Is social media a blessing or a curse for the music industry? In this thought-provoking video, we delve deep into the impact of social media on the music industry and the controversies surrounding its influence.
Join us as we explore the ways in which social media has revolutionized music promotion, artist-fan interactions, and accessibility to music. We’ll examine the rise of viral sensations and the power of platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube in catapulting artists to stardom overnight.
But it’s not all positive. We’ll also shed light on the downsides and challenges brought about by social media’s dominance. We’ll discuss the saturation of the music market, the pressure to constantly create content, the decline of album sales, and the potential for artist exploitation.
With interviews from industry professionals and artists, we’ll gain insight into their personal experiences and perspectives on how social media has impacted their careers and the overall music landscape. We’ll also explore possible solutions and strategies for artists to navigate this new digital era.
Whether you’re a music fan, aspiring artist, or industry insider, this video will spark discussions and reflections on the role of social media in shaping the modern music industry. Join us as we navigate the highs and lows, the opportunities and challenges, and ultimately, the complex relationship between social media and music.
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Boombox.io
Lukas Ray
Noize
CREDITS:
Host: Lukas Ray
Host: Noize
Editing: Lauren Z. Ray
Transcript: Is Social Media Is Destroying The Music Industry? Boomcast Ep.16
00:00:00:02 – 00:00:03:27
Fabio
Hi and welcome to Boomcast, the official podcast from Boombox.io
00:00:04:14 – 00:00:05:09
Lukas
I’m Music by Lukas
00:00:05:15 – 00:00:09:07
Fabio
And I’m Fabio from Noize.
00:00:09:07 – 00:00:30:18
Lukas
So Boombox just introduced playlists and also artist profiles, which is going to be a game changer because it allows you to create a profile for yourself so that people can search and find you and so you can find other people to collab with on the site. This is actually a completely new feature right now, so you can be one of the first people to fill out your artist profile by creating your free account at Boombox.io
00:00:30:22 – 00:01:02:27
Fabio
It’s so nice that there’s finally a home for artists to be able to host their profiles. Artists, musicians, engineers, producers are really dedicated to the industry because for so long we’re playing among all these different platforms, trying to combine them into one. And it seems that every time you meet someone, they’re for something different to you. So what we’re trying to create here is just a home and a meeting point and a community where everyone can grow, share, synergize and store the new feature.
00:01:02:27 – 00:01:09:02
Fabio
The best feature in our opinion is the artist profiles because finally people are going to be able to connect, as well.
00:01:09:13 – 00:01:27:05
Lukas
Yeah, I think that’s the thing is other platforms, and we were talking about social media today, so it kind of goes with this for sure. Other platforms are not necessarily made for collaboration – like Instagram. You’re DMing someone, but since Instagram is not a platform that’s made for a collaborations, necessarily, it’s more for connecting with friends and posting and stuff like that.
00:01:27:13 – 00:01:35:14
Lukas
It’s like people don’t necessarily answer their DMS, but if you’re on a platform that like literally is made for collabing and you’re getting a message about a collab, it makes sense.
00:01:35:27 – 00:01:55:19
Fabio
And it feels like also more and more of the world is wanting to work remotely… or it feels that way. I’m not necessarily sure if that’s the truth. I don’t have the data in front of me. I know that you and I look at the data. Yeah. Where is the data? Call the scientists. But it’s clear that you and I like to work remotely.
00:01:55:19 – 00:02:19:24
Fabio
And as a result of working remotely, it’s not always really easy to connect with people regularly. And in communities like in cities, because we are transient, we are moving around a lot and we are always trying to find ways to connect with people online. But Instagram can just be such a hassle. On Instagram, it’s not just people who are into music that are going to turn up right.
00:02:19:24 – 00:02:21:25
Fabio
It’s a whole range of distractions.
00:02:21:25 – 00:02:40:28
Lukas
So how do you think social media ruins the music industry? I think that it’s ruined it in a way where it didn’t necessarily ruin it for music artist, but I think it ruined it in a way that we can’t go back. Like you can’t go back to the era before social media and like, what was that era like?
00:02:40:29 – 00:02:52:10
Lukas
What are the biggest differences, do you think, between a music artist trying to grow, becoming successful in the pre-social media era versus now?
00:02:53:13 – 00:03:13:24
Fabio
I’m going to be pretty harsh here and I’m just going to come out and say that post Tik Tok era, we’re not really finding any gems in the music industry. It’s not like it was before. I think artists are so focused or are being pressured so much to focus on content creation that they are being taken away from that. Where’s our next Adele?
