Music is life
You’re more than your music!
Think about why you play music. Where did that first spark come from? Were you brought up in a musical family or was the opposite true, no musical upbringing? Whatever it was, it caused you to change your path. To try something new and possibly fail.
Now think about all the little things like that. A time in your life when you discovered something that changed your path and gave you renewed excitement.
Starting my musical journey in the age before the internet, the only way to find out about your favorite bands was industry sources like Hit Parader, Circus Magazine, R.I.P. and MTV if we were lucky enough to catch the video in time. Headbangers Ball with Riki Rachtman was the only place to find real rock and I remember taping it cause it was always on after bedtime. I loved seeing all my favorite bands, on tour, backstage, and in front of huge crowds. If you were lucky there was an MTV cribs or some exclusive content about how Ted Nugent likes to shoot things with his crossbow. Or how Jani Lane HATES the song Cherry Pie.
My point is people like finding out stuff about the stars they like. And due to the limited resources, we had to really push to get record companies to notice us and push us to the top. Luckily these days the world is full of cheap sometimes free resources. Right now, based on my experience and research, one could write, record, release, promote, book shows, and promote your music for less than $500, all without a record company and its “deep pockets and networking contacts”.
So what’s the problem?
How many of you have experience in sales, marketing, promotion, hell TALKING TO PEOPLE in an interesting way? How many of you know how to edit videos or do a podcast? We relied on the record company to do all that for us. “We’re creatives” if we wanted to work a job for a living, we probably wouldn’t spend all our time, energy and money on our art.
People still crave art and entertainment. They are more eager than ever to find out about the artists and things they like. Do you like muscle cars, beer, legos, golf? Ya, a lot of people do. How fast did you become friends with a total stranger because you were both Packers fans or from the same town? There’s no hesitation or stalling. You bond over those shared experiences.
That’s why I feel we are all doing ourselves a disservice, only focusing on presenting our music and not sharing all those other things about ourselves that may not be music related but will connect you to people/fans. Try adding your other interests and hobbies into the content mix. I got more traction this weekend posting my Lego set project than I usually get from even the announcement of a blog.
Next time:
Do you even music bro?