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Thanks so much for sharing Rick - great work, love the effort on your film clips as well as the music! Added "Call Me Dont Text Me" to the YOuTube Indie, Over 50 playlist :)

@@IndieOver50 Many thanks

Welcome aboard - I have added to Indie Over 50 on TH-cam :)

@IndieOver50 Thank you!

You have sorted the digital for Dark Love - looks and sounds great - added to Indie, Over 50 playlist - thank you!

Thanks so much Steven, great to hear from you and thanks for sharing that journey. Thanks for the tip about Reaper - had never heard of it but has good wraps online. Good idea to take a breather and re-set, I have just done my first Meta Ad campaign and have also paused before it becomes a cash drain. I really appreciate your encouragement. I have added "All You Ever Wanted Was Love" to Spotify Indie, Over 50: Country And "Industrial Solos" to Indie, Over 50:Discovered

@ Thank you so much!

Thanks so much for watching Dave - I really appreciate your feedback. Congratulations on releasing your music. But yes, its not easy to swallow the whole promotion side as well. Thanks again for your encouragement - great to have you in our community!

Very thoughtful response Kenny, and so true - my "positive" inclination has been set by my "success" with my first song I entered, and my expectations are grounded in the knowledge that no subsequent songs have had similar recognition - yet :) So true about the instant obligation to attract a listener or engagement. Only established artists will we indulge in consuming an entire album (basic Spotify advice these dayss for artists with no/small following is singles only), or a more epic intro. If Telegraph Road by Dire Straights was issued independently today would it ever survive the first 30 seconds scan!!! Darwin may agree with your final point! PS added Your Star is Enough to Indie, Over 50 TH-cam playlist.

Love it! And love your channel title - have subscribed! Never too old to rap :)

Thanks so much Stephen, yes I've had this feedback about the Spotify link - only sometimes - please email IndieOver50@icloud Good luck if you enter Talent is Timeless - I have entered their new 2025 competition as well. I have added "The Whiskey Jar" to our TH-cam playlist.

Thanks so much - added "I need love" to our Indie, Over 50 playlist :)

@@IndieOver50 thanks so much

Thanks Gareth, promotion is really hard, whether it is driven by you creating content on the platforms, or even making choices about paid promotion. Totally appreciate the confidence gap - it is putting yourself out there - literally for judging! However, a success may be validating, and even no result, but hearing the winners and finalists can help inspire you.

Congratulations Gareth - thats such a great achievement - your summary of the benefits is awesome - warm fuzzy and bio fodder - another brick in the wall of creative succeses and hard yakka!

@@IndieOver50 thanks John. Now in my 50’s, I’ve come to realize the true benefits of playing music are not at all about cash return on investment. Enough ROI to keep playing does help though :)

Thats a great place to get to Gareth. And Enough is a powerful word!

Wow - Video is up for a few minutes and you've added a whole new perspective!! Thanks WWM :)

@ 😂😂

Hey Thomas, thanks for reaching out and making that suggestion! Not sure what could rhyme with Forty???? :) I dont check birth certificates - so you are in a safe space! Congratulations on your Album - Love your intro video - such a great idea! I have subscribed and follow you on Spotify as well now. Love Majesty! Listening to rest now ...

@@IndieOver50 Thanks! "There's a Horse in the Basement" appears to be the most successful song thus far.

Love that lyric - added to Indie, Over 50: Rock

Thanks so much for your email - I have had a few that cant share Spotify links - not sure if it is OS or format - TV/Tablet/Phone/PC issue??? Love your story in your new song andhave added to two Indie, Over 50 playlists.

@IndieOver50 thank you!

Congartulations - loving The Mystic and added to our TH-cam playlist. My core instrument is drummer as well, love seeing how you have progressed and produced such as a massive song! Whilst grounded in Latin, you have created a very distinctive and contemporary production and vibe in this song. All the best with it!

@@IndieOver50, I appreciate the kind words and thank you for adding The Mystic to the playlist. Much Love & Light, Brother

Thank you so much for asking Mateo, this is our recent release :) th-cam.com/video/EL-Id4OT_lU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=G27dLLMNsh4nwoiy

Added to Indie, Over 50: Rock on Spotify :)

Cheers - added to Indie, Over 50 TH-cam playlist - love your description of your progress and approach and resources. Also added River Road to Spotify Indie, Over 50: Indie Rock Vibes - feel free to follow and enjoy!

