Build It and They Will Come
The 90s baseball film Field of Dreams includes a memorable scene where the main character played by Kevin Costner is walking through a field of corn (as you do) when he hears a ghostly, disembodied voice call to him:
Build it and he will come.
I say it's memorable but I've never seen the film as I have no interest in baseball and Kevin Costner sends me to sleep. The scene works well as an allegory for the aspiration that if you are determined enough to follow your dream, anything is possible though. As such, its been borrowed and spoofed so often that it has become larger than the film it came from. Being a bit of a philistine, I first became aware of it when Jim Morrison paraphrased it in Wayne's World 2.
When I started uploading my tunes to SoundCloud, I think I had a naive belief that eventually it would reach the ears of someone who liked it via Google, YouTube or whatever and that person would mention it to their friends and, before you know it, you have a fan base. A kind of 'upload it and he/they will listen' approach. Let this blog entry serve as a warning to anyone entertaining similar thoughts: don't believe everything you hear from disembodied voices that talk to you as you wander through an invisible cloud of herbicides, pesticides and fertiliser hanging over a cornfield.
At least my experience has been somewhat different. At first, I was thrilled to see that my tracks were being liked, were receiving good feedback and getting reposted. On closer inspection, there were a couple of signs that sowed doubt in my mind. The accounts that liked my tracks all seemed to have adverts plastered over their profiles. Comparing the number of likes to the number of listens, I could see that some of the 'likes' were from accounts that clearly hadn't listened to the track. In short, I think I had been flattered by some 'bots'.
After waiting a while, it became clear that I was going to have to try a bit harder if I wanted people to listen to my music. I started by creating an online presence: an email address, a Twitter account, a Facebook page, an Instagram account and a LinkTree to tie it all together.
They all help but it's slow going. I've been using Twitter especially to try and make a name for Lost Signal. It seems a perfect medium for broadcasting one's work to the world in a way that makes it discoverable for those who are interested. As of today, I'm lucky to have 394 followers on that platform and to have established the beginnings of some online friendships. My experience so far however is that my attempts at publicity fly about as well as a porky penguin. I was excited to spread the word about my new track Dawn earlier this week so i duly tweeted about it. The response has been muted at best and looking at the Twitter analytics, I can see why.
There is a lot more to tell in the story of publicising music and I will explore the topic further in future entries. Suffice to say, I have found it a lot harder than actually making music and most days I wonder if I am yet to find the right audience or if my music is just not very good. I daresay the same doubt has afflicted composers, good and bad, for centuries.
When you're starting out, any crumb, even a nod from a small blog such as this can help so each blog entry ends with a link to an unsung artist who I like. This time it's the irresistible jangly pop of the aptly named The Happy Somethings.
Comments
Post a Comment