Thoughts concerning "social networks" and (music/artist) promotion

[estuary]

Hi,

As a professional or amateur musician, composer, singer or whatever musical field, What is your feelings concerning the social network (such as instagram, facebook, twitter etc) ?

I am living as a recluse and I am very modest.
Most of the people or friends I got, listening my work and appreciate it.
They always recommend me to use Instagram, for the promotion and get some audience.
Of course as an artist, you want/need some promotion and visibility then the people can listen your work.
Probably also a good way to find new collaboration/pro opportunities.

I believe it's good ? But this is just something I don't really enjoy and don't really match with my personality.
So I am thinking maybe I should just try, a little effort to see what happen ...
The label / producer doing the promotion, that's it.

I already gave up with "Facebook" account and so on ...
I only got a personal website.

I got a bit of nostalgia, because when we didn't had the "social network" we just reach the artist website to get the latest news and informations. Personal/official website is very representative, you can put your colors, your style, mood anything.
But now everything is on Facebook, Twitter etc ... blue, like, bird, share, hashtag.
I miss the time I connect to a website to check the artist blog, or something.

I hope you understand what I mean.
Please share your thoughts.
Do you use "social network" and do you think it worth it or useless ?
(to promote your work)

Thank you

[reddust]

I think you should do the things you feel comfortable with. Of course if you want people to get to know your work you need two promote your work in some way, but I don't think you need to use (all of) these social networks to achieve that.

I have tested almost any of them because I am always curious about new technologies, but I've ended up only using two or three of them I really feel comfortable with.

When I present my music I try to stay loyal to who I am and what I do, so I've removed my test accounts from facebook, because that's not the way I like to present myself as a musician. And when it comes to music I don't like to talk, I only want my music to talk and add some images/videos that can support the idea behind my songs.

So I've ended up using only channels where I don't really need to say anything, like youtube, instagram, soundcloud or drooble. Drooble has a part that looks a lot like facebook but I ignore that part and use only the part that is customizable and you can put your music or videos.

I am also the kind of guy who makes music at home alone or with some good friends but don't even think about playing live or doing any kind of live events or promotions. I never understood music as an entertainment thing but more like an artistic manifestation, so I just want to talk through my music and totally prescind of personal image or presentation, people shouldn't care about how I look or dress like when I am a musician. So everything I post on social media are just videos that only include music and some conceptual art or picture that matches the idea of the song, never talk or appear myself on these videos or pictures I post because that's not who I am or the way I want my music to be.

I think most of us must already give some kind of fake image of ourselves when looking for a job, or working at some place, or just when coexisting with the neighbors... and for me music is a place where I can be who I am without having to adapt myself to what society accepts.

In society and specially social networks we all tend to show only the correct side of us and what we consider acceptable even when everyone has things that aren't perfect and everyone knows about that, but at greater or lesser extent we keep playing a fake role and hide our weaknesses or dark side.

I don't want to do that with my music and that's why I definitely can't use some of these social networks for my music, like facebook or any other one that I am not comfortable with.

[reasonsuser88]

I keep my Facebook deactivated during my work week and I have it open during my free time of musical activities to be fully immersed in the thrills of my own rabbit hole. Somebody could say this behavior is an indication of being self-absorbed and that is probably true to a degree. I honestly do not care what other people have to say about anything nor am I curious about all of the pointless content that people seem to share. The funny thing is they probably feel the same way about me. Everybody thinks they are a special little cookie these days and I like to get an occasional cheap thrill. Social media has the same effect on your brain as taking a hard drug so I recommend using responsibly with caution while keeping in mind it is actually irrelevant to the creative journey. I use Facebook to participate in a few technical music groups and I follow artist pages while occasionally pissing in the wind with a creative project but I don't expect anything more.

[reggie1979]

"Social media" is great for posting selfies at dinner or voicing your opinions non-stop or filling up the web with useless barbs.

I only kid slightly

[reasonsuser88]

"Social media" is great for posting selfies at dinner or voicing your opinions non-stop or filling up the web with useless barbs.

I only kid slightly

Lots of people aren't even taking selfies at dinner and just sharing pictures of their dinner plates. The opinions get to a point of putting other people down out of ignorance especially when it comes to politics. Although, when it comes to religion, I have a Satanist friend who shares some very entertaining religious memes. I think a lot of people share the useless barbs for humorous purposes but I think most of what people share is just trash that isn't even funny to me. Some of these people make ten posts a day about nothing which I think is a cause for concern in regard to living towards personal fulfillment. I'm happy today is a work day with no social media. I highly recommend a book to anybody called Digital Minimalism: Choosing A Focused Life In A Noisy World. This book made me think about how sick in the head people are in this technological world. Get ready for 5G though eh?

[Marco Raaphorst]

I gave up using any services by Facebook. So no Instagram or Whatsapp for me. Twitter I like. And you can use a personal blog as well. Or a podcast. And a newsletter.

There are many options. Next week I am releasing a single. Hopefully I will be able to promote it well. It will be a learning experience.

[reggie1979]

"Social media" is great for posting selfies at dinner or voicing your opinions non-stop or filling up the web with useless barbs.

I only kid slightly

Lots of people aren't even taking selfies at dinner and just sharing pictures of their dinner plates.

Lots of people are though

I don't use any of that stuff. I come here, KVR, and Presonus. That's it. So unless I get banned for some reason that's all there is for me.

Then again, I'm not trying to shop music around or trying to network. It would be a different story if so, would be VERY hard to tune out the noise........

[estuary]

Thank you for your answers

@reddust
All this makes a lot of sense to me, I can understand the feeling.
Thank you !