I have pasted the las year trying to get views and followers on youtube with my music. It was hard and the best days, it was kind of a miracle if I reached more than 100 views on my music. And most of the time, these views was too short to let the viewers the possibility to know if they really liked my music or not. Most of these views came from the youtube recommendation system which is a crap based on an algorhythm that is only to the benefit of the company.
I created a bandcamp account and an artist page during this past year too but I didn't give enough love to it. I'm not a marketing folk. I'm an artist.
But when I realized I was loosing my time with youtube, I decided to let my youtube channel gently died and focused all my effort to my bandcamp artist page.
And it paid off.
Since the moment I did that (it was the last April), I earned like $240, gained followers on bandcamp and started to see some dudes who came again and again at each of my releases and bought it (I think that this is what bandcamp call "a fanbase" lol).
But even in bandcamp, the struggle is hard to exist.
Few millions released each day. So how existing in the middle of a flow that big? It is like getting lost in the middle of an infinite ocean with pretty much no chance to get viewed and get rescued. But if I feel that, if I see that, I'm propably not the only one, I'm SURELY not the only one.
And indeed I'm not.
I found on bluesky someone who started to make a list of musicians and producers who are on bluesky (see https://bsky.app/profile/doomdisco.bsky.social/post/3ku7he4ff6s2h).
I immediatly asked to be in because I found the idea very good.
Streaming services like Spotify and so aren't at our service but at their own service. They don't give a damn about the artists. They just want to make money on their back. I supposed that some labels are on the same mindset.
So, the list.
Is it a good idea?
YES!
Is it enough?
Well, probably not.
I wondered if it would be a good idea to create a discord server.
A discord server dedicated to musicians and producers.
A place where they could share what they've done.
But also a place opened up to everyone, not only to the artists . If, in this discord server, each artists come with its own fanbase, then we'll be viewed by more peoples.
I'm actually on a discord server created by an Ambient dedicated label and it is working a bit like that, but a bit only because it is mainly a promotional tool for this label. And as I said, it is decicated to Ambient Music which would be too restrictive to the idea I have in mind.
So here is how I see the thing.
2 main sections.
The first one is for the fans and the artists. Here, they can chat with eachother and so, with few channels to make it more comfortable.
The second one dedicated to the artists. Here, there will be genre dedicated channel so each artists post their things on the dedicated one and it is easier for anyone to get it.
The thing is pretty simple and straight forward. It will have no cost, except for maintaining it and moderate it.
But I think it can be very usefull to solve the issue we all have: getting listened in the middle of a perpetual flow of noverties.
So tell me if you find the idea interesting enough to finally making it.
Thanks for having read this until that point ^^
EDIT: The discord server is now up and running. It's called Open Artists Collective. Feel free to join using this link: discord.gg/jyBtH7gHtQ
