Twitter Cul-de-sac-ing

[john]

Hey Gang

 

It's funny, I've seen quite a few musicians succumb to Twitter Cul-de-sac Syndrome. It looks like a great idea. It's easy to add followers, or so it seems! I'll be able to build a fanbase really quickly! Awesome!

 

Only it doesn't go to plan. The reason you add folowers quickly is because they are other artists. Unfortunately artists SUCK when it comes to being followers or fans. They don't follow you because your music is awesome, because they are interested in your music... no they follow you because they want you to follow them back and then you will discover their music. It's easy to tell. When you make a post you get zero response. Mention them or their music and they are all over it for a few posts.

 

Trouble is they never even listen to your songs. Sure, there will be exceptions to the rule, but 99% will not listen to your music and only interact when there is a possible pay off for them.

 

Pretty soon, no matter your follower growth, you will find that you interact with the same small clique of people. Other artists you know and who regularly click like on each other's posts.

 

The problem is, almost all of these people are NOT fans of your music. It is a distraction. An ego stroke. Approaching Twitter like that does nothing for your music career. You go nowhere fast.

 

For artists, for Twitter to work, you have to build a follower base of people who could be possible fans, and whose friends could possibly be fans. It takes more work, but when you do build followers like this, they are more likely to become fans, they are more likely to be interested in your posts because your music is the kind of things they would like and because you tend to talk the same language as they do. There is an afinity between you. Harder work initially, but ultimately more rewarding.

 

There's a little more to it, but hopefully you get the idea!

 

Cheers

 

John

[john]

30 minutes ago, Patchez said:

Yes, indeed. Well said, -- that's it. Not just Twit, but all inroads, onramps and means of access to you as Artist. I hear it called on face-less book, the "follow trains"..., many trains at that station, and with no "comeback bus", - always empty. The work we do, is the Art, not "like" stats capability. Work to hope, to want to be found, "what's this Artist up to today?" Deliver on that. Who's wondering what you are up to today, or would be happy to find out? Who here looks with one eye closed, "what's this guy writing, singing about now?"   Thank you, thank you, no papparazzi please, autographs later; CD's $5 each 2 for $12 

It is true on all platforms, however on Twitter it is so prevalent...

 

Another common issue on social media, some more than others, the “commitment threshold” is so trivial that it can render it almost pointless. Worse, it can be deceptive. Numbers give artists false hope. They think that they are becoming popular, but dig into the stats and the number of plays and downloads and click through is almost non-existent.

 

The issue is partly the wrong people are targeted as followers (artists as explained), partly the low commitment threshold (the commitment behind likes, shares, and 255 character comments is so small), and partly the complete lack of a plan to develop and grow the commitment level after initial interactions.

 

Don’t get me wrong, they do develop engagement with their small clique, yet again because that is easy, but the rest are forgotten about. They are simply numbers.

 

The thing that gets me, is that artists following this strategy delude themselves. Over a couple of years they grow their following to say 4,000 contacts. The more active maybe 10,000. Yet the effort to grow to this number is significant, and the whole time Twitter is giving them the clues that they are approaching it the wrong way. For 10,000 people, levels of interaction is very, very low. Twitter is not like Facebook. It doesn’t content filter for accounts. When you post it appears in the streams of your followers, for however short a period, but it is there. Engagement beyond your clique is usually awful.

 

Yet again Twitter can work very well, but you have to grow a following of people who realistically could become fans or their followers could become fans. You need to immediately be growing their commitment. That way you might grow a follower base that really means something. That way they will really help you grow your list to more and more people who are interested in your music, not just a funny tweet.

 

Growing a follower base of people unlikely to like your music, whose followers are unlikely to like your music, that is just an ego stroke initially and ultimately disappointing.

 

Another HUGE issue.... using social media for critique. Don’t mix your activities and activity streams!

 

Sites like Songstuff give artists a perfect place to air works in progress. It is amongst fellow artists (we discussed their general low fan value) so when they give feedback on a work in progress, their view of you is not diminished by listening to a below par recording of a half finished song. There may be some value in streaming some of a finished song to a closed group of actual fans, but that isn’t what happens.

 

Time after time artists release their poorly presented, half written songs, to get feedback, because somewhere they read:

• be active and regular with posting
• be personable and friendly
• give fans a glimpse behind the curtain <—— the biggest culprit!

All of those help persuade artists to give a warts-and-all presentation of themselves. They don’t realise the damage it can do. Death by a thousand strokes, each marking them as ordinary and amateur. Those are labels that are very hard to remove.
 

Bigger artists give glimpses behind the scenes that still demonstrate awesomeness. They still control the narrative. When they don’t (paparazzi exposés etc) they work damn hard (or their PR person does) to minimise the damage.

 

All this “listen to the new idea” that some artists posts yet again targets an audience of largely disinterested artists and damages your standing with possible fans. It forever marks you as the plucky amateur, unconfidently craving attention (as opposed to the aspirational, near professional confidently craving attention lol)

 

Really, the changes needed can be small, but fundamental, and highly significant.