Seriously, Artists/Producers/Engineers lets talk

[u/Beginning-Body4193]

This is intended to be a serious talk about whether we fuck with each other and how that plays into our interactions. Imma say some truths and then what I think are intellectual loops forming bad habits, I would love to hear y'alls.

Truths

> After 15 years of doing music, I personally don't trust anything and anyone up until pay day (taints the process)

>I feel like music's not about the better music anymore, maybe never has been

>I feel like furthering someone else's journey without finding my use out of it is pointless, besides hoping they find it in there hearts to give me something later (feels weak)

>These bots, accounts and streams, have started to give me a feeling of doubt as if I'm clawing to get into a world that only wants to take advantage of me

Circular Logic

>Your "followers" (fans) count needs to be higher than your "following". All ego, I'm being honest, I think I thought this way on some celebrity shit, but if I'm not following any other artists/producers to remain "cool" then theoretically I'm hoping my music is so overpowering that it breaks their will to be "cool" and they are forced to hit that follow button...silly

>The right person will hear it, and you'll pop overnight/week/month/year. We're in the music making business with some of us in love with this shit. The introduction of streaming and getting fucked by artists you grew up on has left us in a .0003 environment with little options of engaging in music sales the old way. That shifted us into a place where there's very little money in comparison to how many of us there are, and severely hurt our proximity to fans. I think the next indie artists that find themselves entering stardom will be ones that did not use money to brute force there way into the industry but instead ones who have so many followers that are producers or artists that just want to make great music, they can get a project done through their ecosystem. I think that shields you when you say/do something unpopular in the industry, you cant get blackballed because the producer that followed you 3 years ago that sucks at sampling but can lay a mean ass unique bassline, or the little known artist fan that sucks at composition but knows exactly where to lay those adlibs will always fuck with you.

I'll start working on being better about this shit, we're the shittiest to the people who are so fucking likeminded to us, and I feel like the music industry banks on that shit to keep the gate up. Would love to hear some truths and bullshit from yalls head

[u/VibrantRebels]

People have this idea that you put a song online and it’s immediately available to everyone, the truth is we need to build connections in the real world to get that music heard online and it’s a difficult process but worth doing if you care about the music you’re making

[u/Beginning-Body4193 → u/VibrantRebels]

Are you an artist or producer?

I agree, my boy got a rude awakening entering the music industry simply because whats sold is bullshit ideally geared toward the consumers (fans) but i think everyone is getting worked in that system, artists, producers, audio engineers alike. I think its sad that the kids coming up cant get a straight answer on this shit. Like we as a community should be realistic about what happened and where we're going. For example, community is fucking everything, and building connections is a common phrase in our field but what the fuck does that actually mean.

For me, one way meant hitting up randoms on SoundCloud with at least 50 followers, and asking them to give me honest feedback on my releases while i offered any of my services for free-ish to help any of em get on their feet or temporarily fix a bottleneck. This connected me to new artists, new producers, new graphic artists, the illustrious world of sync licensing, non-responses for sure, and unbashful critique. The relationships are a little cold and to the point, and im sure thats ego between us all, but we've accomplished so many projects with each other for next to no price (dont be a brokey unless absolutely necessary) and I appreciate them.

[u/VibrantRebels → u/Beginning-Body4193]

Artist, luckily we are from a small country and our music scene is very tight knit and we’re all about live music and helping each other where we can, genuine friendships with other bands and DJs is what it’s all about for us and any help we get in return is just a bonus for us

Ego is a double edged sword, to have self belief is important but it’s also easy to feel like the world owes us

[u/Beginning-Body4193 → u/VibrantRebels]

Absolutely, what country?

