Change Agent

How young, independent music artists in 2020 must engage with digital technology to succeed

I will be analysing how young, independent artists (like myself — a contemporary pianist) can harness digital technologies to explore potential opportunities and overcome challenges.

Social Media

Any artist needs an effective and engaging online profile to succeed; use of digital platforms with a large outreach such as Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and (more recently) TikTok should be focused on. An artist should ensure consistency of theme and prose therefore establishing their image/brand alongside consistent uploads. Other strategies could include use of hashtags — which can widen the outreach of a post beyond only followers, announcements of new material with teasers and short clips generating hype, and use of polls as well as Q&A sessions to better understand their fans.

Get streaming to work for you

Virtual gigs?

The COVID pandemic has exposed the inherent weaknesses of drawing large crowds together for social events. It is for this reason that I predict, despite our eventual defeat of the virus, the way we consume live music will have been changed for ever. Typical music performances are limited by factors such as physical space, security procedures and so on, yet the outreach achieved via a digital concert, streamed via an online video platform such as YouTube or Twitch, can be infinitely larger. The cost associated with an online concert could also be dramatically lower.

Music Videos

Music videos are becoming increasingly important for artists, an exponential increase in exposure can occur through video-streaming sites with a large out-reach, such as YouTube and Facebook. Gone are the days where artists need large advances from labels to film and produce these videos. Advancements in camera technologies have meant that using relatively cheap equipment (e.g. an iPhone) can more than suffice for a video shoot.

Back to basics

Never has there been a time in history where recording, producing and releasing music can be achieved with such ease. Evolution in digital recording technologies, digital audio workstations (DAW), computing and audio equipment has meant artists in 2020 are in no way reliant on hiring traditional studio setups. Instead, they can record their voice or an instrument using an inexpensive microphone and transfer those files into a cheap (or even free) DAW, producing a track that could make it on the top 100 charts.

Website

Icing on the cake!

Other ways of increasing consumer engagement using digital tech could include a recurring newsletter that fans can subscribe to, in turn gaining access to early music releases and live events. Harnessing the power of sites such as Patreon or Crowdfunding could attract the attention of loyal fans, who can donate directly to the artist if they wish — this can aid short and even long-term cash flow for an artist. Other opportunities such as merchandise — which could be accomplished using an e-commerce website such as Shopify, a regular podcast and personal video streaming service could prove highly rewarding.

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