5 Factors That Make The Internet Both Heaven & Hell For Working Musicians

5. Social Networking & Oversaturation

Who can argue against the potential reach of Facebook and the plethora of other social networking apps that aggressively compete for our time and attention? But does all that Facebook time pay off? Bobby observed, €œa tweet or Facebook post is gone in a millisecond... that's how long you have.€ Artists need to be cautious about how much time and money they put in to building their €˜brand€™ online. A presence on Facebook, Twitter and a website mean very little if you have no idea what to do with them or how often to do it. Is the content there that people will come back for? Another concern for both artists and consumers is, how do we sift through the millions of tracks/bands/wannabes to find the real working musician who need our support? This is a concern at two ends of the spectrum: First, there is a terrific amount of excellent music being produced on the planet by people who are, naturally and expectedly, promoting it on social networks. But who has the time to hear all the excellence out there? The opposite of this is the sheer volume of absolute crap online. Anybody with an iPad and a copy of Garageband can record an original multi-track song with reasonable production €˜values€™ in an afternoon and sell it on iTunes in the evening. In the end musicians fear that the market is oversaturated with below par product that, as Bobby put it, "wastes peoples time and gets them numb to listening to people that can really write and play music". Like most else concerning social networks the verdict is still out but clearly there is a dual edged sword to be wrestled with by those with the intestinal fortitude to try.