Nobody said it was easy…
I am truly impressed by today’s “successful” artists – talented songwriters and/or performers…AND terrific self-promoters. In general, these days unsigned artists often have to wear the hats of manager, promoter, agent, publicist and web host – all on top of displaying creative excellence – if they hope to get so much as a second look from a record label and a chance at “breaking through” on a large scale. Well, I guess there’s also the American Idol route…but I’m talking about real reality here, not reality TV.
Does it not stand to reason, though, that some truly gifted artists are not getting noticed simply because they don’t know how to effectively promote themselves? In other words, does not being a good “sales & marketing person” necessarily mean that someone is not a talented, viable artist?
What if we hired surgeons, or pilots, or politicians using this sort of thinking? Oh wait, sorry…scratch the politicians example – we do tend to choose them based on hype and rarely on substance anymore. And look what that’s gotten us. But imagine saying, “I’m not sure she’s actually the best brain surgeon (or pilot), but she’s pretty popular in her hometown, and she makes a great-looking poster…She’s hired!” I’m not knocking artists who “make it”. I’m just wondering if some other great music might be falling through the cracks…
Maybe I’m alone on this one. Maybe I should just stop pondering, and get back to my own self-promotion, before I fall through the cracks…Did I mention Peter Bloom Band won 2 Toronto Exclusive Magazine Awards last week? Wanna buy a t-shirt? Oops…we don’t have a t-shirt yet. I guess that means our music can’t possibly be any good…right?
1. Lily Dusbtin | October 24th, 2007 at 9:35 am
I think it depends on what you mean by “falling through the cracks”…
No doubt the audiences are smaller – the music lover has 100% control over his/her listening experience – so for the artist, reaching a mass audience on the kind of scale we’ve seen over the last few decades may not be possible anymore. (unless you’re Radiohead… but even then…)
It’s a double-edged sword. On one side you get this democratization, the leveling of the playing field which allows credible artists to build (and control) a career with only their talent and a laptop, but on the other side, there are zero dollars for mass-marketing, billboards, radio commercials, physical distribution etc.
I think more people will be able to make a living from their music than before. Just a little less bling. Okay, a whole lotta less bling.
Congrats on the t-shirts by the way… oh I mean awards… sorry, where do I get a t-shirt again?
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