There’s by no means been a greater time to be an unbiased artist, however how artists can leverage that energy — and what “unbiased” even means at this time — is extra advanced than ever.
This month, the CD Child crew attended the American Affiliation of Impartial Music’s (A2IM) Indie Week — the world’s largest convention and networking occasion devoted to unbiased music. Throughout the week, our president Molly Neuman joined Jay Gilbert of the Your Morning Espresso podcast to debate her outlook on artist independence in 2026.
Right here’s what Molly needed to say.
The transcript beneath has been edited for brevity and readability. You possibly can take heed to the total podcast at Your Morning Espresso.
Jay: The phrase unbiased used to imply one thing particular — no main label involvement. Immediately, artists on main distributed offers name themselves indie. Does the phrase nonetheless have a that means in 2026?
Molly: Completely. Independence continues to be a strong time period. However the nuance of what it means to be an unbiased artist is difficult, and folks twist themselves up making an attempt to deal with it like a binary, which I don’t assume it’s.
Jay: CD Child has processed billions of {dollars} in royalties. What does the information let you know about what truly separates artists who construct sustainable careers from those that don’t?
Molly: It’s exhausting to know that there are any particular indicators or traits, however there are lots of people who haven’t one stream on Spotify — and clearly that’s reflective of loads of dynamics within the business — there’s loads of music that no one is listening to. However that’s why we’re specializing in artists who need to be critical about their profession.
Not too long ago, we’ve been advising artists on methods to attain their first 1,000 streams on Spotify. And that entails taking the primary steps to activate your group and change into eligible for monetizing your music on the platform. We’re targeted on serving to artists construct the core elements of a launch pad.
Jay: The place do you assume indie artists have probably the most significant leverage?
Molly: For our rising artists, I feel it’s about beginning robust. And I don’t assume that’s a unique outlook from while you and I began our music careers. Artists nonetheless have to faucet into folks that care. And which means A) making music there’s an viewers for and B) actually making an attempt to attach individuals to it.
Artists could make that occur in any variety of methods — busking on the nook, reserving reveals, discovering different artists you need to play with, or working as much as a viral second. However I don’t assume any of that’s straightforward to fabricate and I feel that’s possibly the place loads of the unsuitable power is targeted proper now.
Jay: You simply touched on the significance of beginning with nice music that’s genuine. It jogged my memory of one thing that Jonathan Daniel as soon as stated — “in case you give me an ideal tune, my job is simple. In the event you give me a great tune, my job is not possible.” Contact on {that a} bit extra.
Molly: I feel many of the companies in our house, whether or not it’s distribution platforms, platforms like Bandcamp — even Spotify — we’re all fighting the truth that there may be a lot extra music than there are followers to take heed to it. And now I feel we’re complicating that with among the new points [like AI slop].
Jay: Not each artist aspires to be a celebrity, and even make a residing taking part in music and there’s nothing unsuitable with that. What in regards to the artists that simply need to write, file, and launch their artwork?
Molly: Once I began making music, within the earliest days, the industrial prospects had been completely not there. We had no considered getting cash as artists. We needed to hang around with our pals, play reveals with one another, and make up songs, which had an power to it. Sooner or later, somebody was keen to pay $100 or $500 for a present and we began to see some royalties — and that felt stunning, not just like the motivation, as a result of we had been coming from a particular anti-corporate tradition underground.
Now, trying on the business, we have now some actually gifted children who would possibly go to music enterprise college or change into performers or composers and generally they appear to need shortcuts to industrial success. There are not any actual shortcuts.
Need extra updates like this?
At CD Child, our mission is to be a reliable supply of knowledge for unbiased artists in all places. Get actionable suggestions, business evaluation, instructional assets, and knowledgeable interviews like this one delivered straight to your inbox while you create a free CD Child account. You’ll be becoming a member of a group of over two million unbiased artists worldwide.