00:03:13:24 – 00:03:35:00
Fabio
Where’s our next Amy Winehouse? Mac Miller, Ariana Grande, Kendrick Lamar? We’re just not really seeing that kind of level of artistry surface and it’s because we are spread so thin these days as artists we really have to do everything. And people said, don’t be jack of all trades, but you have to be in the creative industry. It’s it’s impossible not to.
00:03:35:08 – 00:03:58:16
Lukas
This is an interesting take because there are still some people like Lewis Capaldi. So for example, who are, in my opinion, like a 10. And there’s many others who have come up in that social media era. Like, for example, he rose on Tik Tok and got like a huge audience there with his music.
00:03:58:24 – 00:04:18:27
Lukas
His voice is just absolutely insane and he’s got billions and billions of streams. And he started there on Tik Tok and he doesn’t necessarily take his social media in that serious way of like, you know, needing to necessarily provide value and, you know, hack the algorithm and all those kind of things.
00:04:18:27 – 00:04:34:11
Lukas
He just uploads videos for fun. Usually they’re silly or they’re videos of him kind of behind-the-scenes or just hanging out and showcasing his talents, but in a silly way. So I do think there are still, I don’t know, I feel like there are still some gems, but I agree with you and with what you’re saying.
00:04:34:18 – 00:04:47:14
Lukas
Maybe since Tik Tok is kind of like newer, maybe we have to give it some time to see if there will be some more gems that do pop up. Because obviously all the people that you’re mentioning have been around for a while, but also spreading too thin.
00:04:47:14 – 00:05:19:22
Fabio
I think you’re right. I think the last gem that really came through – again pre Tik Tok – was Billie Eilish, you know. Artists are using their social media as a better way to connect with their audience, but that’s only if it’s authentic to them. Like Lewis Capaldi is a dirty, dirty, dirty boy. And so he makes dirty, dirty, dirty jokes, which is fantastic because it’s entirely paradoxical to his music, which is this beautiful, deeply emotional music.
00:05:20:01 – 00:05:38:24
Fabio
I just don’t know that like we’re seeing as many of those rise through at the end of the day, right? Well, not even at the end of the day. Ten years ago, we were all complaining about the fact that you had to be the songwriter, the producer, the manager, the mixing engineer, the mastering engineer.
00:05:38:26 – 00:05:44:03
Fabio
And that place isn’t getting any bigger, but there’s more fuel being added to it all the time.
00:05:44:25 – 00:06:12:27
Lukas
That’s 100% true. I agree with you that things are really getting spread thin. I am interested though, as to the counter-argument. Think about if it’s at all easier to be successful as a music artist in the post social media era like Tik Tok/ Instagram era. I would venture to say that it is easier to be like a full time music artist just because there’s more revenue avenues and also because I feel like the algorithm is kind of being the new gatekeeper.
00:06:13:06 – 00:06:32:03
Lukas
But I feel like basically that it’s not how it used to be where, for example, you had to get signed by a certain record label or you had to kind of like, you know, DJ as like a house DJ for many, many years. And you had to move to L.A. or you had to, you know… Now you’re seeing people kind of be able to start careers in music from anywhere, but it’s different, right?
00:06:32:03 – 00:07:02:24
Fabio
Yeah, 100%. People are focusing their grind towards different directions. Back in the day, if you wanted to go be a big DJ, you’d have to go play all the small clubs and you’d have to do that quite consistently. Now you can be an entrepreneur of your space and you can really own that. So something I see a lot of DJs do is either they’re sort of reviewing music or they’re just hosting these really cool concept parties in their apartment, or they’re filming themselves play like at every single show, and then they’re uploading that as a way of getting exposure a lot quicker.
00:07:03:06 – 00:07:24:03
Fabio
I hate the term saturate the market because I don’t think that actually exists. If a market isn’t saturated, it probably isn’t worth investing any time in. But I think you’re right. I think the grind is redirected and it’s an open market, right? There’s the chance of much more exposure and there’s a chance of owning that and being accountable to how successful you are.
00:07:24:26 – 00:07:47:17
Fabio
Because the gratification, the audience gratification and and response is arrives much quicker. Even though it is a schlep and it does take a long time to build a profile on social media, as we both know, it doesn’t mean that you can’t see results fairly quickly, especially if the content is really good.
