I found a working version of the song that was corrupted and so now I have 80-90% complete versions of 8/9 songs, though there’s one I may re-record.
I thought it’d be a good time to share a little peek of what we are doing. I shared a video that features a 20 second preview from a song we are nearly finished with. It’s not fully mixed but it’s mostly recorded.
I made it into a YouTube short and an Instagram trial which means it probably won’t reach any of my IRL friends right away. I wanted to test it first.
YouTube showed it to 0 people, down from the 150-300 it usually shows it to. Instagram showed it to 150 and none of them watched beyond 3 second.
It’s a bit of an understatement to say I was disappointed. I felt pretty much devastated. Of course if I post it here enough or with my IRL friends I may get some positive comments but since I can’t be sure, I tried to share it with complete strangers first.
The result is a slap in the face. I need to face some harsh realities.
One hard truth: It may not be something other people can understand.
I have a very unique combination of tastes, far more tolerance for experimentation and “strangeness” than the casual listener but also a very strong attachment to catchy melodies that people into experimental music don’t always have. I am very influenced by by prog rock and also by lo-fi indie rock and world music and these genres rarely overlap.
Second hard truth: Even if people could come to like it, the accompanying media may kill it.
As I am trying not to fall into tropes, and creating from a hardcore DIY philosophy, I am limited in the video and artwork department. I have to do it myself with my limited skill or I have to hire someone myself. I chose to pay for mixing because it’s the most important thing for improving the sound beyond my capabilities so paying for a music video or social media work is kind of out of the question now.
I never thought my videos were bad, but I know they are competitive. I know no one is sending their friends and telling them they’re the coolest thing they’ve ever seen. I don’t have any idea how I’d create a video so impactful right now. AI doesn’t fit my music or goals either.
I think 10 years ago my videos would have done quiete well because people weren’t as overstimulated but facing the world we live in now, I’m not sure how to stand out in that department. With most views being under 3 seconds, it hardly says anything about the music.
Third hard truth: The algorithms may prevent me from reaching who I had hoped to reach.
I have been running under the assumption for some time that if my music was a little more “solid” (as in properly recorded), the algorithms might do some better work at matching the videos to their intended audience. I may have been wrong. YouTube is hardly the best place for independent musicians…but where IS the place for independent musicians. I don’t think there really is a place other than local shows.
I notice the reaction and the interest level is ALWAYS much higher in person. Online I can hardly make a dent. In person, at least people look happy, they seem interested. I can never be sure how much is them just being nice or how quickly they’ll forget about it but at least there is feedback of some sort from people who I know are more likely to enjoy this than the average person.
I get likes from friends on Instagram and some people at hive comment but people give likes on Instagram very easily and hive isn’t really full of people listening to niche music, so I don’t really expect anyone here to understand, at most 2-3 people might.
I am starting to adopt the belief that music is being siphoned into two or three types. There’s the viral type which is ultra impressive, professionally presented, or both well written and clearly defined in a genre. Then there’s the community type which is more about the artists involvement in the community and online activity hardly does anything and the interest in the music grows over time. It seems I fit into this type.
I think the fact that there is almost nothing in between these days is very disheartening to me. It means my efforts online are essentially worthless except to maintain the interest in what I do in face to face concerts, it also means a lot more is out of my control.
I cannot control the weather. People may not come because it rained. I cannot control peoples schedules, some weeks people are just busy with work. I cannot ignore distance. Some venues are far and require a trek across the city. I cannot control who invites me to play. I need to impress or convince people if I want to be a part of what they are doing.
I think it comes as a blow to the chest to realize that I don’t really have the freedom to reach people that the internet has convinced me that I have.
Sure there are ways to do it but they don’t just require hard works, they still require lots of luck and often they require a sacrifice in the whole bottom line, what you started creating for in the first place.
So maybe it’s not really that good in the first place or maybe it’s just a really really hard world to promote art in these days, I can at least confirm the latter.
In any case I am really impressed with myself and what I’ve created. It may not be at the level I consider some of my favorites but I no longer feel ashamed to stand besides them if anyone invites me. I don’t feel ashamed of it.
I wonder if I made a mistake in not lowering the key from D to C, and I know the mixing could be better, maybe there’s a little pinch of some flavor I could add or subtract, but other than that I love the songs.
And so all I can do is keep sharing them and face the reality that it’s mostly out of my hands after that…
Here is the clip that YouTube failed to send out to anyone:
A song that took 10 years to record
