Guitar & Musician Forums

Every platform we use as musicians is owned by someone else. Spotify can change payouts whenever. Instagram can tank your reach. TikTok might get banned. Linktree can raise prices. We spend years building followers on these platforms and we don't actually own any of it. Can't export our audience. Can't contact them directly. Can't take them with us if we leave. The only thing I actually own is my email list (80 people) and my mailing address list from merch orders. How are you thinking about this? Just accepting the reality or actively trying to build something you control?

I built my own studio. Me and the band are building our own internet infrastructure. I do all of the managing in-house. I'm sort of treating it like a field of dreams. If you build it, they will come. Really the reality is. If nobody is buying. There's no point in selling out. The mainstream music industry is rotten to the core and it's incumbent on us to create a new underground music industry that is functional.

I keep telling artists to focus on their website more than social media but they don't see the benefits of owning the content and the freedom to publish what they like.

Play live, get fans, connect with people, earn their attention instead of trying to get an algorithm to trick people into listening to you.

I only sell on Bandcamp and YouTube as a streaming service. Screw Spotify and its evil empires.

People put so much effort into not putting in effort. Focus on building genuine connections with your audience rather than chasing algorithms.

It's important for musicians to take ownership of their content and distribution. Building your own platform and community can lead to more sustainable success in the long run.