00:07:47:17 – 00:08:06:01
Lukas
But that also leads to a point about mental health, because now the results are so numbers driven when I guess before, if we’re going back to what you were saying, when you were just kind of locking yourself up and producing a track, and not really be focused on the social media day to day grind.
00:08:06:10 – 00:08:30:09
Lukas
You had to kind of wait until the album came out or until your songs were released to see the numbers. But now you’re seeing numbers every day. And I think it is easier now. Maybe one of the cons is that it is easier now to get inside your head and to overthink things and to be this like because I see artists over and over who almost just like either quit social media or they go back and forth between quitting and or taking a break like it’s so it can be very taxing.
00:08:30:09 – 00:08:51:24
Fabio
There’s like, like in music, like in every creative industry, there’s a lack of hierarchy, there’s a lack of structure. So unfortunately, people don’t know what to little or too much is. And it’s kind of like a listen to your body situation trying to create something sustainable. It doesn’t really exist, right? Because everyone is so unique in how busy they are, how much time they dedicate towards their art, how what percentage of the art is then dedicated to social media?
00:08:52:18 – 00:09:10:08
Fabio
And then we’re left with this conundrum where it’s like the mental health aspect. I think it plays into all of our lives, and I can’t speak for Lukas but I can actually speak for myself. And I know some people will look at me and be like, Man, he’s killing it. He’s made it. He must be having the best time.
00:09:10:15 – 00:09:40:17
Fabio
I’m having the best time. But I’m probably working harder now than I ever have been – almost my entire life. Maybe the first year of Noize, running the YouTube channel. And so I think there’s also this idea that because someone is successful on social media, that therefore it is getting easier, you’re also having to now reinvent a new part of your creative pie, right?
00:09:40:17 – 00:09:59:21
Fabio
If 75% of that creative pie is dedicated towards production, songwriting and then you’re giving 25% to social media, it’s never like that perfect split, right? But you can’t add 25% onto 100% because otherwise you’re just going to run yourself into the ground.
00:09:59:21 – 00:10:18:18
Lukas
It’s interesting because if I look at my journey, I tried to make it in music multiple times before social media, and it wasn’t really until after social media that I was able to break through, like with the YouTube channel and everything like that. Like obviously I was a lot younger. I was doing like hip hop at the time and stuff like that.
00:10:18:18 – 00:10:35:25
Lukas
And I did have some, some wins, if you want to say I had like for example, like a song where I got sponsored by Levi’s Jeans. I had, for example, like a MySpace. Well, that would be social media. But it’s funny, it almost feels like it was before that. But I had like a MySpace page that was really like high and trending on MySpace music.
00:10:36:23 – 00:10:52:18
Lukas
But I feel like it wasn’t until I was able to cultivate that audience on YouTube that I was able to get where I am now. And also I think it transformed me in a big way because I am a lot more focused on the music business side now. Like I realize after all the years that that’s what I really love.
00:10:52:18 – 00:11:07:02
Lukas
Like, I still obviously love creating music, but I don’t know if I would have known that. I love the music business side so much. Obviously, like I’m starting my own label now and stuff. In the past that social media part happened with like building the community and stuff. I don’t know what it was like for you.
00:11:07:03 – 00:11:27:06
Fabio
I’m not saying this is why you’re doing it, but I’m again, I’m speaking for myself. But I think also as you get older and you work in music, you don’t want to be a struggling musician for the rest of your life. You don’t want to be, you know, barely making rent. And so, you know, it’s kind of like there becomes a moment in life where it’s a little make it, make it or break it, right?
00:11:27:06 – 00:11:47:29
Fabio
And you’re like, okay, what do I have to sacrifice from my artistry in order to be able to have a sustainable career in music and still do the things that I enjoy? And what path am I starting to gravitate towards? You know, I think you’re more focused on music business, obviously, like run a business too. And yes, does that mean I have to dedicate time to that?
00:11:47:29 – 00:12:13:24
Fabio
But it still enables us to be a part of the machine that we know and love and have worked in for so many years. I was discovered on MySpace, so to say to shit on anyone for being discovered on social media would be absolute hypocrisy. I was discovered on MySpace. I got reposted and written about by a massive blog, but when blogs were the thing Princeton, MySpace.
00:12:13:24 – 00:12:33:08
Fabio
Yeah. Shout out to myspace pre Instagram. And then I got invited by Virgin Records to like have a chat with them. They gave me some CDs. I was in my school uniform. This is how young I was. I was in my tie and like my my V-neck jumper because in the UK we wear school uniform, right? Everyone does this.
