Written by
Sweet Beets - IMD
....and so the dribble continues....
Why "dribble"?
(1) I don't take anything I do too seriously... I have realized that no matter what we think, no matter our ideologies, tenets, creeds, etc....that at the end of the day, none of it is for any of us to judge.
(2) Despite our greatest attempts to communicate ideas, words will always be interpreted differently. This isn't simple observation, this is fact....
(3) And lastly, I seem to thrive in the "being wrong" sphere..... I say this 'tongue-in-cheek', because no matter how accurate, right, correct I may be, there will always be those who insist otherwise....and therefore, I have come to the following conclusion that set me free:
"I don't know" is my favorite answer to damn near anything..... if you own "I don't know", then you shall forever enjoy your journey seeded in learning, discovery and purpose......(not that any of that matters - lol)
Since this is a music blog, I guess I ought to get on track....
Picking up from last week, I exited speaking about THE conflict.....and really, trying to generalize anything is foolish....and so, I am going to dwell specifically on observations from my journey.
I have spoken about a cyberscene so rich with talent and diversity that it felt almost dreamy. There was a time when everything simply seemed "too good to be true". We had artists from all over the world, all seemingly happy, all behaving lovingly, and all seemingly supporting one another....
But just like anything, hang out long enough, and you start noticing things.
The thing that troubled me the worst was seeing artists frustrated.
Here we were in one of the most amazing times ever.....a time where getting our music to an audience was easier than ever! Perhaps this ages me, but it seems many either have forgotten or never experienced the days when getting your music heard required:
- Selling demos to the local record store for a buck hoping that someone might buy it for $2.00 or more
- Mailing demos to underground magazines hoping that just maybe someone would write a blurb about you
- Stapling flyers for shows on telephone/power poles at busy foot trafficked intersections by the colleges, clubs, etc
- Passing out flyers at malls, or tucking them under windshield wipers of cars in the parking lots of local venues ( and seasonally in the freezing cold)....
My point is, the struggle has always been the struggle.....but it changes....and despite how easy it may have become, it is still just as hard....
The first thing I noticed was that many people are all OUTPUT and have no room for INPUT.
We all see it....we have umpteen thousand Facebook groups, many with 10's of thousands of members....many of them have the same output.....a bunch of self promotion type posts and no interaction. It is like a graveyard that is filling up daily with posts for no audience.
The mentality: "gotta feed the algorithm".....
the consensus: "I hate doing it, but I have to do what I have to do to get my music heard".....
The conclusion - disappointment, nonfulfillment, self-doubt and burn-out.....
The social media circus has us chasing "likes" that many of us wear as a badge of honor! And admittedly, who doesn't want to be "liked"? It feeds a universal need of being human. And it is easy to get swept up into...... "more likes" is good, right?
And yes, more likes is good! But is it good when that becomes the focus? It might be good for some, but it seemed that for many it was only adding to the trouble.
We have all seen it...."follow for a follow"...and maybe some of us have such "follows" in our repertoire, or "so and so only has XX followers, let's help get them to XXX". This is kindness in motion; someone noticing another artist and trying to get them seen.....I applaud TF out of that.....but, the question is, at the end of the day, what does it even mean? I can't even tell you how many people I followed, not for any other reason than because I was asked to, only to never even get a reply back from them when I tried to engage.....
Where did that leave me? It led me to the actual twists and turns about which I hinted...
Next week, I will dive right in....
Sending a tray of love muffins,
DC
