Friday 9th December, 2022
Perpetually not drowning, as a cheeky nod to the constant struggle, has stopped being funny. It’s feeling like an odd joke made by someone with time to spare. No matter, the title is still a particularly apt description of what all this feels like.
So, what will we dive into today everyone?!
That’s right… we’re doing an entry on Social media: Every artists best friend.
To say that I love social media would be a lie, but it would also be a lie to say that I like it in any way at all. Keep this in mind when you delve through this meandering deposition, confession, & predictable gripe.
This week I heard the wonderful Angela Dorgan talk in BIMM, & she mentioned the indomitable value if a mailing list. This was in a response about social media I somewhat recall. It’s gotten my gears turning about how we connect online. & by ‘we’ I mean you, me, & the artists we love. I’ll try not to assume that you’re like me in this regards. Quite often, I'l find some obscure artist & try to avoid any social media or story involved with them. (don’t know why I’m like this… makes zero sense to me.)
Anyways, the point if it all is that, most of us, have no idea how people connect to artists online, & how we connect to artists. Of the artists I speak to, the major problem for most is their social media. They wanna know how to ‘be more consistent’, etc… (without fully knowing what ‘consistent’ means to the random youtuber they learned the term from….) Artists want to make amazing content in addition to their art & career… but they also wanna reduce the stress of posting. They want to avoid social media, which they tend to dislike, & also grow their followings on these platforms that they never use… the list of insane demands goes on.
Now, is the word ‘insane’ unfair? Of course… but I was that artist, with all of those demands. I asked anyone with a social media following, with a marketing degree, or with some kind of expertise… I even did & am doing modules about this whole subject!!! So believe me when I say: these demands are insane, & we need to drink some bitter tea.
Now.. allow me to force feed you some bitter tea through a very loving funnel attached to a presurised can of compressed ‘cry baby wah wah’.
(I do not know where this odd sense of humour is coming from this morning… but we’re rolling with it)
A bigger following online does not directly correlate to a more successful career.
Figure out why you want a bigger / more engaged following. (so many people think it’ll just ‘fix things’)
Professional content is a lot of work, that takes practiced skills.
Expect less from yourself & your content. (even Ed Sheeran trash posted…)
Use social media that you like… as you like. (don’t start doing tiktok dances cause you think it’ll help… do them if you like em)
Don’t use social media work as a distraction from your ACTUAL JOB… you might be avoiding the awkward or scary thing. (like I do)
Blah blah blah…. et cetera, et cetera, ET CETERRAAAAA…. (there’s a million other little things)
Basically, you only have so much energy to give… & for whatever reason we find, we often inflate the importance of certain things. Musicians are especially prone to giving too much credence to somewhat arbitrary things. Getting a single into playlists, having a review on Hotpress, releasing an album, getting a blue tick on socials… I don’t, mean to say that these things don’t have value, but they don’t actually help all that much unless they’re part of a larger plan (like a certain €10,000 circus musical I can think of…) SEND THIS LINK TO YOUR MUM SO WE CAN JUSTIFY OUR EXISTENCE
So, if you want to improve your social media stats, excellent… but have a good reason for it, & understand that quality & quantity bring about two different effects.
If you want your content to get better, or reach new audiences… maybe think about investing some money or time into the planning, production, & promo, but expect it to take forever at the beginning. (& have patience with yourself… you’re only learning)
Maybe chat to other musicians about it. Maybe come up with ideas together. If you’re in a band, try to make fun together. If you can enjoy your social media work, then you have nothing to worry about. Instead of focusing on your numbers growing, focus on your enjoyment of the platform.
If you’re looking to just alleviate the stress of having to always post on social media… maybe come up with a release plan & have a single day where you create & schedule your posts. Or, like me, just forget about frequent posting & post whenever the f**k you feel like it.
At the end of the day, don’t forget what you’re supposed to be doing, what you set out to do. Musicians make music, they play music… they don’t create memes.
AND FINALLY… take some risks, it’s okay to fail… cause, no matter what it feels like, nobody’s really watching us. Not yet.
See you all next week, hopefully on an actual Wednesday.
Nathan