00:12:33:09 – 00:12:57:02
Fabio
Hogwarts man, say Hogwarts. It’s the same things. It’s like wanting capes and shit. And I thought, okay, so, but then there wasn’t, there wasn’t much more emphasis on presenting oneself other than if every so often posting something on MySpace and seeing if it gained any traction. There wasn’t a lot of focus on that, but it definitely was a part of the game.
00:12:58:02 – 00:13:25:10
Fabio
When I was 18, I wasn’t. WARNER and things changed slightly because my marketing manager, who was clearly way ahead of the game at the time, gave me this flip, this flip thing. It was just called flip, I think. And it was a handheld camera, no bigger than I don’t know, like a big packet of chewing gum, but thicker. A terrible quality camera, by the way.
00:13:25:10 – 00:13:43:06
Fabio
But it was a way to just be able to walk around and, like, film things. And she was like, “Oh, one of my artists is walking around and filming everything. And then he’s posting it on YouTube or something.” So I started doing that. So I went to L.A. a bunch of times and I’d film and I’d make these vlogs and I don’t really know, understand the concept of what I was doing at the time.
00:13:43:06 – 00:14:20:01
Fabio
Like vlogging was not yet yet a thing. It was more like a documentation of my journeys. And I guess it was just more, it was having more visual assets to go alongside the music. I don’t know if you agree with me here, but I feel like music only really came into play with Instagram. I mean, I would say like just before TikTok, right?
00:14:20:13 – 00:14:26:03
Fabio
YouTube was still the home of a promotion.
00:14:26:03 – 00:14:51:16
Lukas
Yeah. YouTube is definitely where, at least I started growing my community. So I agree with you on that. And when I was on MySpace, I was mainly selling beats. I think I had a little bit of a different, you know, process than you. But yeah, it’s it is interesting. Like, one thing I wanted to ask you is, did you feel like you had to put on a persona on social media or do you feel like you were kind of able to be yourself.
00:14:52:08 – 00:14:54:16
Fabio
At which point? When I started a YouTube channel?
00:14:55:22 – 00:15:16:15
Lukas
Yeah, like when you say maybe, yeah, but maybe when you started, like even just from recording, like you had your flip, you know what I mean? Like, were you kind of like, it’s so funny because now they have so many channels where it’s like how to be, you know, better on camera, how to, you know, create a video and have a hook and have a call to action and all these kinds of things.
00:15:16:15 – 00:15:31:22
Lukas
And I do post like this, for example, but this was before that. So like, you know, did you with your flip like going around, how did you know how to act or did you not? Or was it random, but you have kind of like a personality.
00:15:32:02 – 00:15:55:25
Fabio
There was far less importance around like the persona behind in front of the camera, unless you were a TV personality. So honestly, I would say 99% of my time was just being 20 year old me. I was being a massive douche bag because that’s just who I wasn’t. I was 20. I didn’t really care, I was having fun, I was making music, I was filming me and my friends.
00:15:55:25 – 00:16:14:16
Fabio
Having a good time. Not much has changed. Consistency is key to everybody. But I will say when I started my YouTube channel, I recognized that there was like there was a space to fill as an all the YouTube channel. Well, I don’t want to say all, I think that’s that’s very unfair.
00:16:14:16 – 00:16:37:05
Fabio
Let me retract it. A lot of the YouTube channel is based around audio engineering, felt a little antiquated and a little stiff. And I wanted to be bring a bit a bit more personality because ultimately I was like, this is about having fun, so let’s make it fun because if it’s all like, this is me in the studio doing my thing once again.
00:16:39:01 – 00:17:01:27
Fabio
It really isn’t me. It didn’t feel like it was going hand in hand with where the world was going, which is towards a healthier body, a healthier mind and things that I think we all feel sort of indoctrinated by due to contemporary culture capitalizing and marketing it to us.
00:17:02:20 – 00:17:25:18
Lukas
Yeah. No, that’s a good point. And that’s one thing that I’ve heard a lot of people say nowadays, they’re saying it specifically with social media, like you have to fake it till you make it, like you have to pretend to be. And my whole thing is like, and you can tell me what you think, but I feel like the culture has changed in a good way with social media.
