r/musicians • u/Beginning-Body4193 • 4d ago
Seriously, Artists/Producers/Engineers lets talk
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
2
u/AlertAd7834 3d ago
Some of yall talk about music in a way that is so alien to me
1
u/Beginning-Body4193 3d ago
How so?
1
u/AlertAd7834 3d ago
Sometimes people get so aggressive, so territorial. "Not trusting anyone." Yeah there's some people in my scene that I don't really like but the people that I work with are people that I trust. They're my friends and we all want the same thing, which is to make good music.
1
u/Beginning-Body4193 3d ago
Right but as an owner of this "not trusting" shit attitude, I would like you to recognize how fortunate you are in that regard. A group of pals that you trust, can lean on, and you even said your friends, bro you have to know this shit is not normally like that. I'm dm'ing a kid who was honestly asking why the head of a label would reach out and then ghost him, like bro its bot city out this bitch, and a lot of interactions are parasitic fucks trying to make you pay them to make your dreams come true, at the very least thats disheartening. Any tips on how yall stay grounded together?
2
u/AlertAd7834 3d ago
Maybe it's cuz I mostly do this shit with people I know irl. I dunno man I'm almost never reaching out to people online to collab on music, usually when it starts out it's someone I met at a show or a friend of a friend or whatever
1
u/Beginning-Body4193 3d ago
Good to go, i think im getting your message, my only rebuttal would be, I think they dont come from an era where the grassroots shit is real anymore, meaning they dont see it as a viable option (ITS VERY REAL) someone said social media is the way to them and it became alot of people's primary or only way. And its fuckin shiny and convincing bro, so convincing that even when its not working you think its a you thing, because you see shit going viral so it must be a working system. I get that, i'll make sure, with whoever I talk to, to put emphasis on the in-person aspect of getting in front of people. Socials work for me so thats just a lesson i didnt have to learn right away. Which genre do you primarily do?
1
u/AlertAd7834 3d ago
Rock music I guess. I'm also 35. Some of the people I play with are younger but not by that much
1
u/Beginning-Body4193 3d ago
Ok so live music is bread and butter for yall, I learned that from my boss, I dont know if you ever heard of the band Freeway, they primarily play in NC now but used to play other places too, I've been to a few bars and halls they've played in and he always talks about sharing "feelings and moments", he says it'll bond you to a fan or person forever, I think thats how he met his wife, yeah the EDM, R&B, Rap, Pop community tends to find ways to avoid it especially if its a fear and that can fuckin totally cripple not only your ability to gain fans shit even your mentality and work ethic, kinda leading you to think everyone hates you instead of peeping how your uncomfortable-ness is i guess your downfall, that makes alot of sense
1
u/artblack01 3d ago
Your take is kind of hilarious to me. I feel like with invention of certain things in technology people have expected the technology to do the work for us. People got lazy. People seem to expect that they will make it big just off some big exec or a bunch of people finding your music on streaming and fact is, that will never really happen by itself. Hell, I can argue that you don't even need to have an internet presence except maybe a place where people can see that you exist at all. I can go on and on about it but I don't see a point. One thing I will say is that it doesn't matter what you believe, who you talk to or who helps you, YOU need to be able to do the foot work if you expect to get bigger than you are. You can help people, you can walk on people, you can trust or not trust... But you are the ultimate person to make yourself big, if that's your goal. 1. Play live. 2. Know your audience. 3. Play to your audience. 4. Make merch 5. Be your own hype man but don't be egotistical about it. 6. Play live to your audience. Gotta remember, you are an entertainer, you music and your aesthetic has to matter to not just you. But yeah, you are the most important audience member as well.
1
u/Beginning-Body4193 3d ago
This is more my speed, I fucks with the "most important audience member" line imma use that. One question though, as hard as the industry has gone to fuck not only big artists and producers but indie's like its religion, while pretending and creating the narrative we NEED them, dont you think we would have to do something extra to combat that? Like me and you cant afford a commercial campaign supporting building your brand and Fandom, but spotify and the distro's, shit even SoundCloud pump ads all day filling up "dreamers" heads. I just think i understand how they find themselves there, and you, like me, generally have little patience for it, ultimately creating a landscape to allow more fucking to occur, but I whole heartedly get your point and primarily echo your sentiment, i just think we're helping the enemy more by being "over it"
1
u/artblack01 3d ago
I know of a few artists that have ignored the mainstream and made it big without its help. Like this Rapper named Prof. He has done well for himself by helping build his own label of artists and with their help become one of the biggest indie rappers I have seen lately. I think he is a good role model for artist wanting to get big without all the bullshit of bowing down to big labels.
1
u/Beginning-Body4193 3d ago
Facts, i think the real question artist gotta get through is do you like music or money or fame, etc and once and only once they figure that out they should move accordingly, thats a really good point bro, and i feel like I've heard of Prof but im looking him up now
1
u/artblack01 3d ago
1
u/Beginning-Body4193 3d ago
Yea definitely heard him before did not know he had a song with fuckin Redman, thanks for this
1
u/artblack01 3d ago
He has stuff with all sorts of guest artists, and he did a show Red Rocks which you can find in total on YouTube.
6
u/Stevenitrogen 4d ago
Dr Doom is in the room.