Why I'm Fighting for Independent Artists, Before We Lose the Soul of Music

The music industry today is almost unrecognizable compared to what it used to be. The world many of us grew up with, where musicians could build a career over time, sell physical albums, and create a stable life through their art doesn’t exist anymore. It’s not the 80s, where a band could get discovered, tour locally, grind their way up, and eventually become millionaires through album sales and radio play. Today, only the major label “flavor of the day,” usually whatever is poppy, algorithm-friendly, or commercially easy, gets that kind of push and money. Rock and real musicians are constantly being buried under trends, corporate playlists, and now, an overwhelming wave of AI-generated content. And I’ve reached a point where I can’t just watch it happen without doing something.

Independent artists are the backbone of everything I love about music. They create because they believe in their message, not because a label told them to. They write, record, promote, tour, hustle, and survive without the financial support of a major company. Some of your favorite big artists started independent, and many of the artists people assume are “signed and rich” are still completely on their own. But the world they’re trying to survive in is stacked against them in 2025 and beyond.

We’re living in a time where AI can generate thousands of songs in minutes. Platforms are being flooded with synthetic music, drowning out human creativity. Algorithms don’t care about authenticity, emotion, or connection, they care about trends, numbers, and convenience. As more AI fills the market, real artists get pushed further down, and their chances of being discovered shrink even more. Rock in particular has been hit hard. It’s a genre built on human emotion, pain, energy, personal experience, and authenticity. Yet it’s being overshadowed by pop-driven trends and algorithm-friendly sounds that labels prefer. Flavor of the day. Nothing lasting. Nothing earned. Nothing real.

Streaming payouts have become even worse heading into 2026. Most platforms pay fractions of a penny per stream, and those fractions have gotten smaller. To earn even a thousand dollars, which barely covers a fraction of recording costs an independent artist needs hundreds of thousands of streams. Visibility means almost nothing without real support behind it. Fans will say, “I listen to them all the time!” but a million streams can still leave an artist struggling to pay their rent.

Touring used to be where artists could make money, but not anymore. Costs have skyrocketed: fuel, vans, hotels, merch production, food, gear maintenance, insurance. And that doesn’t even include the hidden realities most people don’t know about. Many artists have to buy onto tours, paying large amounts of money just to be allowed onto a lineup so they can reach new fans and a lot of times they only get 20-30 minutes to perform. Venues now often take a cut of merch or ticket sales, and some smaller venues even charge artists to perform on their stage. Imagine working for weeks, traveling hundreds of miles, promoting the show yourself, and then having to pay the venue for the privilege of playing. This isn’t rare — it’s normal. And it’s getting worse.

Recording music is also becoming harder. A professionally recorded, mixed, and mastered song or album can cost anywhere from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars. Music videos, marketing, social media promotion, playlisting fees, distribution, instrumentalists, graphic design — it all adds up quickly. Independent artists are doing all of this out of pocket. Many are working two or three jobs just to fund a single release. And when they finally put that music out, they’re rewarded with pennies from streaming platforms and algorithms that bury them behind manufactured content.

And signing with a label isn’t the dream people imagine. A record deal is a loan — and a brutal one. Everything the label pays for gets charged back to the artist. Recording, videos, promotion, tour support, marketing — the artist owes it all back before they ever see a dollar. Some artists spend years signed to a label and never receive a royalty check. I know this because I have friends who have lived it. Friends who have toured internationally, friends who have signed to major labels, friends who have worked inside the industry. I’ve heard the truth from the inside, and it’s not glamorous.

I’ve also seen it firsthand from another angle. As a DIY promoter, I’ve worked with thousands of independent artists. I’ve booked them, promoted their shows, talked with them, listened to their challenges, and seen how deeply they want to connect with fans. I’ve seen artists sleep in vans, skip meals, repair gear themselves, work on no sleep, and pour their entire soul into their craft for almost nothing in return. But I’ve also seen their fire. Their passion. Their authenticity. Their ability to create something real in a world drowning in artificial noise.

This is why I’m launching something through Harmony Heartbeat — something bigger than just supporting a few artists. I want to build a movement that raises awareness, brings fans closer to independent musicians, and helps artists get real financial support. I want people to understand the truth about the modern music industry and why so many artists are struggling. I want to help fans discover new independent musicians and understand how much their support actually matters.

Supporting an independent artist doesn’t always require money. Sharing their posts, engaging with their content, adding their songs to playlists, tagging friends, and showing up to their shows makes a massive impact. Watching their videos all the way through. But if you want to financially help them in the most effective way possible, buy directly from them on their websites and subscribe to their email lists. When you purchase directly from an artist, they keep 100 percent of the money — no labels, no platforms, no middlemen taking a cut.

Music is universal. It is the one thing almost every human connects with. It brings people together, heals people, motivates people, and remains one of the most powerful forms of human expression. But if we don’t stand up and do something now, we will watch real music fade. We will see fewer real artists, fewer real concerts, fewer live bands, and fewer authentic experiences. The more AI floods the industry, the more the human element disappears. The soul of music is being threatened, and once it’s gone, we won’t get it back.

This is why Harmony Heartbeat is stepping forward. I’m building something that will give independent artists a voice, a spotlight, and support. I want to help fans understand the industry, and I want to help artists survive it. I’m fighting for the future of music — for the artists who create it and for the fans who still believe in real, human-driven art.

Music has been a part of my life since the day I was born, when my mom would sing to me, when I would play my dad's 45's or his 8 track tapes, when I would play albums I bought at the record store, or sit by the radio waiting for my favorite song to come on so I could hit record without the dj interrupting my soon to be mix tape. Music has saved me so many times, it has been here for me my whole life. It is a part of who I am, from watching friends jam in their basement as a teen, to going to concerts, and then watching friends jam as an adult. It is what made me want to put on concerts, promote and book. Music is everything to me and that is the one thing I have in common with Independent Artists, we live and breathe music. That is why I will fight like hell to keep it alive and to do whatever it takes to help Independent Artists. So welcome to my journey, get ready for the ride of your life.

Something big is coming. And independent artists will always have a place here.

Peace, Love and Loud Music,

Mickey 🤘

Video below the band had to change their name due to Alice Cooper contacting them. But this was in my basement in 2013 and yes Independent Artists right here. This is why I do it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA4CgZYy6Qo

Death Of The Party (formerly Hollywood Vampires out of Alpena MI)