00:17:25:18 – 00:17:44:14
Lukas
So I think authenticity and like being yourself has been becoming more and more of a thing and being more open. Because I mean, we all remember the old school music artists and album covers. It was all about kind of looking cool, like you’re Zoolander or like a model and like, you know, every photo, like, honestly, before it.
00:17:44:14 – 00:18:12:02
Lukas
This is how I feel before reels and before TikToks. Instagram was literally just a bunch of people that were just posing for the most part with photos and imposing their album covers. And the thing is, I hear a lot of people say that, that now it’s worse than it was before. But I think that what they’re really saying potentially and I could be wrong about this, but I think in a way, they’re just saying that it’s harder because now they have to think about more than just the music and posing in a picture.
00:18:12:02 – 00:18:37:15
Lukas
They have to find a way that they can be their authentic self. And then they have to ask that question, what is my authentic self? How can I be on camera? Because a lot of people can’t be authentic, like they don’t know how to be authentic on camera. I sure didn’t when I was starting out. So I feel like that’s one of the biggest changes is trying to figure out who you are and how to represent that on camera and not just necessarily copy whatever the latest trend is.
00:18:37:15 – 00:19:08:03
Fabio
So I guess blend your strengths and weaknesses. I think there are artists who do really well on camera. There are some who don’t and they’re like, just post the cool picture, man, you know, like this is fucking cringe. I think I also appreciate the artists who do purely share their artistry and because they’re introverted, they don’t feel the need to speak to the camera, they just show what they’re doing.
00:19:08:14 – 00:19:30:06
Fabio
And so and that kind of speaks for it and that speaks for itself. And I think that’s actually that is just as powerful, if that is authentic to you. Right. If you need to feel introverted on camera, do something introverted, don’t talk to camera. If you feel extroverted and you’re a massive douchebag like me, talk to camera and, you know, get it out there.
00:19:30:07 – 00:19:50:21
Fabio
I mean, I spend so much time alone, I feel like the camera has now become a friend because that’s what I talk to most of the day. And it’s it’s this. It’s this. We believe that we have to do one thing right, but we can actually make it make a choice. And I think we get cornered and pressured into doing different things.
00:19:50:21 – 00:20:19:23
Fabio
There are, of course, artists out there who are having a lot of success without social media, you know? Is that right? Their way to really, really focus on a slightly more classic route to being successful is that is that riskier? 100 percenters. I met this one when I was coming to NAMM to meet you. I met this guy on the plane, you know, some singer songwriter.
And I asked, do you do content like for your projects? And she was like, honestly, like, I just find it kind of cringe, and I’m like, I do not think it would help you get more exposure, you’re obviously very talented, just British.
00:20:36:16 – 00:21:06:12
Fabio
You’ve got some great records. Oh, I’ll put her stuff down and the like. And it was anyway, it was really, really interesting to hear that things kind of cringe. I don’t really want to monetize my singing and what I do. I’d rather just go like more of a classic role. And I really, I really respect that. Low and behold, last week, I see she’s doing some more vlogging style kind of content on Instagram. And I feel like she’s succumbed to, you know, the social media content creation pressure that I guess we all we all feel and face today.
00:21:23:02 – 00:21:48:11
Lukas
Well, there’s a case to be made maybe that people just don’t like what they don’t feel comfortable doing. For example, I’ve heard a lot of people tell me they don’t like social media because you just have to do tutorials or you just have to flip samples or you have to do this stuff. And I’ve also heard people say, for example, that Tik Tok is poison and that the only thing that, you know, that does well is, you know, like dirty stuff or like scantily clad people or whatever.
00:21:48:17 – 00:22:06:00
Lukas
And my whole thing is like it’s interesting because like for example, with Tik Tok, when I look at my feed, I don’t see any of that because the algorithm just shows you what you interact with. So for example, it’s like my feed is sometimes kind of like just the hobbies that I’m interested in.
00:22:06:00 – 00:22:30:23
Lukas
Like there’s some stuff about science, like I’ll get Neil deGrasse Tyson videos, I’ll get historical videos from people like talking about the history of this or that. I’ll get some music stuff where there were some news updates and so it’s pitching me more and more of that stuff. And I get a lot of course cap cuts and stuff like that because I like to save those and come up with ideas to post and to use for my own socials.
00:22:31:04 – 00:22:49:24
Lukas
But it’s just interesting because I feel like, you know, it’s not necessarily that social media is is the way they see it. It’s just that they want to, you know, demonize it or make it seem less cool because they don’t necessarily, you know, it’s not their thing and that’s fine. Like, you know, it’s not my thing to do certain things.
