Artist Poll

[john]

Hi gang

 

Please take part in the poll…. It would be interesting to know the results.

 

Cheers

 

John

[john]

… it’s going to be a real long time without votes lol

[Ryan Larson]

As to question 1: I’m not really focused on followers or views at the moment, I just want to make better music. I figure everything else only comes after that.

[john]

Not really. It takes a lot of time and effort to build your fanbase. What you are suggesting is a typical attitude by independent artists, but it is problematic. After all once you are happy with your music you will most likely be champing at the bit to get it released ASAP. At that point most artists just dump their music with no prep at all.

[john]

3 hours ago, buckoff said:

Thats the problem a fan base , better to sing in bars . The internet is a Strip Mall 

Why is a fan base a problem? A lack of a fan base is a problem. Just like singing in bars, you start with zero fans, and you build your fan base. Singing in a bar is just one way to put your music in front of a very small audience at a time (say, in comparison to your reach on the internet).

 

Why do you think it is better to sing in bars?

 

As far as the strip mall analogy goes, you don’t do anything with “the internet” any more than you deal with “the world”. You deal with specific places on the internet

[john]

Real people in real bars?

 

I think you are kidding yourself. I wouldn’t suggest that any artist or writer goes entirely real world or virtual world unless they really have no other option. If they truly have no aspirations for their music it doesn’t make much difference, does it? Each world provides both benefits and drawbacks, dead ends and opportunities. Each has it’s crooks and scams, and each offers fantasy delusions-a-plenty.

 

People can be false, tired, jaded, overwhelmed, distracted, drunk, hostile, negative, patronising, insulting, anywhere. People can blow smoke up your ass in both places too. They might feel more enabled on the internet, but they are largely the same people with the same underlying natures.
 

People want stuff for free everywhere. Companies rule everywhere online and real world. The real issue is showing up ANYWHERE with a view that doesn’t match reality. Artists and writers have been, and will be, taken advantage of, everywhere.

 

For an artist to get anywhere in music, real world or virtual, they need a fan base to want their music. We all start with a fan base of zero.

 

You can grow that fan base online. You can grow that fan base offline. Either way, or both ways combined. If you don’t work at building your fan base somewhere, you’ll go nowhere.

 

We can moan, but sitting passively complaining about it isn’t going to improve anything. I am pretty sure the world will just run right over the top of us without noticing.

 

What’s that saying… the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

You are a creative person, who said you HAVE to do the same old thing… in the same way… in the same place etc. Be creative!

 

No one said there is only one way of making money using music. Sure, there are standard ways… but they are not the only ways.

 

 

 

As for the poll there are many reasons members are not taking my poll. You are making a lot of assumptions about why few have responded. Lack of interest is a bunch of reasons in itself. Another is that I did very little to promote it. Once upon a time, on a very busy forum, that was enough. It isn’t any more. And this place is nowhere near as busy as it once was either. Truth is, if I ran my poll at a rehearsal studio or recording studio, or music shop, I wouldn’t expect any great uptake either.

 

You do touch upon a couple of things though. People have changed. Their wants, needs, motivations, have all changed. How and where they express them or want them satisfied too, and how much they expect to pay, if at all. Understanding this can help you adapt.
 

When you mention real people in bars you are talking about connection. Connection is a vital component between Artist and listener. There are very real differences in how that connection is made online and offline, but it’s far from a one-sided argument. Online has many advantages that are not immediately obvious.

 

I struggle to recall a positive response from you, to anybody, about anything remotely related to the business side of music. You might have, but sitting here I can’t think of any. Saying everything is bullshit is not an argument, it’s just shouting things down.

 

[Mahesh]

On 7/6/2023 at 12:17 AM, Ryan Larson said:

As to question 1: I’m not really focused on followers or views at the moment, I just want to make better music. I figure everything else only comes after that.

 

I appreciate that Ryan. Wanting to become better at my own instrument and my understanding of music, it's very important to me. I find myself wanting more of it because I feel like I'm at a constant lack in someway. It makes me want to practice. It makes me feel guilty when I'm not lol Despite being a full time musician for so many years now, wanting to make better music still haunts me every day in a strange way, and it keeps me going. 

 

Cheers to that!