Independent music is getting bigger by the day and the artists making it on their own are set to have their most phenomenal year yet this year.

The internet has changed the power dynamic in the music industry. Thanks to the opportunities opened up by digital music platforms and services like RouteNote making distribution available to everyone – artists no longer need a big record deal to get their music out there.

With equal opportunities independent music has boomed like never before, allowing small and rising artists to get their music out their around the world. As it gets easier to go the DIY route, the power is moving away from major record labels and moving back into the artists’ hands.

Last year a report by Midia Research showed that self-released music had amassed $643 million in revenues worldwide in 2018. That’s a 35% increase on the year before and meant that independent music revenues accounted for a total of 3.4% of the global record industry’s revenues.

Rolling Stone have pointed out that if independent music continues to grow in revenue at the same rate this year, let alone even faster growth, they independent music’s revenues for 2019 will reach $1 billion.

Midia Research managing director, Mark Mulligan says: “We are entering potentially the most transformative era that the record business has ever seen. The rise of ‘direct artist’ service companies, and a whole host of other commercial models, means that [unsigned] artists have more choice and flexibility than ever before. These artists can create their own virtual record label.”