00:22:49:24 – 00:22:57:08
Lukas
And maybe I don’t think they’re as cool because I don’t spend my time doing them, but it doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily, you know, not worth anyone’s time.
00:22:57:16 – 00:23:24:24
Fabio
Mm hmm. Mm. I agree. And I urge people also, if social media isn’t your thing, don’t worry about it. Like, just. But use that. Don’t take 25% of that pie of your creative energy and just put it towards something random. Really hone in on the artistry because I personally am still waiting for the next Mac Miller, the next Ariana Grande, the next Beyonce say the next Kanye West.
00:23:24:24 – 00:23:42:02
Fabio
You know what I mean? I’m still waiting for that artist to come through and I just haven’t seen it. I haven’t felt it. Things like I spoke about, like Billie Eilish. So if you’re out there and you are watching this, go back to the studio, put Instagram down. Don’t worry about filming your face. Like maybe you will break through in a different way.
00:23:42:02 – 00:24:10:04
Fabio
And there’s nothing wrong with being different. Of course, it needs to be a calculated risk. You know, how willing are you to take that risk to be different is up to you. And I think that can be very stressful for some people. So I wonder if at some point some people go fuck it, I’m just going to start a great Instagram account or a great TikTok account and good for those people.
00:24:10:04 – 00:24:24:10
Fabio
Like there’s no wrong there’s no right here. I thought that maybe I wanted to lean into a little bit of data that I found that I thought you might find interesting.
00:24:24:10 – 00:24:25:17
Lukas
Put on your glasses, you nerd.
00:24:25:17 – 00:24:26:16
Fabio
Glasses. Okay.
00:24:27:04 – 00:24:28:13
Lukas
When you talk about data, please.
00:24:28:28 – 00:24:54:00
Fabio
So 43” songs surpassed 1 billion video views as TikTok sounds in 2021 and over 175 songs that trended on Tik Tok in 2021 charted on the Billboard Hot 100, twice as many as the year before. Clearly, the proof is in the pudding, right? You cannot ignore the data.
00:24:55:25 – 00:25:07:29
Lukas
It really and that’s why I say social media has ruined the music industry because… I mean, people could say it ruined it for artists. But again, I would say that it just ruined the way that it was. It’s not going back, you know?
00:25:08:06 – 00:25:44:27
Fabio
Mm hmm. Absolutely. TikTok signed licensing deals with three major record groups several years ago. It says Sony in 2020, Warner Music Group in January 2021 and Universal Music Group in February 2021, said that major record labels are also seeing and investing in the importance of Tik Tok. Now, from the other perspective, artists have come out and said like Halsey and Charli XCX and the acts have posted videos expressing frustration at being asked to make tiktoks by their labels.
00:25:44:28 – 00:26:02:16
Fabio
I get it. I mean, especially if you’re like a successful artist, imagine your label can use and make choices. Like screw you, hire someone to come and make the tiktoks for me. I’m busy. I’m on tour. I’m out here playing shows. I’m in the studio. I’m also trying to live my life. They’ve made it.
00:26:02:16 – 00:26:09:26
Fabio
You know that. They’re doing the big time. It’s not easy. And it was like, we need you to do extra promotion because we have no idea how to do it.
00:26:09:27 – 00:26:30:26
Lukas
It’s an interesting argument because it’s not necessarily everyone’s forte to want to do that. And then you see some people like, for example, Meghan Trainor has been really good in Tik Tok and I like to watch her because it shows a little behind the scenes with life and stuff like that. But some people, they don’t want to show the behind the scenes of their life and they don’t want to, you know, have to do that kind of stuff.
00:26:31:22 – 00:26:57:09
Lukas
It’s interesting, though, because also one thing that I wanted to note is that I think that famous people like really famous music artists like Charli XCX and these kind of people are not necessarily good people to use as reference for smaller artists trying to make content because one thing to note is that when you’re really, really big, you know, you have a higher success rate that your tiktoks and your stuff’s are going to do better because you already have like a really loyal fanbase.
00:26:57:18 – 00:27:17:21
Lukas
Whereas if you’re a starting out artist, you know, it’s more difficult to be able to, to just, you know, I guess post without a plan, you know. And some of the bigger artists do have a plan behind their posts obviously. But I think it’s almost better to look at if you’re looking for someone for reference as to like who’s a good person to to see who’s doing posts and content that’s working. I think it’s more like breakout people, like people that are on the rise who have been building on socials and who are seeing a lot of growth that are probably the best references.
