The Scope of artist-entrepreneurship in the music industry

The traditional strategy of artists has been to secure a record deal with a record label. This was due to the fact that in the old music industry there were very limited opportunities for artists to self-market on a large scale. High production costs, expensive manufacturing and distribution practises and difficult to access marketing channels depicted high entry barriers for aspiring musicians to enter the music business. To overcome these entry barriers, musicians were dependent on help from record labels, producers and distributors. Artists sacrificed large parts of their profits as well as artistic and commercial self-determination to record labels for a chance in the market and to reach a larger audience. In this regard, the market conditions depicted the lock that hindered artists to release their creative wealth. In the wake of new technologies, alternative tools emerged that enabled artists to produce, distribute and promote their music without record labels. Driven by the artist's dream to get rich and famous (or at least make some money and get some attention) and liberated by the new technical possibilities, many artists take their chances as artist-entrepreneurs.