not that high, and musicians have the opportunities to get their music produced professionally by recording houses, as well as being on the radio.

“Our media, radio stations and TV stations became increasingly supportive of the independent scene over the past few years. Production houses are also keen to feature indie art makers for their talents,” she added.

The establishment of TV Sarawak, for example, which focuses on localised content and talents, has provided the local independent art makers with opportunities to showcase their local talent to the world.

Apart from that, Astro Radio stations such as ERA Sarawak and Hitz Sarawak have segments that showcase independent music produced in Borneo, for which local artistes like her are very thankful.

Nonetheless, she still found that it is a hurdle for indie artiste to maintain production quality on its own, hence investing in professional services and tools are important to independent artistes.

“Having a good producer and sound engineer adds to the quality of our work. It’s a little expensive, but it also shows that you are serious about your art and are willing to spend for your art,” Fleur told TMR.

At the moment, apart from making music, she also worked on several projects under government and independent bodies, production houses and friends for various passion projects.

“I don’t think I am ready for any major label yet, but the opportunity would be good for learning and networking. My hope is to have more songs released so I could aim for festival-level shows,” she concluded.

It takes a lot of work to promote our music on different platforms to reach the wider audience, Fleur says (Pic courtesy of Fleur)

Not Limited by Businesses

Meanwhile, a local rock music band, IQBAL M, said being indie gives them the flexibility it needed including the concept, writing style and management which indirectly makes them a company on its own.

Though not bound by large production labels, the band is, however, not limiting itself to being indie and open to attaching with major labels in the future as long as they can maintain the identity it brings.

This indie modern rock band from Kuala Lumpur started moving around and performing around the city in 2010 when at that time Iqbal Othman — a singer-songwriter wanted a full outlet for his creativity — was the only person who released its first extended play (EP) titled “Tembak Tepat”.

In 2013, Iqbal concocted IQBAL M by cooperating with Al-Hafiz Dolmat or Fei, Johan Zolhaidi (Jo), Shah Salleh (Shah) and Aidil Azali.

Upon completing the group, in 2013, they were able to produce another EP under their own control 2013 called “Antara 2 Darjat”, and this EP quickly won over the hearts of local music enthusiasts in the country, leading to numerous invitations to performances, interviews and other events.

“We didn’t choose to be indie or not. We just want to play music. However, if there is a company that is willing to invest money to make us bigger so that people can listen to us, we are okay. The important thing is not to mess about our song, that’s all,” said the band’s frontman Iqbal.

The band, which mostly uses social media sites like Instagram and music streaming services like Spotify and YouTube to distribute its music, also admitted that it has little expectations for its songs to be played on mainstream radio.

However, EP was proven to be popular and received playtime on various radio stations with songs such as “Paling Cinta Dalam Dunia” and “Antara 2 Darjat” coupled with their energetic and lively live sets — making them one of the more famous bands in Malaysia’s independent music scene.

He said it is highly dependent on the artiste’s vision in their music itself, and to them through the rock genre it presents, the objective is more to convey stories, entertaining people with their music rather than getting widely recognised.

“It is all about having the choice. For example, if we choose to make a song or write according to the style of the market, I think radio may want to air the song, but we choose not to do that,” Iqbal told TMR.

In terms of learning, he added that the journey was quite similar to other musicians where they have to learn on their own or from friends and continue the learning process to grasp a better understanding of music.

“At first we made this music, just to try and to test our creative abilities, but the more we explore, got inspired by it, the better we could understand the impact of the music,” he added.

As an indie band, he added that sustaining the team can be challenging because everyone might have their own family commitments and most of them are married.

“When we were single, we used to hang out at any of our houses or studios for practice. However, now that most are married, we record the ideas beforehand so that when they come to the studio, everyone already knows what they want to play. Just need to touch up a little more and it saves time” he added.

IQBAL M even released an album under Luncai Emas, owned by famous musician Datuk M Nasir titled Perasaan Sedih Jangan Kau Bimbang in 2019.

They are currently in the process of producing an album with the concept of “Terakhir” for their listeners.

In February 2023, they released a single titled “TREK 8” both digital and lyrics video, and recently, released another music video for its next Single titled “TREK 2”.

While being indie most artistes maintain creative control over their work and usually rely on a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) approach or work with small independent labels, with the right marketing strategy and effort, indie artistes can easily reach a global and any geographical audience.