I’m a massive music fan and music collector. I also run two bands which play original material. Over the last five years I have had the pleasure of talking to any artists at all levels which has led me to many observations about the changing music industry.
There has never been a time when its possible to connect to the wider musical audience. This is both good and bad news. the good news is that there is an abundance of music out there. The bad news is that there is an abundance of music out there. Platforms like Spotify give the wider public massive access to a variety of music, and many people I know use this medium rather than buy music. Personally, I have always been a fan of buying physical products and own numerous box sets as well as high-resolution audio files.
My view is that if independent artists want to connect to a wider public, creating great music is unfortunately not enough these days. Many of the public will expect a social media presence and a web presence. Ignoring working on these elements is a real mistake if you want to reach a wider audience. I know a number of excellent artists that set up FB and YouTube accounts, only to quickly lose attention for maintaining momentum. One video or a few posts IMO is not going to cut it. Smart artists realize the importance of “working on the back end” which involves ongoing work and great attention to detail. Of course in days gone by a record company would employ people to do all this marketing work as the company would seek a return on their “investment” aka “the artist” These days independent artists mostly have to this themselves. Yes its possible to hire a publicist, but experiences can be variable and one artist I spoke to commented on how its possible to literally burn money by going down this route and with little useful end results.
Many artists start off with great intentions with blogs, audio clips, BUT don’t maintain a consistent presence in updating sites and social media. This requires an investment of time and money. I was amazed when my producer commented that many artists won’t pay for the professional version of Bandcamp and/or invest in professional photos. “They just want the cheapest option” he commented. The financial price may be cheap, BUT the cost may be a lot. “The price” is what you pay today, the cost is what you pay over a period of time and smart artists invest in long term longevity.
In terms of websites an essential book is “Don’t make me think” by Steve Krug. Krug’s book wonderfully describes “the elusive obvious” in maintaining a strong web presence that connects with customers. Many artists don’t appreciate the importance of using great photos and good video. As the old saying goes
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression”
Ultimately creating great music is not enough these days if you want to connect to a wider audience. Ultimately its for each artist to experiment and find out what works best. In my first band “The Small Change Diaries” we had 50% of our first album played on BBC Introducing. To my surprise this made absolutely no difference to site traffic, social media traffic or product sales, ZERO effect! I’m of the view that in many cases local radio these days does little to generate audience reach, but I am happy to hear opposing arguments.
Ultimately if you want to promote anything including your music, this requires a great deal of stamina, strategic planning and a fair amount of investment in both time and money. This means IMO you have to love what you do…
