when you decide to go into the music industry as an artist, you've successfully chosen a music career. and just like every other career, you need to be able to define the Dynamics of who your clients are, who your authorities are, and who you're working for. I think this is a very overlooked step in the music industry for new artists. are we working for the fans? are we working for the record label? are we working for spotify? are we working for the algorithm? are we working for god? are we just making music that we like ourselves? there's a lot of questions that need to be answered and many more.
today we discussed the various ways in which artists find themselves working, without understanding who it is they're working for.
here are some of the questions that I dropped at the end of the episode for further discussion and consideration.
1. Do you believe you have what it takes to achieve popularity and to deliver great content, or are you trying to appeal to a particular group's standards?
2. Is what you're doing based on something true? Are you providing a critical service or information? Are you good? Why do you believe it's worth people's time to invest in your content?
3. Political agenda and standards are very similar. More similar than they are different. I think that if the unnamed faction is going to continue in this industry, then we need to be treating the popular fashion the exact same way, using the exact same standards. The issue is that we believe that there is a particular function for Christian music, and while we are not harshly judging the hearts of artists who refuse to follow or adhere to that function, we are also in no way obligated to accept them. The popular factions will reject you for nebulous reasons, based on standards that are continually changing. So why do we feel like we need to accept those artists that refuse to honor the standards on which we base our entire craft? If they can't handle it, maybe they shouldn't be doing that to people. Because our standards are actually more important.
4. Music genre is going away, and being replaced by moods. This is an opportunity to define who you are before someone else gets a chance to define you. Intentionally creating music for moods playlists.
5. Obviously streaming is King. So what do you have to do to get your music ready for streaming, and what do you get back from it.
6. What is the next technology to work toward? Vr? 360° video? Fortnite concerts?
7. What's going on with subscription-based content?
8. How do you trailblaze in a successful way? Is it worth it or legitimate?