You don’t need a label — you need a team. Every signed artist has one, and every independent artist can build one: a manager who believes, an engineer who makes you sound expensive, a graphic designer, a videographer, and a promoter who moves tickets. None of them have to be famous. They have to be consistent and hungry.
Hire on Belief, Pay on Results
Start with revenue splits instead of salaries — nobody can pay a salary on indie money. Offer your manager 15 to 20 percent, give your team a percentage of what they help bring in, and put every deal in writing, even with friends. Loyalty without paperwork is just a future argument. Contracts protect relationships.
Meet weekly, set real goals, and review the numbers together. A team of five committed people beats a label department that has twenty other artists to think about. When your team wins with you, they stay with you. That’s the indie major model: ownership, alignment, and everybody eating.
Pay your people on time and communicate like a boss. Indie teams fall apart over two things: money confusion and silence. Send the split the day the money lands, even if it is small — reliability builds loyalty faster than big promises. Hold a short weekly check-in where everyone reports one win and one goal; it keeps five busy people moving in the same direction. When someone outgrows the role or stops showing up, thank them and replace them fast. Your team is your company. Run it like one.
Five hungry people with a plan will outrun any label department that barely knows your name.
About the Author – Ruben Burgos: Ruben Burgos brings over 25 years of music expertise and more than 15 years of model guidance to the table. He is the indie major pinnacle to retaining credits for musicians and helping them navigate this wicked industry without the fuckery.