In the last ten years we have had an explosion of social media and companies creating ways in which we can interact and consume more content then ever before.
We are living in a period of time that is unlike any other. Generations before us never had the ability to create content with such ease and at such low cost.
When I look around at who is winning in the world of entertainment, it's those that are constantly creating content and who are accessible day in and day out.
If you're anything like the average person, you probably are attached to your phone. It goes everywhere with you. It wakes you up and it puts you to sleep. It manages your life. It tells you all about everyone else's life. You probably find yourself watching the same story time and time again because it's literally hard wired muscle memory in your life. You may find youself just pulling out your phone to check instagram when you just checked it literally two minutes ago.
If you hear a text sound you may lose all concentration and start your whole cycle of scrolling and liking and exploring because it's how you're brain has been trained.
Within all this, it's extremely telling of what the consumer wants. The consumer wants content. The consumer is not concerned with perfection or overall quality. Those that thrive are those that continually put out content and fight for your attention. This is a play straight from the Gary Vanyerchuck play book and it works.
Think about all the people you watch on Instagram or facebook. You may not even have the slightest interest in someone yet you go about clicking and swiping over and over again multiple times a day. Even if you hate someone you still follow along to fuel the hate and insecurity. It's a interesting world we live in currently and all of this impacts business and the music industry.
If you're an artist and you're not putting out new music every month or even every week you're losing. Songs are a dime a dozen now. Artist's are everywhere. Anyone can put out an album so you have to do more then that now. I am not here to debate artistry or how the problem is people don't value music anymore... that's unhelpful currently. The consumer has spoken and as entertainers you have to decide if you will give your consumer what they want.
If you want to be an artist then you have to put out content all the time. You have to interact. You have to have peoples attention. Years ago, the best artists were the ones who could keep your attention at a show on a real stage.
Now the stage is the internet.
You have to keep people's attention on the internet and the way you do that is by always being on the radar.
If you're working tirelessly on one song and you have made ten revisions and four versions and spent days upon days on a 3 minute song that will not even most likely be listened to other then as background music or in a playlist you're missing out.
People want to vibe out and be entertained. They want to put on a playlist that starts with Justin Bieber and then has other songs like Justin Bieber follow it. You stand out in the industry by then interacting one on one with new fans. You don't really stand out anymore because of your music. The music is the avenue in which allows you to get peoples attention. They give you their attention not because of your music but because you gave them something they could consume. This is just the reality of the world we are in.
We can argue if this is good or bad, but it's happening and your apart of it everyday. You are the consumer. You are the person most likely who aimlessly scrolls and listens and hits next on a song after twenty seconds. I am not at all knocking you, because I am similar in that way. It's where we are at.
But if you want to get attention and get ahead then you have to put out content multiple times a day and you have to put out music more then once a year. Everytime you put something out its another chance for you to get noticed. If you put out two songs a year and someone else is putting out fifty songs a year, you are getting crushed, even if those fifty songs are "not good".
We see this all over the music industry and specifically in the dance and rap genres. The people that are rising are not the most talented. They are the people that are putting out content consistently and interacting with fans. They may have terrible looking content or songs but it's something new for the consumer to take in and evaluate if its good or not.
The modern consumer doesn't hold grudges or value loyalty.
An artist can put out a terrible song and then the next time put out a great song and the consumer will listen to it then. We see very little loyalty to artist's and entertainers anymore.
Content over creation and perfection. If you apply this rule you will get noticed and see your brand grow. It works.
Peace
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