Social media, everyone who is anyone is on it. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok. Everyone has something to say and they use these platforms to say it. With the world connected through digital fingerprints its an obvious choice for musicians to launch their brands and increase awareness. With the potential to reach billions of prospective fans with a few clicks and some carefully designed posts, musicians are now able to enjoy the benefits of promoting their talent within a multi-billion-dollar industry with relatively small marketing budgets. But as promotions seem to get easier and more affordable, how does this change the social landscape of the bond between musicians and fans?

When it comes to social interactions I’ve always landed on the introverted side of the conversation. Its not that I’m not a people person. Its more like I get so far in my head sometimes I forget simple things like saying hi to people when I see them. I’ve improved a lot over the years, thanks to countless hours of adulting and semi-awkward social experiences, but now that I’m actively pursuing my musical dreams, routine social exercises have become a daily necessity.

So what does it look like when an introvert tries to connect with strangers over a world wide network? Take a look at my social profiles and you’ll see. I struggled to create relatable yet original content to post on a daily basis. At times I would post multiple times a day and others a few posts a week was the best I could do. While I feel like I’ve done well to offer unique and captivating content I feel like I could do better on a regular basis.

But creating great content isn’t the end all of establishing a social empire is it? I’ve watched countless hours of social media marketing videos on YouTube. Adam Ivy by the way is frequently played. The one thing that always comes up is engagement. Every social media “guru” will post video after video on the importance of social engagement and sing hymns to the wonders of it’s unlimited following potential.

So here lies my biggest struggle, how does an introvert like me boost my engagement? The videos and articles make it sound as simple as commenting on posts and videos. But like establishing and nurturing any kind of relationship, this task gets a little more complicated. Who do I follow, and what am I supposed to say? A big part of me wants to just hideaway in my music studio and focus on the next greatest song I’m going to produce, but even the small pragmatic portion of my brain realizes that to create great art simply isn’t enough to be famous. Look at Van Gogh for example, he was clearly a talented artist who unfortunately never enjoyed the benefits of stardom. Picasso on the other hand was a rock star in his time. Why? It wasn’t because one artist was better than the other, but it was become one artist was just better at self-promotion.

Self-promotion doesn’t come naturally to me. In fact I’d prefer it if I could just let my music do the talking, or singing, for me. But in the interest of keeping my mood up, I won’t be going down that rabbit hole of things I can’t control. Instead I will be focusing on what I can do.

In order to find new fans and followers social roles will need to be tweaked. The traditional musician-fan relationships will need to shift from musicians on the stage and fans in the audience with a clear dividing line between the two, to musicians join the fans and become an integral part of the experience. Maybe your big wig rock stars can get away with not responding to comments or engaging in personal conversations, but for starting musicians, these kinds of interactions are crucial to building up a solid social presence.

It’s easy to get caught up in vanity metrics. The number of likes and followers we have are not fully indicative of our level of talent and it really isn’t the point of what we’re doing is it? These metrics are merely numbers that occasionally rob us of our self-worth, if we allow it. Numbers don’t appreciate music, share meaningful moments, or attend shows, fans do. Therefore, our mission as musicians is to chase the fans, not the numbers.
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Thanks to the past year and this semi-constant state of lockdown and quarantine, people are looking to social media more than ever to find and maintain meaningful relationships. My goal for the coming month is to set aside some time every day to reach out and talk to people. I want to talk to them, hear their stories, and of course share some great music. I’ll be posting follow ups and sharing my experiences in future posts, so make sure you check back often so you don’t miss anything. And for my fellow musicians out there who are experiencing the same struggles, you are not alone. Let’s work together to bring “social” back into social media, where the focus is on the people and not the numbers.

Invented by Adolphe Sax, the saxophone has been used in a variety of musical genres ranging from classical to jazz music. Although the instrument is made of brass, it is considered a woodwind instrument due to the use of a reed. The current saxophone family today currently claims kinship to six varieties despite the inventor’s original line up of fourteen. These relatives include soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass.

