The New Currency

This past weekend I was invited to speak on a panel at a conference for Independent Music Artists.  Whenever possible I always accept these invitations from conferences and universities because it is fun to share what I know and I am always learning something too.  For those that know me, I always have a soft place in my heart and head for the underdogs of the world. Not only because I feel that they need and deserve attention, but they are my people, and I am one of them as I struggle with my creative outlets.  The moderator brought up a statement that I made in the past and still stand by today. The New Music Currency for music artists and creatives in general is social media.  There was a time when the number of hit songs or albums you had on Billboard or Music Row charts was the currency.  Along with total album sales and awards from various industry shows. And all of that does still matter.  But in the past 5 years the many artist e-mails, boiler plates, one-sheets and press releases I receive have changed. Instead of publicists, management or labels leading with the number of hit songs, total sold albums and major awards, their social media numbers and engagement are at the top.  I am not condoning this or saying it is right as I personally believe the music and art should always come first.  But now, many media outlets and streaming outlets will not engage with an artist unless they have achieved a certain level of engagement on Instagram, YouTube, X, TikTok or Facebook as the dominants.  It is foolish to think that an independent music artist can achieve big numbers of followers or fans on all of the major social media platforms, but I would suggest that they at least place focused effort on one portal to gain fans and followers.  And I know this is hard when we are all working real day jobs, taking care of our families and chasing our dreams and passion projects at the same time. With my extensive team at the Rock & Review my staff find it difficult to achieve regular posts and engagement with viewers also.  And in reality, there is no extensive team with my show it is me doing the posting, writing the copy and promoting the artists that come on my show.  Over the past few years, I started chasing awards to increase credibility for the TV show and we have won a few and lost some and that has been a learning process too.  Before social media became the 800-pound gorilla music artists engaged with fans by selling out shows and doing meet and greets. I personally try to view social media as a way to engage with viewers to help promote the artists that come on my shows.  Which is also the reason that if you, as an artist, appear on a media outlet be it a Podcast, Print, Radio or TV show be sure to promote your own interview.  Not only does it provide more content for your fans to engage with, but it helps the media outlet that invited you on in the first place. It should be a win-win for artists and outlets at the end of the day.  In closing social media is not going away and neither is digital streaming of music.  We can rage against the unjustness of the technological world we live in, or we can leverage them to bring more attention to the creative projects that feed our hearts and souls.  We are all only allotted so much time to spend with loved ones and accomplish our dreams – use that time wisely.