@ Thank you, glad you liked it

Interesting point about Meta Ads - I have only recently invested - and - early days - started to see the difference in building more engaged listeners than playlisting. Once I have more feedback I'll prepare a video. You are right - if you can do self promotion with great content - organic (free) growth is awesome - but comes with a lot of discipline and dedication required, and many will give up along the way. PS - love your channel name!

@@IndieOver50 Thank you for taking the time to respond to my comment. I love your channel! Keep up the great and informative content. You’ve made a ton of sound judgments and I resonate with you. what you’re saying is very thought provoking. I appreciate you saying that about my channel name. Being a musician, I tend to pour a lot of time and thought into my branding and image.

Thanks Jason, interesting take - not sure that any record company exec would agree you cant buy an audience (subject to a great product). Though point taken on where and how you are presented and level of engagement. Definitely lots of free options to build audiences - just a question of scale and your objectives.

Thanks so much - hope dinner was good!! I must have missed your comment! Love your voice and songs - Listening to Never Left, and Anymore and subscribed. Great tip about Alexrainbird. Subscribed and followed! Thank you for your music Grayson - and all the best with your marketing efforts - you are starting with a beautiful product and that is the foundation of success.

Thanks Taggart, greato to have you on board! You are definitely in the never too late zone - with good company! And you have so many skills and knowledge from jingles and producing! All the best with it :)

Yo Ho Ho! Welcome aboard - love this discovery of your chanel - 253 sleeps till International Talk Like a Pirate Day :)

Thanks so much Steve. Totally appreciate the 4 track reference and remember marvelling that Sgt Peppers was done on 4 track!!! And that was cut and splice punch in! I took the liberty of adding "Tragedy Porn" to Indie, Over 50 TH-cam playlist - now that is still relevant!!!

Very good point - and, in the case of the Sex pistols - the whole was greater than the sum of the parts - they were a breakthrough creative force, arising out of Thatcher UK, and leading a whole new genre of music. Whilst I may have no free will as a singer, or a drummer, or a guitarist, or a writer - I can still question - is my voice, guitar, drums - helping or hindering the song. In Lydons case it is hard to imagine anything better!

Thanks so much - great you came along - and yes we dont check birth certifcates!! :)

Agree - Robert Smith elevates a song - with his distinctive character. Thanks for joining us here :)

Too true, hard to be inspired by ROI on streaming platforms, and it is well documented that only a very small % of Spotify artists can earn a living from Streaming. In reality, many professionals need to eak out a living combining live gigs, sessions, merchandise, CD sales and/or royalties. And even these free tips all take time and effort! So it does come back to what your achievement goals are.

You have broken the shackles of 50! Well done :)

Thats interesting, they usually work. Other option is IndieOver50@icloud.com I found you on Spotify though and added Driven to Indie, Over 50: Eclectic

@ thank you

Thanks so much Rick :) And a really great point about working with young people - worthy of a video on that topic alone. I feel fortunate that I continue to be around young people, and there is a choice about that.

Always inspiring story - I listend to a podcaat about it and it was fascinating! Even how they came up with the catchphrase "finger looking good"

Welcome - seems to work now

th-cam.com/play/PLVW6S2W_beKL0zq3GCT0h_3yu-4tiMXiY.html&si=AFHTlh-3WzOnjiL5

Thanks so much for checking it our Brock. Have added "Keri" to Indie, Over 50: Indie Rock Vibes - open.spotify.com/playlist/2oF8gdEVmANx8sToxAzyFO?si=CpAaFkJzTK-Rl0wcIfpWPw

I'm 61 so I sneak in too! No hate for AI - imagine how painters felt when the camera was introduced, how Sinatra felt when multi-tracking started, how graphic artists felt with the Mac, how most musicians felt when Midi was introduced, digital FX - each evolution of technology has unleashed extraordinary creativity and opportunities. I understand the rightful fear and concerns about AI - it will threaten careers again, and it is a serious issues for copyright and regulators to deal with. My question for you is "how?". You can prompt AI with "give me a song about driving down the road into the sunset" and it will create a song! Or you can provide all your lyrics, and it will produce a song in your preferred style - rap, pop, big band! I am not aware you can take your chords, melody and lyrics and have AI produce it - although band -in-a-box has been doing that for years but it requires musical and computing skills.