Adolphe Sax was a Belgium born instrument maker who lived between 1791 and 1865. The son of Charles-Joseph Sax, he studied at the Royal School of Music in Brussels and later went on to own a wind instrument factory in the same city. He developed the saxophone in an attempt to bridge the tones between brass and woodwind instruments and first introduced his invention, at an Industrial Exposition in 1841. The instrument was later patented in 1846.

Made of brass, the saxophone is comprised of mainly cooper and zinc although some may have a gold or silver plating. The instrument itself is categorized into four parts, the neck, body, bow, and the bell. Yet despite its simplistic form, the instrument holds roughly 600 parts including 25 tone holes, keys and levers, and pads to cover the tone holes.

Since the genres of jazz and classical music have different goals in terms of sound and tone, the saxophone offers varying designs to cater to the musicians needs. Jazz players will prefer an instrument with a higher taper in the neck. The increased angle will result in a raspier tone better suited to the improvisation and individual flairs associated with jazz music. Classical musicians on the other hand prefer a less graduated angle in the taper for a cleaner, and finely controlled sound better suited to technically proficient performance. (Yamaha Corporation)

Famous saxophone players include Charlie Parker, aka Yardbird, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, and Stan Getz. Other notable celebrities, but not musicians per say, include the likes of Bill Clinton, Hugh Lorie, and Bob Hope. The instrument can also be heard on hit songs such as Lady’ Gaga’s “Edge of Glory,” Beastie Boys’ “Brass Monkey,” and George Michael’s “Careless Whisper.”

References Yamaha Corporation. The Structure of the Saxophone: Jazz Saxophones and Classical Saxophones. n.d. https://www.yamaha.com/en/musical_instrument_guide/saxophone/mechanism/mechanism004.html. 17 February 2021.

It’s true that the world has slowly been building itself up to a digital world, but the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic put everything on the fast track. As if being a solo artist in a highly competitive field wasn’t hard enough, we all had to switch gears and rethink our personal promotions. Gone are the days of passing out flyers and playing as many gigs as possible. Being a musician on your own today now involves a prerequisite knowledge of social media and internet marketing.

I think about what it was like to be a musician before everything went completely online, way back when MySpace music was one of the few online resources available to aspiring artists. Promoting myself and my music was a boots on the ground and personal exercise, but now all of that has changed. Self-promotion today is all about vanity metrics, likes, followers, subscriptions. It’s such an impersonal thing and I have to say I miss the face-to-face interactions.

Where do I fit into this digital mix up? I try to stay relevant. I have accounts with the major social media platforms. I post regularly and try to engage as often as I can. I have a YouTube show and post new episodes weekly offering little pieces of my life, music, and knowledge. But is it enough to simply exist online? At what point does a musician lose his personal identity to become merely an online avatar for the person behind the screen, and how can I as an artist prevent this?

With the promise of readily available vaccinations, it would seem that an end is in site for this pandemic that literally stopped nations, but I have to wonder if the reopening of the world will change the course that music promotion is on. It would seem to me that audiences are now trained to search for music through their phones and computers, just as movie goers have happily made the move from costly movie theaters to affordable and more accessible streaming entertainment options from the comfort of their own homes. Does the music industry share the same fate? Will live concerts be muscled out and considered a thing of the past for the sake of affordability and ease of access or will devoted fans be glad to pay premium fees to see their favorite musicians up close and personal once again? What do you think?

The truth of the matter is that the answer lies solely on us, the musicians. Sometimes we need to step back and remember that it’s about the music rather than how many likes or comments we get on our posts or videos. It’s our responsibility to the music community to keep true to our standards fighting the urge to focus solely on metrics and obscure marketing jargon.
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So here is what I have to say to all aspiring artists and musicians out there. Keep playing. Strum that tune, and belt that melody, because its people like you, who live for the music, that keep the music industry going whatever paths, digital or organic, it may take.