Building a music career now means making content as seriously as making music. The speaker spent 28 years developing his craft and three years growing a YouTube channel to meaningful subscriber numbers. Authenticity matters most: fans spot fakeness instantly, and you need to show your beliefs, daily life, and personality across multiple platforms to turn listeners into real fans.
Chapters
So we've all heard the expression that content is king. Content is so important in today's music industry. You know, back in the day, artists really just had to release music and then market and promote it, and then they could go away for, you know, a year or a year and a half and then put out the next project. And you can't do that in today's music industry. You've got to stay consistent. You've got to put out plethora of music, and you've got to put out content. And most fans want to know who you are and where you're from and what your belief system is, what you think, how you act. And it's got to be authentic. It can't be some fake shit, because people can sniff out shit that's not authentic in a heartbeat. And if you come across as fake they may not say it to you, but somewhere in the back of their head they're thinking, is this motherfucker real? So be as authentic as you can be, be as vulnerable as you can be. I'm not saying like, you know, sit on, um, Instagram and cry, right? Or Facebook Live and cry. But let people know who you are and what you think. Like, you know, what do you think of the current political situation? Do you have any pets? Do you like kids? Do you have any kids? What do you do when you're not rapping? How do you spend your time? Let people in. Let them know who you are as a person. And when they like you as a person, they're probably going to go and check out your music. And if they like it, they'll stay. Content is difficult, and I'm saying this as somebody who is making content as you're hearing this. It is hard as Fuck, you have to really devote a chunk of time not just to making content but editing it and then marketing it and promoting it. It's like its own beast, right? And you know, I have the luxury of being able to share some of my experiences with you guys, but it took me 28 years of putting in time and work and effort into the music business to be able to make these videos, right? I didn't just wake up yesterday and— well, I did wake up yesterday, but I didn't just wake up yesterday and start educating people on the music business. I've been speaking on panels for decades. I have been putting out videos on a YouTube channel. It took me 3 years to build my YouTube channel to the point where I could attract people to even just hit that little notification bell. So the— and please do hit the notification bell., to even do that so that when one of my videos dropped, they wouldn't miss it. It took years of people hearing what I'm saying and trying it, getting out of their comfort zone and, and trying what I'm telling them to try to see whether or not it worked for them. You know, a lot of people it worked for, most people it worked for, some it didn't, you know, and, and you guys are kind enough to give me all that feedback. But making content is a job within itself, and you've really got to devote your time to it because your fans want to see who you are. Just spamming them with music is not enough in 2020. You're gonna have to do something to stand out. You know, I look at this like a room full of balloons. Like, if, if you walk into a room and there are, um, a sea of black balloons just hovering like at waist length, it's all going to look the same. But if one balloon starts to rise, or if there's one red balloon that's just peeking out over all the black balloons, that's going to stand out, and that's what your eye is going to go to. And you may not appreciate that balloon, and you may not want that balloon, and you may not take that balloon home, but at least you're going to see it and acknowledge it. And if there's something about it that you like or something about it that's different, you're probably going to give it a second look. And, and that's your goal as a musician or a rapper in the music industry, is to get people to give your music a listen because they're intrigued by who you are. Yes, you can make a hit record. Yes, you can stand out and attract people from your music, but more people are attracted from who you are and the engagement that you have with them on social media, or from discovering you on SoundCloud or Audiomack or YouTube or wherever— Triller, TikTok— wherever people are discovering your music. That's just one song. You need to be able to get them to embrace all of your music. You want to invite them into your franchise, and you do that by letting them know who you are and intriguing them. And that's how we do it in 2020. Okay guys, take care.
