The internet trap. That's what I call it when Hip Hop acts who are adamant in making their music, videos and even themselves so accessible to the outside world. Before you make any judgements, hear me out. I'm all for self-promotion because let's face it, even signed artiste can't fully rely on their PR team to market their product, which eventually leads to the dragged out process of living out their contracts until its termination date due to poor album sales. So the next best thing is to promote your product online, right?
It has its pros and cons. You'd definitely have a wider audience, and if you start linking your website diligently enough, hell even the whole world or someone in a foreign country would eventually know who you are. That's the big picture. Let's scale it down a bit and you'll see what that actually means here in Malaysia. You've got your songs online; maybe a track or two, then you upload your videos--okay, that's fine, then you're replying every single comment or questions posted. So how does that make you exclusive enough to actually be an artiste?
What people don't see is that, when you are so easily accessible it leaves little to the imagination. It takes out all the anticipation of actually meeting and seeing you perform live in person. When the lines between fans and friends are blurred, you risk devaluing yourselves as artiste. Ever wonder why some artiste are paid a bomb for performing for shows and others are paid not even close to what's considered as minimum? It's because they market their exclusivity and people are more than willing to pay for their presence and their live performance because they value these artiste taking the time and the effort to come and put on a good show. Let's look at this at a simpler perspective. Why would someone have to pay to see you perform live when they already know where you hang out every day that they can actually pull up a chair and start chatting about your songs?
I understand the need to maintain a close relationship with your fans, but I also truly believe that when you regard yourself as an artiste who makes an album, markets it, go for interviews and shows etc., you are also obligated to keep a certain amount of distance from your fans because you are in the business of selling your product; so if you're so easy to attain, where is the value in it? It would be nice to have fans who feel close to you because you know you'll have a 100% support from them, but the truth is that it's not really your fans that matter in this industry; it's the mass.
Like it or not, it's the radio listeners who go out and buy albums, it's also these people who'd pay to see you perform because they're curious enough to find out if you're as good as you sound on the air. And it's these people who will determine if you make it or break it in this industry.
The mass are the ones with the buying power, and that is a fact. Your friends are more likely to ask for a free copy. And being friends, you pass not one; but a few to people who already know who you are, and what your music represents. What I'm saying may be harsh for some to swallow, but the fact remains that some are being paid more than others for shows and appearances because they know exclusivity sells. Try and back up a little, keep them wondering what your next step is. Never discuss who you 're going to feature next and never disclose your concept, songs or lyrics with people other than your group members or those directly involved in the album; and as the anticipation builds up, you'll be surprised at how many people are actually talking about the album that isn't even out yet.
It's true that we live in an age of progressive technology and making full use of it is the sensible thing to do. It's also true that many big names in the industry have fully utilised the net as a means of updating their fans on what's lined up in their schedules. But when one becomes too comfortable with the response they get online, there's always the danger of becoming complacent and not seeing the greater need to reach out to the mass audience; the people who actually seek out for albums. And when that happens, you're left disappointed that the sales did not go as planned or that most of your shows are only attended by the same crowd which translates to not having your music reach the major local buyers and listeners.
Again, I'm stressing the point that I'm not writing this to pinpoint an individual or group, but I see more and more Hip Hop artiste going down the same route and it's become very evident that we're missing the bigger picture here. When you regard the internet as a means to promote yourself as an artiste, you must be prepared to face the repercussions of it as well. Having said that, using the internet as a means to update your fan base is fine, having a 30 second fade in and fade out of your songs is still acceptable, but don't lay out every single thing that you have hoping to receive the same response when your album is out there in stores, because that's just not going to happen. Like everything else, use the internet in moderation. Because too much of a good thing, is sometimes more damaging than you think.
Author's note: If you happen to come across the XXL World magazine Jan/Feb issue, check out the article entitled 'New World'.
No comments:
Post a Comment