Why Am I Not Signed to a Record Label? Because the Music Industry is a Broken Shark Tank

For those who don't know what I do, I am a working musician with two bands: A Fallen Mind and Fuzzy Death Machine. A Fallen Mind has two albums out (working on a third) and Fuzzy Death Machine is working on it's debut album. I work night and day (literally) trying to promote either band in every way that I can. I've invested tons of money, I've submitted to many different radio stations and industry "professionals", etc etc. And I've been doing this for years.

So why am I an unknown, unsigned artist doing it all myself? Because the music industry is broken.

Music "professionals" and record labels will only accept your music based on a few factors:

• Does your music sound professionally put together?
  Because everyone has the money to rent out studio time and master their songs, right?
  I mean, why should the record companies do their job when you can do it for them?
• How many fans do you have?
  When they want to know this, they mean on Facebook, on Twitter, on Youtube, etc... not actual flesh and blood fans. They don't give a damn if these numbers are fluffed up. They don't look at whether these "fans" actually listen to your band (as opposed to just clicking "Like" and moving on.) Industry "pros" look at a number and make a blanket decision. But that doesn't entirely matter, if the answer to the next question is "Yes," which is....
• Do you have tits? (and/or are you good looking in the stereotypical sense?)
  No? Sorry. The music industry can't help you then...
  Unless, of course, you wow them by blowing them away and make it on your own (see Susan Boyle.) If you're lucky enough to make that happen, then they will fall all over themselves trying to sign you. My question is: Where the fuck were you before they made it? Now you want to sign them after they busted their ass and pushed past all your rejections? That's like the popular kids beating you up for years at school and then wanting to be your friend after you've become popular. Fuck you.
  
  Then it comes back to money....again:
• Are you willing to Pay to Play?
  If you want to submit your material to a label or an industry "professional", you better have money. Everything is pay to play now. EVERY. THING. Want to get on iTunes? Money. Spotify? Money. Submit your song to possibly be in a movie? Unless you know the director (or the director is kool with it), you have to pay. Don't believe me? Check out places like Music Xray, Tunecore, etc etc. And if you ask why A Fallen Mind is on those sites, it's not because I'm special. I PAYED to be there or to utilize their service.

So I have to do it all myself, because I'm broke. I'm barely hanging onto my house, my mental disabilities and my childrens' disabilities keep me from getting any kind of steady job (I also can't play a gig due to some of my kids' disability issues), and the only way to do this is to work my ass off in every other way that I can..... just to make it a fraction of the distance that most people with money make in a week or month.

How much work do I do to promote my stuff (and feel like a sellout whore at the same time)?
I'm on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Youtube, and then a fuckton of other social media sites which I've probably let crumble due to the fact that it's hard as hell keeping up with all of them. I've paid to be on iTunes, YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play, Rdio, Deezer, Xbox Music, Rhapsody, eMusic, Simfy Africa, iHeartRadio, MixRadio, MediaNet, VerveLife, Tidal, Gracenote, Shazam, 7Digital, Juke, JB Hi-Fi, Slacker, Guvera, KKBox, Akazoo, Anghami, Spinlet, Neurotic Media, Yandex, Target Music, ClaroMusica, Play.me, Zvooq, Saavn, and 8tracks. When I play games on my PS4, I broadcast my gameplay via Twitch with a message that promotes my stuff during the broadcast (I also name my characters after my band for name recognition.) I work with other people in the industry to help promote their stuff as well as my own. I'm also licensed through BMI, which costs money, too.

When I tell people that I'm a struggling artist, some look at me like I'm crazy. The graphics and websites set up for my bands look somewhat professional and I promote myself as professionally as I can stand, so I must have money, right? No. The only reason that my stuff looks the way it does is because I'm good with Photoshop. That's it. Almost everything that you see is done by me alone. The graphics, the music writing and mixing, the promoting, everything. I don't have a team working for me. I'm just lucky enough to have a couple of people who are willing to contribute their own musical work at times and hang in there with me long enough while I try to put our music out there.

There has to be a better way to do all this, but so far I haven't found it. It feels defeating. And I'm sorry to end this on a negative note, as I like to keep things positive to some degree, but I don't feel very positive about any of this shit anymore.



Oh and two things to note:
1. If you do a google search for my stuff, A Fallen Mind is NOT "Fallen Minds" or "Fallen Mind." Who ever these people are, they aren't me. And I'm sure this will turn into an ugly legal thing eventually, which I don't want to do, but hey! Music industry, right? It fucking sucks!

2. I put the word "professional" and "pro" in quotes because I've met these guys. Most of them are sleazy, superficial idiots who believe that their own personal, shallow view of life is the way the world works. So we end up getting the Justin Beibers and the One Directions and then ask why? The "why" is because the music industry is a broken ship being steered by greedy assholes who are surrounded by other greedy assholes in an ocean of sharks and more superficial assholes.