Independent Creator: How to Execute Silently in a Loud Industry

The Algorithm Trap | Client Gaining Blueprint | HYiA Invitation

Recording music is easy, but distributing and reaching potential fans? That’s where the work begins.

You can be like most artists, making music and distributing it as a commodity, or you can monetize your music at an exclusive price and operate like a real label without the hassle and negotiations.

I did what most artists do in the middle of my music career: treat my music like a commodity. I created the songs, stacked them, then distributed the songs, EPs, and albums, thinking the work was only getting the songs on platforms.

I was wrong.

The real work was designing the cover art for each song, EP, and album and ensuring I wasn’t using licensed images. So I did the basics, using solely text for album artwork and my own pictures from my camera roll.

Every piece of content I put out was designed by me, but promo and marketing products? I purchased licenses and used them during the roll-out process.

Now, I operate purely through my own creativity. I design, release, and utilize my own material created from my own talent.

I understand that not everyone has the talent to DIY from start to finish of every project they begin. I just happen to enjoy every single process I immerse myself in.

When an independent creator relies solely on public distribution networks, they unintentionally fall into the Algorithm Trap. We are conditioned to believe that getting our work onto Spotify, Apple Music, or TikTok is the finish line. In reality, it is a digital hamster wheel.

By relying entirely on third-party platforms, you do not own your audience, you rent them.

You are at the mercy of shifting algorithms that can dictate your reach overnight, forcing you to pay for ads just to talk to the people who already chose to follow you.

When you treat your art as fuel for someone else's platform, you turn your intellectual property into a low-margin commodity.

The algorithm doesn’t care about your artistic vision; it cares about watch time and retention metrics to sell ads.

If your entire business model depends on a third party’s terms of service, you don't own a business, you own a job where you get paid in fractions of a cent per stream.

My faults? Mixing and mastering at a level of radio-ready music. That is my biggest failure. I am decent to a certain level, and every producer and audio engineer I have outsourced to has not provided a sound that is "me." No matter how detailed I am during the calls and emails.

I’ll admit, I had a budget when outsourcing an engineer to mix and master my music. Maybe that was my constraint from having the sound I was striving for... or the fact I always wrote and said, "I trust you, you're the expert."

Putting trust into someone else to execute your vision is placing your hard-earned money in their hands and expecting the result to reach your expectations because you gave them intricate details. When I purchase anything, I have this mindset: "I worked x amount of hours for this purchase" or "I sold x amount of products for this."

I had mixed and mastered over a dozen of songs to invest in that audio engineer to mix and master one song, in hopes if he nailed it, he would mix and master the rest of my EP and/or album. I am not a perfectionist, but when I have a vision for a sound, I have to execute on it, no matter what.

So when the mix and master came back, I sat in disbelief. It was nowhere near the sound he had on his website, nor the detailed email I sent, or what we talked about on the phone. It was far from the quality I was expecting.

Now, I could’ve negotiated a refund, a partial refund, or a redo, but my email was simple:

And there wasn’t a reply from that particular audio engineer.

I sourced him on Fiverr because I kept receiving ads. And that’s when I learned people pay for reviews.

The audio engineer I had outsourced was paying for reviews until one honest review slipped through. This led me to do my due diligence online, and I discovered that he had scammed many people.

If I had done my due diligence at the beginning without relying solely on the platform's surface reviews, I would have saved hundreds of dollars. I had purchased the platinum package, ensuring I got everything I needed for a proper music release.

Because I was an amateur independent artist back then, I was hustling non-stop, thinking I had to release content on social media all the time. I was being loud and adding to the noise of social platforms. It worked, yes, but it also garnered audiences that were not truly for my music.

I received one piece of hate email. And like any great strategist, you don’t get upset. You simply audit the hater.

I found they opted in for my free beats and didn’t have a single release on platforms, nor a clothing brand. They were rapping at the camera and expecting a record label to sign them from an Instagram post. I audited and kept it moving.

But what did that audit do for me? It made me realize there are thousands of artists just like that hater. Hoping, wishing, and dreaming to be signed just from posting on social media.

There are millions of posts on social media. One post won’t cause a ripple.

Think of a single Justin Bieber post and imagine it as a massive wave, and you’re expecting your one single post to be felt in that wave? You’re definitely dreaming. 

Now, people can buy the comments, likes, reposts, and followers to make it look like they are a wave online.

Me? I am completely off social media. But I strategically spent my last two years on those platforms navigating my big removal of my music catalog and social media presence.

In 2025, I hardly posted to my grid, but when I did, my posts made an impact. Did I garner likes? No. Did I receive comments? No. Did I gain followers? No.

What did I achieve from my grid posts? Profile views, story views, and link taps.

The story views linked my music, and my link taps led directly to my website.

Needless to say, my metrics grew on other platforms. My music was added to user playlists, which made Spotify realize I needed to be added to editorial playlists. I did everything organically. Every message sent was worthwhile.

I could’ve hired an agency once the money started rolling in, but then I learned I needed to supply the agency with the ideas, and I didn’t fully know what my brand was yet. I had a story, a brand, but nothing solidifying who I am.

Now? I know exactly who Bearie Kixx is and what HYiA is.