The Audience.

This is what it all comes back to. In a situation where recording and distribution are no longer an issue and where the immediate physical and financial barriers between independent artists and the audience have gone, much depends on the audience. Will audiences embrace acts that don't have the seal of approval of a major label...or any label? Will audiences put in the effort to find acts that are not being heavily promoted to them?

To some extent the answer we would expect is "yes". We would expect this because most audiences display a kind of perpetual discontent with the level and variety of what is offered to them. And acts like the Arctic Monkeys in part break through as a result of audiences "buying in" to an act that seems to be bucking the system.

We can describe a few extremes of audience attitude.

1. "Give me what I know." This is the audience that listens to classic rock radio and the like. This is not to say necessarily that they are opposed to new musical experiences. They may simply have opted out of contemporary music because they hear nothing they like. "Give me what I know" also largely describes the audience of mainstream hit radio.

2. "Give me something new". This may be an entrenched hipster attitude, or a response to not hearing anything that they like being promoted. Some audiences wish to be perpetually cutting edge, and abandon acts that they feel are getting too popular. Others with eclectic tastes simply don't find enough music that they like in the mainstream, and are always on the lookout for new sounds that appeal. Both these groups will probably find internet radio suits their musical needs.

Realistically, independent artists are largely dependent on an audience that is actively seeking for new music. The buying, browsing and decision making habits of this audience are hugely significant. What promotional methods work for this audience? How do they prefer to purchase music, one track at a time or as complete albums? What services would they like to see? These are questions that are unlikely to be answered easily, firstly because market survey companies that do this kind of work are unlikely to find lucrative customers amongst independent musicians, and secondly because the audience in question is likely to be minimally cooperative in market survey attempts. Someone needs to do the work, though, someone with some audience credibility.