I think I hit on something important in yesterdays article that I want to explore a little bit further and that's the psychology of tangibility in the world of music. Now I know that sounds super pretetntious and silly and in no way relevant to a band like yours but there is in fact a reason I am saying it's important to talk about, and that's because it's the key as to why so many people in the music industry, specifically people in bands don't do anything to help themselves and why it becomes so hard to actually get anywhere. While I know that a lot of the struggles in the industry are due to incompetence and people simply not getting what needs to be done I think that there are even more people who have a vague idea of what needs to be done but refuse to do anything about it and that's where things start to become seriously problematic and people like you and me start running into issues that make this whole thing ridiculously tricky.
The thing with tangibility is that people don't want to admit that people don't care about their band. That's why they so frequently don't do the easy things that could help to make their band more successful and get the attention they crave. If you're not out there trying to push your music by emailing people and posting on your social media then you're kind of shooting yourself in the foot. There are so many other people out there who aren't even aware that their music sucks who are still pushing like madmen. If they can do that and you feel like your music is objectively better than theirs then shouldn't you be out there hustling with the best of them? And yet you are not, because doing tangible things is scary, and I get it. You don't want to do that when something like 'networking' can easily be construed as being just as valuable but of course doesn't rely on you actually getting anything done.
If you're trying to be serious about your career as a musician I strongly encourage you to sit down every day and ask yourself, 'what are three concrete things I have done to boost my career today?' These can be simple things, they don't have to be huge bits like creating a new EPK, it can be as simple as posting on your socials, booking a show, stuff like that. What's important to note though is that 'writing a song' doesn't really count. That is important to be sure but I know so many musicians who have hundreds of songs in their vault but don't do anything with them. They aren't thinking about how they are going to popularize or even monetize their music, they just want to create. And that's fine. Creating music is totally fine, but you need to realize that's what you are doing. You need to realize that in a oversaturated world like ours, doing something like creating a new song isn't going to really make a dent. Even if it's really damn good, if no one care about your brand it doesn't matter.
I think this is what so many musicians get caught up in, they love to create music but they don't realize that even with the best music in the world and even with the best manager in the world, unless they are in contact with their team and the people trying to help them out they are going to run into problems because those people dip out and when they get busy then they aren't going to keep in touch. You need to take the onus on yourself so that people don't get lost in the haze. Of course, if you want to be able to separate yourself from the masses around you then you need to be doing tangible things. This is what it al comes down too. You need to be putting yourself out there constantly. Now I said that yes, something like 'networking' doesn't totally count, it still retains value and I wasn't trying to diminish that. Being the dude at every show will certainly help you draw when it's your turn to play, and there are tons of variants on that.
It's also important to emphasize that creating music is still obviously the most important part of the process. If you look at someone like Lil Pump, he has the rest of the game figured out, but his music is godawful and his success will pretty obviously be fleeting. I think you need to find a balance and realize that nothing is going to replace good songwriting. You need to be able to sit down with your band and put together something special and make sure that your presentation is going to be excellent, after all this entire thing is being done in order to push people towards your product, that is to say the music. You need to realize where this entire thing is pointing, but simultaneously appreciate that in this incredibly saturated market you need to be able to create something that really makes a point and which will really speak to people rather than fading into the same boring fucking obscurity.
Content marketing isn't easy, especially when you sit down and try to actually do it in a way that matters. In fact, that part of content marketing is literally the worst and is going to give you nightmares for years to come. Embracing it though is a key and you need to sit down and realize where it's going to be taking you. Doing tangible things for your band pays off over time, sure it might not have the glory of going out and getting drunk with your boys, but that's not the point. The point is to establish a real and living brand that people actually want to be a part of and not just be the boring old flavor of the week.
