Every music aficionado dreams about becoming a successful musician and this includes several aspects such as selling out stadiums, performing all over the world, achieving platinum album sales, and also – groupies! Like most budding musicians, high schools and colleges are where the first steps towards learning music are taken.

Jamming in the garage, playing small-time bars, and the ultimate dream of opening for the next big band that visits your town, are the steps that need to be taken to reach the final destination;  getting a record deal. Artists like Michael Jackson, The Beatles, and even Elvis Presley, in spite of their talent, had to go through this route. Over the years, the music business has evolved and quite frankly has become a lot more complicated.

With a surge of artists across genres, labels find it challenging to give equal attention to every artist on their roster. Musicians today are taking the independent route, which means right from recording to distributing their music, they often have to do it all on their own. It is a lot harder for musicians today to ‘break’ into the scene. Nevertheless, with the rise of digitalization, it does make the task a lot easier.

Making the right use of technology and expertise is Shane Foster who is not only a gifted musician but also a music business owner.

Ex US Army personnel Shane turned his focus towards his all-time love for music when he suffered traumatic injuries while serving the nation. Music became an effective healer to help him to cope with his disabilities. After graduating with a degree in Entertainment Business from LA Film School, Foster worked at the famous Live Nation Entertainment as a marketing executive. While learning the tricks of the game, Shane realized he was better off as an independent artist and a music business owner.

Along with his partner Davis Chris, DFD Music was formed which helped independent artists with music production, marketing, and more. This move also brought his inner musician out into the open when he dropped a critically acclaimed album ‘Hit the Collection’ with Davis Chris in July 2019.

Foster states, “I have worked with artists like Yo Gotti, Boosie Badazz, Pastor Troy, and Mila J and have delivered tremendous results without any help from a major music label. I am an independent artist and will always remain one.” Apart from music production, Shane has also been involved in the creation of multiple music videos and his efforts have often been compared to that of the legend Quincy Jones. Despite suffering life-threatening injuries in the past, Shane has pushed himself towards achieving greatness in the industry.

In this day and age, smarter musicians are moving away from labels and building their own empire.