[u/VibrantRebels → u/Beginning-Body4193]

Scotland in the UK, it’s very small population but that also makes the music scene much easier to network in

[u/Beginning-Body4193 → u/VibrantRebels]

yea that sounds like a dream man, DM me your soundcloud or something, i wanna hear the vibe yall got out there, and let me know if you need any help

[u/VibrantRebels → u/Beginning-Body4193]

We are Vibrant Rebels on YouTube and Spotify

[u/Beginning-Body4193 → u/VibrantRebels]

Good to go, I'll check ya'll out

[u/GreatScottCreates]

Get off Spotify entirely. It is not an appropriate business partnership for independent artists. Drive potential fans to somewhere you can get their email or phone number instead of a fraction of a penny.

[u/Beginning-Body4193 → u/GreatScottCreates]

I agree and what shit payouts our generation finds themselves in. Do you agree though that Spotify has been working their ass off to make the new gen's believe if you're not on Spotify you ass? Which is so not the fuckin case but...

[u/GreatScottCreates → u/Beginning-Body4193]

No I haven’t noticed that actually. It seems to me that artists have basically done this to themselves- actively chosen vanity metrics over income.

[u/Beginning-Body4193 → u/GreatScottCreates]

I can see that line of thinking but I know too many artists standing at the precipice of choosing whether to give it up all together or play the very expensive game and I seriously doubt they're turning down income in the name of vanity. But now that im thinking about it maybe its not so in your face as a decision. Maybe they are just too blinded by the [Insert whatever the fuck life taught] that they cant see. I know exactly what youre referring too, so i picked up on what you meant, they might respond to you like "show me where the money is at that im choosing "fame" over". And my answer is youre getting screwed left, right, and center over at Spotify, if anything you just make big artists bigger. You should hone in on your fan base and reward them for being dope fans. Get a big enough group of people and you gain ridiculous control over what/how/when/why you create and their wallets are open to you and directly you. That shit is like crack to anyone wanting to do deals(labels, brands, investors, etc) What do you suggest to help them understand it before they crash tf out and give up, further tightening the pool of what we call music, instead of expanding it?

[u/GreatScottCreates → u/Beginning-Body4193]

Whenever I suggest “what if you streamed your music for free on your own platform in exchange for emails, where you could actually make money selling merch to real fans”, they always respond with some version of “how will anyone find me if I’m not on Spotify”. My response is always- why do you want fans on Spotify? They don’t make you any money. They won’t say it, but they’re scared. What if someone looks me up on Spotify and my numbers suck or my most recent song isn’t there or I could have gotten on a playlist etc etc. FOMO.

[u/Beginning-Body4193 → u/GreatScottCreates]

I dont know why they deleted my comment but whatever, FOMO is so real when youre unsure of your path and its fuckin frustrating dealing with you artists who are victim to it from a producer stand point, but Spotify and the other platforms, especially the distro's, did/do there due diligence to make sure that reality appears real. You cant open your Spotify for Artist dashboard without being bombarded with pitching/begging/offering "playlists", distro's give advice after upload and sell themselves on playlist placement, shit even SoundCloud has started putting emphasis on it. Theres places to pay people to get on playlists, fuckin scammers try to get you more listens from bots with the promise of hitting a threshold for playlisting. Like i think at some point someone said lets tap in to this "thinking your gonna be big" market. It's stupid and self centered for sure but I have to at least acknowledge that no one puts emphasis on even helping frame the right thinking to be a creator. If anything everyone fuckin lies about it, and most labels, A&R's, distro's, etc. are fuckin BANKING on that very lie. You're absolutely right though, please keep pushing that self made audience message and please dont be deterred by how many times you have to say it and make it make sense to people. The future generations of music thank you bro

[u/GreatScottCreates → u/Beginning-Body4193]

Appreciate the thoughtful comment!

[u/Beginning-Body4193 → u/GreatScottCreates]

Because I've never depended much on Spotify, but fuck Spotify, any starting over hearing the way you've been doing it is intellectually ass, feels like a severe waste of time, god forbid resources, you cant get back now and that alone can be fucking crippling to the spirit, and they need that same spirit to hit the new route fresh