I first heard the term DIY when perusing a scrapbook store. It’s simple. Whatever it is you do it all by yourself…without any help.
That’s what that term means. Understand? Good, glad that’s settled.
Now what about DIY musician?
When I hear the term “DIY musician” I interpret that to be stuff that musicians normally didn’t do in the 70’s, 80’s, and 90’s.
So what did musicians normally not do?
Booking. Promotion. Marketing and on and on.
Nowadays this is what musicians end up doing. In a way, we are forced to do this.
Why?
Because it’s hard to find good help especially when you can’t pay much. Also major labels are only interested in helping if you have a very large audience that they can further monetize using their marketing methods.
There is also the latest development of label services, but again that’s hiring help and requires money.
The other assumption I make about the phrase DIY musician is that it means the musician doesn’t have a label. You could also call them independent artists or independent musicians.
To some degree, when it comes to the business end, these musicians are “somewhat” self-sufficient.
As for the acronym DIY, well you can’t take it literally so don’t think that you have to do everything yourself. You don’t…but you do have to learn things outside of the music creation process.
The Real DIY Musician
The reality is that though you may call yourself a DIY musician, there is no such thing as a successful DIY musician. There are only successful musicians.
Everyone who is successful has help, and every large venture is a collaborative effort. Music careers are no different.
DIY Musician = musician who is knowledgeable in the basics of online marketing, music distribution, and other music industry related business skills.
Learn from other musicians
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Source:: Music Think Tank