00:27:29:12 – 00:27:55:04
Fabio
Yeah, absolutely. My concern is that sometimes and this is only sometimes so I think this is not the case for all artists, whether on Tik Tok or not. But I wonder if there’s a change in the decay rate of popularity of those records as a result of being a teen trend? Like how long is the lifespan of a record?
00:27:55:13 – 00:28:08:05
Fabio
How quickly does that popularity decay if it’s a hit on TikTok as opposed to like a hit anywhere else, hit on the radio?
00:28:09:00 – 00:28:21:11
Fabio
Or in the club or whatever it might be? Or is it just that if it’s a hit on Tik Tok, it will then be passed on to those other platforms, you know, rather than the other way around?
00:28:22:21 – 00:28:41:24
Lukas
Yeah, most people say, and I think it’s true as well, that usually the hit happens on Tik Tok first and then it kind of fizzles out onto Instagram and other platforms. Obviously there’s also audio that trends first on Instagram if it’s a you know, but I think a lot of the stuff it’s like, oh, I heard that on Tik Tok and then it becomes like a thing on Instagram songs, on the radio.
00:28:41:24 – 00:28:53:10
Lukas
It’d be pretty much like after a few months you would be like, Oh, the song, it’s always on is driving me crazy. But you know, when it’s on social media, how long does it trend before it drives you crazy?
00:28:53:15 – 00:29:22:24
Fabio
For example, what do you think about artists making music for Tik Tok now? And they’re sort of like gearing and aiming and targeting their lyrics to be able to be transformed into actions or dance moves. Do you think that that is potentially playing a role in the quality and what’s what’s the word I’m looking for here?
00:29:22:24 – 00:29:30:02
Fabio
It means like when it’s like really deep, visceral, the visceral quality of music.
00:29:30:02 – 00:29:47:02
Lukas
I don’t know. I feel like it’s always kind of been like that to a certain extent. I feel like it’s just different rules, different game. But like the game has changed, but the rules are the same. Like, people are always gearing music for whatever the trend was, depending on, you know, whatever the era is.
00:29:47:02 – 00:30:03:25
Lukas
I mean, we’ve all kind of seen that where there is kind of like, you know, the effect where it hits peak trend. And then as it starts to kind of go down, you have kind of like off brand remakes of all these different types of tracks that were popular before, people trying to just kind of hack the code that worked in the past.
00:30:04:02 – 00:30:21:18
Lukas
And I think that there are those artists who who maybe they they follow the rules of making things that are catchy and making things that are, you know, like they maybe there’s some things that they use in the recipe that have been done before, but that they like, you know, fight to break the mold and be that trendsetter.
00:30:21:26 – 00:30:44:25
Lukas
And I do think that there’s still something to be said about that. I don’t know. I also feel like my consensus is that I really think that social media has made it possible for the artists who who want to be more and more creative, to also have to maybe to have an easier barrier to entry. Now, there’s still going to be artists, of course, that are very talented, who who have a harder time making it.
00:30:45:02 – 00:31:03:09
Lukas
And not everybody is going to be a pro at social media or find their stride right away. And some there’s going to be things like I’m seeing people like, for example, that are booking sold out tours across, you know, let’s say the U.S. because of their they’re you know, they maybe they DJ on and they do mash ups on Instagram or whatever.
00:31:03:09 – 00:31:18:23
Lukas
And then all of a sudden they’re booking shows in Vegas and they’re not having to go through these old ways of having to, you know, like hope that they get the label or hope they get the manager or whatever. You know, it’s sometimes people see these names lit up in lights outside the stadiums and they’re like, who is that?
00:31:18:23 – 00:31:43:07
Lukas
And someone’s like, it’s a TikTok star. And they’re like kind of laughing about it, like, oh, and it’s like, Well, who cares? They’re the ones that are, you know, have this brand and this kind of thing. But I also, you know, it also depends on your personality, too, because me as an artist, I would just feel better if I wasn’t just making, you know, little tidbit tracks that were made to hack the TikTok algorithm all the time.
00:31:43:07 – 00:31:50:26
Lukas
Like, I would want to be more creative musically than that, but I don’t know. I think there’s always been people on both sides.
