Indie

I rarely post anything in English on this blog, but there are some topics that I want to cover for those who are interested.

The topic I want to discuss is "Indie", often used in music and games.

As someone who loved to surf around and discover new indie groups and their works, I found that some of the indie groups doesn't know how to release their works effectively to the public.

Here is a rough guideline:

1. Understand who's your audience/market.
   - Music : Pop music? Prog-rock? Math-rock?
   - Game : Visual novel? JRPG? SLG?
2. Analyze where your targeted audience saturated on the web and understand what other groups they like.
   - Soundcloud, tumblr, reddit(r/listentothis), youtube, audiophile, steam
3. Create a professional webpage that showcase your works.
   - Remember to SEO your website.
   - Show your work samples in youtube/soundcloud/Vimeo etc.
   - Display in a style that deliver your group message clearly to new audiences.
4. Introduce your works at (2)'s discussion places in a honest, professional manner with good charisma.
   - You WILL definitely receive negative criticism in these place. Use these criticism as your mental boost to improve your works.
   - If it's workable, do it.
   - If it's not doable, try understand why it's not doable and explain in a positive attitude.
   - If it's a negative personal attack, handle it like a professional. Don't get your feelings involve in it.
   - Remember that a online community is a living group. If you mistreat them, they do bite you back in hard ways. Hence, it's important to clear up your intent at first and be honest to the community.
5. Ask some media personalities to review your work. (Blogs/Youtubers/Tumblrs/Niconico broadcasters etc)
   - Doesn't have to be the most popular personalities.
   - Personalities who specialize in covering the (1)'s market is the ideal reviewers to share your works to the public.
6. Remember to choose your license carefully, as it will affect how people talk about your works.

Dont's:

1. Do not be afraid in facing different languages. In the end, they are all your fans.
2. Do not spam. Fans take time to build up as they are human as well.
3. Do not trash talk. Bad PR will ruin your works.
4. Do not be afraid or overconfidence, because expectations are not guarantee. Any outcome is possible. But if you tried, you have the chance.

Good luck on your indie works. :)
頑張ってくださいね、インディー創作者たち。