Being Independent – A Personal Statement by Nicoletta Rosellini of Alterium

On June 20, 2025, Nicoletta Rosellini of Alterium wrote the following text to share her thoughts and experiences surrounding the independent release of the Stormrage EP.

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When we announced Stormrage, many people asked why we were releasing it independently. The truth is it was not a choice. It was something that happened beyond our control.

At the beginning of 2025, our label, AFM Records, ceased to operate as a traditional record label. They transitioned into functioning solely as an online music shop, similar to platforms like EMP. This unexpected shift left hundreds of bands suddenly without a label. And among them, we were one of the smallest. As a brand-new band with just one album under our belt, we didn’t have the numbers or legacy that more established acts had to attract new label offers quickly.

And that was hard. Really hard. Because with AFM, we had started a long-term plan: a four-album journey that was meant to build our presence step by step, with time and care. Our debut album had great results, and we were proud of what we achieved but it wasn’t enough to immediately draw the interest of other major labels.

So we were left with two choices: wait and hope, or take matters into our own hands. We chose the second. We chose to release an independent EP called “Stormrage”.

The goal of this release is simple but crucial: to grow. We want to increase our streaming numbers, reach more listeners, boost our presence on social media, and keep engaging with the amazing community that has supported us so far. All of this with the hope that, by the time our second full-length album is ready, we’ll have a stronger foundation and better chances of finding a new label that truly fits our vision.

Releasing Stormrage independently has meant stepping into (almost) every role a label would usually play: promotion, video production, social media strategy, budgeting, logistics, and more. At least for distribution and press release, I had some professionals helping me out. It has been overwhelming at times.

Stormrage is a way for us to stay in motion and to prove, both to the industry and to ourselves, that we’re not giving up.Your support for this release is crucial, and I want to thank you for all the love you’ve shown us so far. You know that every stream, every view, every share truly matters for an independent release and these are all things you can do for free.

If you’d like to support us in a more concrete way, you can purchase one of the limited editions of our new EP directly from our brand-new shop. Every single cent we earn will be reinvested into the recording of our second album because when we lost our label, we also lost the financial support (the so-called "advance payment") that would have helped us fund our next album.

Not only did we lose the financial support from the label for our next three albums, but knowing those costs would be covered in the future by AFM Records, I invested all my personal savings into our debut record. If you think about it, we released a lot of videos and singles (only about a third of which were covered by AFM), in addition to the investments in promotion, live shows, and more. This has basically left me with no financial resources to sustain a band independently.

Let’s hope our future will be brighter again soon… meanwhile:

Thank you, thank you, thank you!