I've been making dark, melancholic ambient music since I was 14. Today I released my first fully independent single — no label, just me.
If this kind of heavy, atmospheric sound is something you're into, I'd love for you to give it a listen. Links in the comments 🖤
I've been making dark, melancholic ambient music since I was 14 — moody, atmospheric, sometimes aggressive textures. Think tension-building, dread, isolation, that kind of emotional weight.
I recently went fully independent (self-releasing through CD Baby) and I'm looking to get my music into actual visual projects — short films, indie features, trailers, anything that needs that kind of heavy, atmospheric sound.
Happy to share tracks/clips if you're working on something and think the mood could fit. Open to talking about usage and terms directly.
If anyone has recommendations on where else to look for this kind of collab, I'd appreciate that too.
I've been making ambient/experimental music for 7 years now — started at 14, I'm 21 today. This new track came together almost on its own, the idea just hit me out of nowhere and I followed it without overthinking the structure.
It sits in that dark, melancholic ambient space — slow, textured, atmospheric. This is also the first thing I'm releasing completely independently, no label this time, just me handling everything from the sound to getting it out into the world.
Drops July 3rd on all platforms. If this is your kind of sound, following on Spotify would genuinely mean a lot — I'm a young artist building an audience from scratch after 7 years of just making music quietly on my own, and every person who sticks around makes a real difference at this stage.
Pre-save link below if you want to catch it on release day. Would love to hear what you think once it's out.
I make music, and the journey of being creative — putting your work out there, wondering if anyone will care, the temptation to hand control to someone else because doing it all yourself feels overwhelming — feels pretty universal no matter the medium.
I started at 14. I'm 21 now. 7 years into this craft. At 20, I started releasing through a label, hoping it would help me grow.
Recently I decided to go a different way. I'm releasing everything myself now — every part of it, start to finish. It's scarier this way, but it finally feels like mine.
My first fully independent song comes out July 3rd. I don't know exactly who'll hear it, but I wanted to share this with people who understand what it's like to make something from nothing and put it out there anyway.
If any of this resonates with you as a fellow creative, I'd love for you to follow along. And if you know someone who might connect with it, sharing it would mean a lot too.
Signed to a label, put out tracks, paid for my own promo out of pocket because they barely did anything. Then the royalty report came in: $5 for the whole quarter. After distributor cuts and their split structure, there was basically nothing left for me.
That's when it hit me — I don't need a middleman. I can distribute my own music, make my own covers, run my own promo. No one's going to care about my music more than I do.
So I'm done with labels. Going fully independent now, and I'm looking for people who actually want to support real music and grow with me as my audience — not just streams, but people who'll actually stick around.
If you're curious to check out what I make, drop a comment and I'll share.(My Spotify link in the comments)
Hey r/shareyourmusic,
I wanted to share a milestone and a transition in my musical journey. For 5 years (from age 14 to 19), I was completely isolated in my bedroom, obsessed with soundscapes and synthesizers, pouring everything into music as my safe space.
Eventually, I started working with a record label and released 5 tracks with them through single contracts. It was a great learning experience, and they genuinely helped me with initial technical stuff like setting up my PayPal for distribution, which I'm very grateful for.
However, after getting a closer look at how the industry works from the inside, I realized that my ultimate goal is total creative and business freedom. I want to own 100% of my master rights and build my project on my own terms.
So, I made a conscious choice to transition into being a fully independent DIY artist. My very first self-released track is officially dropping on July 3rd under my project foggy19.
It’s honestly a bit terrifying because starting from absolute scratch to build an audience on Spotify by yourself is a massive uphill battle. But taking the independent route feels like the right step for my growth.
Since the pre-save link is still processing on CD Baby, the best way to support a bedroom producer right now is to simply follow my Spotify profile. That way, the algorithm will automatically push the track to your Release Radar on day one!
Here is my Spotify profile: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5UJGwEWWnQ5sdyINhOiCA1?si=2wLzQzQvSuG73GasXWj5yw
(Note: If you use Apple Music,or other platforms, my artist name is foggy19 everywhere).
Thanks for reading, and I'd love to connect with other indie artists here. How did you know it was time to go fully independent?
Hey Reddit,
While my friends were out partying, enjoying what people call the "golden youth," I spent my teenage years-from age 14 to 20-completely locked in my room. Just me, my screen, and thousands of hours tweaking atmospheric pads in Serum. Music has been my therapy, my escape, and my entire life.
I’m 21 now, a second-year university student, and I recently decided to take full control of my music. I left labels behind to self-publish my upcoming track "alone in the room" (dropping July 3rd) via CD Baby. I wanted to finally own 100% of my work.
To be completely honest, looking at the backend statistics is heartbreaking. My monthly listeners are dropping every day while waiting for the release, and my previous streaming payouts amounted to literally a few dollars-total pennies for years of obsession. It gives me massive anxiety and makes me overthink everything. It feels like watching years of my life slip away while trying to scream into a void, hoping the algorithms will finally notice me.
But I don't want to stop. I just want to find my people—the ones who actually sit down, put headphones on, and need this melancholic space to breathe or quiet their mind at 3 AM.
I’m not here to sell you anything. I just wanted to share this raw, frustrating, yet hopeful milestone with a community that understands the depth of this genre. If you appreciate deep ambient music made from pure obsession, it would mean the world if you checked out my Spotify profile and followed to catch the new release on July 3rd,and maybe shared it with any friends,who love this kind of late - night melancholic vibe.
My Spotify Artist Profile:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5UJGwEWWnQ5sdyINhOiCA1?si=XRMxtoz9TPO62HMndvGbQQ
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Has anyone else here been through a similar dry spell or felt this kind of anxiety before a release? I’d love to hear your stories. Also, as a bedroom artist, do you think it's better to keep looking for labels in the ambient scene, or is self-publishing the right way to go in the long run?
Thanks for listening, brothers. Keep creating, no matter the numbers.