Should Artists learn how to market themselves?

Should Artists learn how to market themselves?

[]Lately Ive been struggling with a way to provide something for artists. While I already provide instrumentals, I really want to do something beneficial. I get offers all the time on my facebook page for promotional post but in my opinion it doesn’t make sense.  My audience is primarily other artists and producers, not music listeners which is what they need.

Recently I spoke with an artist from Romania and he expressed how no one in his country supports independent artists. I explained to him that no one is going to support someone they don’t see and instead of focusing on his country he should use the internet.

The beauty of social media is that you can expand your world and allow other people to experience your art.  Just because you release music doesn’t mean people will automatically see it, you have to promote it.

Another issue is artists have this idea that teaming up with someone and not paying them going to get them somewhere. If you’re not willing to invest into yourself and into your team, you wont be successful.

It takes a lot of grind to get yourself to a place where you can survive solely off your music. You either do everything yourself like a D.I.Y Artist or you pay someone to do the heavy lifting. In my opinion,  THE D.I.Y ARTISTS WILL BE KING IN THE NEXT 2  TO 5 YEARS!!!  Artists like Russ, J Cole , Tyler the Creator,  and J.I.D are just the beginning. If you cant record yourself, produce your records and promote your music, you will have a hard time. Or you will end up signing away a large portion of your royalties and publishing for those services like most new artists today.

In today’s music  climate, labels wont even sign you unless you have close to 1 million followers and/or subscribers on a popular platform. This is why you are seeing a surge of YouTube stars like Queen Naija , DDG  and Instagram models signing record deals. ( THEY’RE MUSIC IS USUALLY TRASH TOO)!! Being able to grab the attention of the masses is valuable in any business and the tools are readily available to everyone.

Back in 2016, I offered an artists marketing program to show artists how to market on social media and no ones cared for the info. I went as far as showing artists how to build their own websites, build an email list, market on Facebook and Instagram all for nothing.

I also tried this year to offering promo services to artists who purchased my “500 beat pack” and only one artist (out of hundreds) took advantage. I created a survey below to get an idea of what my audience wants & needs.

 

Do you want to be a D.I.Y Artists? Or have someone else doing the heavy lifting?

(Answer Below )