00:31:51:18 – 00:32:19:14
Fabio
I guess posting on Tik Tok as an artist is really no different to knocking on a record labels door with your demo CD on a weekly basis. I think it’s another version of that. It’s like a digital version of what we used to do physically. Yeah, sometimes we have to be reminded about that. Just like this podcast that we’re on right now is a recycled version of radio.
00:32:19:16 – 00:32:38:11
Fabio
That’s all it is, right? It’s just that we have the control, we have the station, we are the presenters. And so I know I’ve been shitting on social media and Tik Tok for pretty much this whole episode, but I do want to end on a lighter and more positive note, which I do think is we’re in it.
00:32:38:11 – 00:32:47:07
Fabio
We’ve we’re part of a generation, you and I, Lukas Web hop, by the way, if anyone’s wondering how old we are if I can, can I disclose yeah.
00:32:47:15 – 00:32:48:03
Lukas
Yeah, that’s fine.
00:32:48:06 – 00:32:55:01
Fabio
Okay. I’m 31 and it’s 33 right now. You’re 34. It was your birthday recently. Yeah, yes. 34.
00:32:56:21 – 00:33:06:10
Lukas
An old man, I’m supposed to be the grumpy one on the podcast. You’re supposed to be the one who’s optimistic.
00:33:06:10 – 00:33:33:08
Fabio
I think we’ve lived through these massive changes but we kind of have. We’ve seen the digital age transform and it’s easy to get upset about it sometimes. And I’m not really upset about it because ultimately I use social media to my advantage. You know, I play that game, I work that machine and that machine then favors me and gives me the life that I want to live and the life that you want to live.
00:33:33:08 – 00:33:57:10
Fabio
And many other people out there. And so I just wanted to kind of finish on a positive note. And if you are from our generation, or maybe an older generation and you find it very frustrating, just remember that it’s just a reinvention of something that already existed and we’re just playing the game in a different way. You know, it’s still we’re still playing soccer, but it’s not on grass as on Astroturf, right?
00:33:57:18 – 00:34:21:23
Fabio
It’s the same game just with a slightly different skill set. It’s that simple. So I also want to say that one thing I love from TikTok is I love seeing my favorite artists play shows. Mm hmm. I think having that FOMO where you’re seeing the crowd, like, pop up and down, and I was just having a really good time.
00:34:21:26 – 00:34:51:02
Fabio
And you know how that feels in your bones and it inspires you to want to go out or to make music or to be an artist. I think that in itself is still very powerful and sometimes we need those little boosts of inspiration throughout the day. So I guess without going into lots of detail, you know, to everyone, I would say, including myself, I’m preaching to myself to be very careful of how you use social media.
00:34:51:02 – 00:34:53:23
Fabio
And if you use it to your advantage, you’ll always come out on top.
00:34:54:16 – 00:35:12:14
Lukas
Yeah. Because like and the last thing I want to say is if you look back at the day people loved making of the band behind the music, all these kind of like documentary things. And now with social media, you’re just getting those documentary things fed to your phone, but in like more of like a bite size, smaller way.
00:35:12:16 – 00:35:42:29
Lukas
Maybe people don’t like that or they do like that. Like you’re saying, the game has changed, but it’s still like the same. It’s still the same issues just in a different package and a little bit of a you know, quicker, you know. But we’re here and we’re going to be doing more and more talk on this. And if you guys have comments, I would love to hear what your thoughts are on this and which side you’re on, if it frustrates you, if it doesn’t, if you’re optimistic, if you’re not optimistic and how you think the future is going to be, if it’s if it’s going to even more short form, we’re going to have like 1/2 video clips all the time. Are we going to go longer form and what you prefer.
00:35:48:11 – 00:36:00:20
Fabio
So yeah big thanks to my fantastic co-host Lukas for engaging with me in this topic today. And of course we want to say thank you to Boombox.io for being able to make all this content happen.
00:36:00:20 – 00:36:21:25
Lukas
Yes. And also if you haven’t already, go get your free account on boombox.io and make your artist profile. That’s the new feature. And soon those artist profiles are going to go live and you’ll be able to find other artists to collaborate with. And it’s going to make the whole collaboration process so much easier. Make sure to subscribe, give this video a thumbs up if you liked it and you can find me on all platforms at Music byLukas and you can find me at Noize_London and Boombox at Boombox.io
00:36:27:28 – 00:36:29:29
Lukas
And we’ll see you next time bye!
00:36:30:21 – 00:36:32:19
Fabio
Peace!