@@IndieOver50 Hi! In case your question of "How?" was not rhetorical, here is the answer: I come up with a concept or an idea for a song or series of songs (LP). For example "Reality has become Satire" (th-cam.com/video/1533dVaKwRE/w-d-xo.html) then I write some ideas that I can think of for it, then I ask ChatGPT or Claude to look up for recent examples that illustrate the topic. Then I ask them to write original Lyrics (my native language is Spanish so I have problems with rhyming and counting syllables in English), then I review it and ask for changes. I edit the structure of the song (name tags within brackets) for example: [Intro: instrumental], [Verse 1], [Chorus], [Outro] and so on. Then I imagine which genre and style would fit it best, a lot of trial and error playing with prompts until something I like comes up. In the case of the aforementioned song, the prompt was this: "Dark dance, bass-line, textured vocal grit female vocalist, pad synth, offbeat rhythmic guitars, wide spatial percussions", and patience. My day work is graphic designer, so people pay me for the aesthetic choices or decisions that I make, the same here with the final result of the song. Thus the term "AI Artist", but it is pretentious, I know. I do compose music, playing keyboards but it is very far from radio-ready... Later on I will produced it more by playing over it to make it more personal. Greetings from Mexico.

Definitely not rhetorical - thanks for your answer. So effectively you have "prompted" the song. An idea, or prompt, for a song - eg. "boy meets girl, falls in love" - can't be copyrighted. AI has generated the lyrics and melody - the two essential elements of copyright. So the interesting issue here is - who owns the copyright in this song? I have seen many TH-cam videos on this subject. You probably have the "mechanical" rights, but if someone used that lyric/meoldy in their song - would you have the right to sue them for breach? Or would Suni/Udio/etc chase it down? And if you go into a recording studio and reproduce with real musicians etc - it would still not be your original lyric nd melody. Answers are not clear at this point. I am happy to add this song to the playlist. Personally I recommend you are upfront about use of AI for lyric and melody in your description. Though I do see the "altered or syntehitc content" declaration. And g'day from Sydney, Australia :)

Congratulations! Have added "Fade" to our playlist. And you win Album title of the year - "NonTrending.Unfluencer Album" Checkout @fytakytemusic

@IndieOver50 Thanks so much!

Thanks for the tip - I will now check him out :)

Cheers Matt. So true many hit new songs have many songwriters, including the performer - mainly just to get a cut or cred. And realistically - if Ed or Taylor wanted to record my song - they would be in a very good negotiating position! Well done for trying out the collaboration path - but understand it is not an easy answer - and interests need to align. The interest could be singing for a fee, or a cut of streaming, or to get acces to a new fan base. Ultimately, they need to connect, tap into your creativity, and express your song better than you can!

if you think most women sound identical, you've gotta be making an active effort to avoid female artists. in 21st century indie alone... you'd really confuse adrienne lenker, mica tenenbaum, courtney barnett, brittany howard, mitski, and karen o with each other? this comment is like if i said that all male singers sound the same because i've only heard early 2000s nickelback clones anyways, the idea that (particularly pop) singers should also be songwriters is a fairly recent one. no one gave a rip in the eras of vocal jazz, tin pan alley, brill building pop etc. performance is just as much an art as putting lyrics on a page, and singing for pop and rock is like acting on hard mode. we don't walk around saying, "ugh, i have no respect for these hollywood actresses! they don't even write their own dialogue!" that would be absurd! edit/addition: image has always been a part of contemporary music. it's no better or worse now -- and, besides, incorporating image into music isn't actually a bad thing. imagine elvis without his hips!

@camf4962 I should've clarified, i don't actively listen to any indie music, so i was really only referring to pop divas. And I don't doubt for a second that singing and acting well is impressive, and something i wish i could do, but from the songwriting angle i was coming from, i would certainly put them in the same bucket. Just listen to Ricky Gervais roast celebs at the golden globes about how actors are so much better than everyone else and writers are unimportant. Hilariously accurate. Reality is you can't compare writers to singers/actors, it's apples and oranges. And yep, image is great. But if you sing someone else's songs, you're a builder, not an architect :)

Thanks for introducing me to a number of new indie female singers I had not heard of before but now checking out - Mitski - wow! Very good perspective - we dont expect actors to be screen writers.

