the endless torture of a never-ending showcase in a bottomless pit
we are all burning for eternity in the depths of social media hell for the sin of creating 'content'.
This topic started in the Hahko’s Intrusive Thoughts & Ear Candy Emporium chat on Instagram - its a new feature called a Broadcast channel which is basically a group chat where only the founder can post.
Lots of artists and creators are using this function for competitions or promo (because we are in hell) but so far I’ve used it as a space for ‘small ideas’ and conversation starters - from which this was one.
This newsletter was written while vibing out to this fairly high energy HAAi set on the iconic HÖR channel - HAAi put out a wickedly eclectic album out last year.
I kicked off the broadcast channel with a poll asking which part of the typical Hahko chat they vibe with from the options of:
music sharing (45 votes)
music industry hot takes (32)
interviews (31)
creative advice (15)
general vibe (10)
Music sharing being the clear winner really surprised me.
As both a creator and consumer I don’t have a high opinion of sharing work - yours or others - online. I don’t think it’s effective and I don’t think its fun.
I don’t think that because of creative failure, or the outcome of some kind of villanious scheme. It seems pretty obvious technology and culture is in a transitory phase with no sign of settling anytime soon.
Im going to highlight some of the key reasons that this era of online sharing sucks and then give a potential guidepost for stepping into a more positive future - starting with . . . . . . . . . .
death of culture now half price!
Context is key to so much - experience, understanding and aesthetics are all cultural contexts in which your art is subject to.
Online audiences are standing on the street staring at a sushi train of content constantly swinging past their eyes. You have no control over what plate your work turns up on. You have no control over what comes before and what comes after. It could be an ad for NordVPN. It could be Logan Paul filming a dead body in a forest. No clue!
This is what the social media platforms really are for artists - a digital megastore that treats your attempt at expression as the sewage to be pumped through the content pipe - even if its gold sandwiched on either side of shit - keep it pumping!
One of my favourite albums - Mount Kimbie’s ‘Love What Survives' turned six this week - which kicked off a big MK binge. I wanted to share this super early live recording of the band showing off how expressive and experimental their sound is.
slow dancing in a silent ballroom
It’s too many clicks to get from a story to a song. I know its two clicks, three at most but in a world with endless music and limited attention - thats too many clicks.
I think we should all be putting the song out first and promoting it once it’s out. Very few people click on the ‘listen now’ link, do you think they are going to click on the ‘listen in two weeks time’ pre-save link?? You’re out of your mind.
“But getting pre-saves helps the chances I’ll get play-listed!”. If you’re trying to figure out ways to get play-listed, you haven’t got a big enough audience (or the right manager lol) to get play-listed.
Pre-saves are a promotional tool for Spotify, not for you. You’re just the willing host this parasite has attached to on its way up the food chain.
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ENZO The Magazine are a New York based collective that present ideas and art in unique and personality filled way - note how ‘IRL’ they are - filming in physical locations and interacting in reality then presenting and formatting these interactions for digital consumption.
the tastemakers are dead, you killed them.
Most artists, institutions and brands are sharing music for reasons other than its quality.
They’re sharing becuase they’ve been funded to. They’re sharing to appropriate its cultural caché to then cash in later by posting artists they have personal financial stakes in to the audience they’ve built. They’re posting it because it was made on a tiny island. They’re posting it as a purely transactional activity for future reciprocation. They’re posting it because the label guys are their mates and its what you do for mates.
They are diluting the culture and lowering the bar for what deserves your incredibly limited attention for personal gain and clout.
The dirty secret is they’re just as ineffective at growing your audience through social media as you are - they just seem like they know what they’re doing because they have a film camera and cool sounding french name.
Be your own tastemaker - build authority through authenticity. In a world where sharing music and taste is as accessible as an internet connection and a Spotify account why is the radio programmer any more relevant than any one of your friends? Or you?
The only person left that can build authority as a tastemaker is someone actively creating in the space they are sharing. Musicians. Don’t dilute your platform by posting something mediocre that might help you fit in because a discerning audience wont give you more chances.
Marc Rebillet is a great example of both - leaning into exactly what you enjoy in music and forgetting the industry blueprint - and placing yourself phsyically in the real world to then share digitally - WE OUTSIDE being the perfect example of this.
the devil wears parquet courts
Music is fashion now. Sharing that tune to your story is an aesthetic statement about you. Simping over indie musicians for views can be your personality now (and your career).
If you listen to music to engage with it you are a complete psycho - like me! We are the minority and it pays to remember that. Normies want to appropriate, not concentrate.
This is something social media is effective at - stories are a great spot to place a vibe with some cool cover-art, or an obscure artist name. But lets not pretend that will get anyone to actually stop what they’re doing to check it out - well no normies anyway am I right fellow nerds!
This is a great PQ deep cut and the first song of theirs I ever heard!
forward is physical
Digital content presented digitally is dislodged from reality.
No one wants the metaverse. No one likes the guy glued to his phone. Theres no bigger losers than those left checking X.com for the daily political news.
We respect authenticity and to be authentic is to be real. We respond with real emotions to real stories. We respect originality and distrust the reproducible.
Even if you lower yourself to braindead capitalist reasoning, does it make sense to a similar product in a saturated market with no profit margins? No.
Whether Therapy Gecko streams from the studio or from outside he interacts with real authentic people in an authentic way.
You’re only real advantage in creating an audience for yourself is yourself - to be real.
Follow this through and make real. Anyone can take photos, post them to IG with a caption and call it a magazine. Hardly anyone will compile those pictures into a real physical magazine, let alone make it as vibey as you. Take a photo of that and share it instead - it makes everyone else look boring as hell.
It’s this same reason that getting your band onto a live session is far more valuable than getting your name on a radio stations post / story. People want to see you do the thing, to believe you can really do it. To see you! Not your canva skills.
And if you hear a voice in your head saying shit like “ooof quite expensive to print physical though” you either need to banish that voice or give up what you’re trying to accomplish unless your happy running a glorified fan account of other more popular content you can rip off because its ‘cost-effective’ - ew.
Gotta plug the FODR x Flying Nun session of course!
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Don’t ignore this message or you’ll be punished with ten years bad luck and all your avocados will never ripen!