Great line about Builder and Architect - although it is especially hard, and probably rare, to find an amazing architect who is also a great builder!!

I was just going to say... If you go the "carry on" route, it may be best to figure out what your voice is not. If it is not 'smooth', if it is not 'bell toned', if it doesn't have a broad range, figure out what it _is_ , what gives it character? See if you can work with that and know that you are not alone. Tom Petty, Neil Young, Bob Dylan and many others have shown that having a 'great voice' is not necessarily about sounding like a Sinatra, or a Pavarotti, but rather communicating the song, like a Tom Waits.

Hey Gary - I love that line - "only convincing singing". Not sure we are disagreeing, my point is that you have to ask is your voice helping or hindering your song, and the tough decisions that may involve - certainly for many like me that dont have the talent. Lou, Leonard, Bob - some amazing non-singer singers - are distinctive because of the success at sharing a story and inspiring emotions. And clearly their voice/style helped their songs rather than hindered. I have checked out your channel and would love to add some of your Spotify/TH-cam songs to the Indie, Over 50 playlists - I can understand your success - very cool to meet this way.

@ hey John, I just started watching your videos, great content idea, thanks for sharing your findings. I love the title ‘Indie Over 50’ - that is me now at 53. I’m researching new approaches and playlisting strategies for my next album due in 2026. Please feel free to use any of my current vids. For another indie over 50, check out my mate Buzz Moller’s band called ‘Voom’. Buzz is 63 and a fabulous songwriter. We often collaborate and he is releasing right now, with a new album due in March. Just subscribed :)

Thanks so much Gareth. Your "All Eyes in the Room" is a classic. Have added to TH-cam playlist and also a new Spotify playlist Indie, Over 50: Songs I would love on the radio open.spotify.com/playlist/4dcpOwmKTb7cGL1RkG4duL?si=-ibdANjqSW2fBZDclTaFLg Very excited about your new album!!

100% - so many amazing songwriters dont have a "classic" vocal - but can connect. Most importantly, their voice does not hinder the song.

Thanks so much - I agree - this has been a real joy discovering amazing artists on Spotify and TH-cam - I have really enjoyed listening to so many - I will put a feature up occasionally on the "Community" section - and would love to add inteviews in the future. There's a number of different genres but my personal favourite list is currently the Easy Listening playlist - open.spotify.com/playlist/2S4xBhMog24LhEpc4cRMAg?si=f9e3b970f5524052 including amazing artists such as @edddonovan9599 and @lkaleido

Thanks so much for coming along - I really appreciate this comment :)

Well done on paying for Uni with your voice!! And great to hear you are getting back into it! It is amazing connecting with so many artists doing that. I love what one comment said here "no such thing as good singing, only convincing singing". As an excellent singer you have a great foundation - but it is whether your voice helps or hinders with the song - and finding a way to be comfortable with that choice. All the best with your music - look forward to hearing it :)

Just change the key of the songs?

Definitely an option, although range is another issue, let alone some songs just seem to "sound" right at C but not Eb!!

@@ThreadBomb I tend to write using acoustic guitar and I find that changing the key changes the vibe more than if I wrote with piano for example. It's a great strategy but it just doesn't work very often for me.

Thats very nice of you! And thanks for sharing "My Mess Your Purpose" - have added to Indie, Over 50 TH-cam playlist - th-cam.com/play/PLiRT_bMGCY0D4JZgICJ2Alv3Y_vxpYUgD.html&si=OGlYnbQJrpsCx7T7

Maybe a definition of great? But certainly agree that good singers are a dime a dozen. Those you mention have the "X" factor, and a few today as well, such as Billie Eilish or Bon Iver. These singers you refer to are instantly recognisable, and combined with a cool hook, impact lyrics and great music and production can smash a hit out!

PS. Just had a taste of your new single - "Going down to Mepmhis" - look forward to the release soon!

@@IndieOver50 thanks brother, we're looking to release it the end of january..

Fair :) I think of auto tune as spray painting and pitch correction as a touch up brush!

Thanks so much Bob, let me know if any of these strategies help you, or you would suggest others :) Dead to Me has been added to our TH-cam Indie, Over 50 playlist - like the two person perspective!