Social Media affects artist creativity

Music is a big part of our everyday life. But the average person does not know or understand how many different elements there are to music or being a musician. There are a lot of ups and downs in the music industry, especially if you don't have a plan or know who you are as an artist. Today due to social media it's been a lot easier for people to premiere and spread their music. The issue with that is, it causes a severe copycat system. It takes away from the originality of artists, because they're faced with being different or original, and being famous and rich. Most of the time artists choose being famous and rich and decide to mimic other artists that are already in the spotlight. One of the main reasons social media has such an impact on artist creativity is because it also affects record sales, is a great and cheap way to market and it affects how A&R reps scout for talent. In the article The Wired by Chris Collins  he talks about the loss of artist’s creativity due to the masses and how it affects the consumers. He asks the question that supports my opinion about artists originality, “While artists try to maintain a “self-trueness” to their work, how long before the pressure of making a living and the enticement of the world stage has them creating for the masses, pandering for the most likes? ”. At this situation artists are creating what they feel the majority likes instead of what they like in order to fit in and become popular. He also goes so far as to say that for the consumer listening to such a large catalog of music also taints our ability to judge or critic music. When everything starts to sound the same the average mind believes that this is what music is supposed to sound like, therefore this is good music.

 I miss the days of originality and uniqueness. I yearn and crave for the artists that dares to stand-alone with original thought and creativity that comes from within. The artist that dares to make a statement and is successful from that statement will catapult over all of those that tried to blend and be the same in hopes of success and fame. My advice to all upcoming artists is to be true to what you love about music and to present it to the world. When you are different there will be people who tells you things like “that doesn't sound like what's current”, or “that doesn't sound like anything anyone else did no one will like it”. Do not listen to them for Danny Devito himself was turned away about 100 times before he was casted for a lead role in a major film which skyrocketed his career into being one of the best and highest paid actors of our times. I'm not saying that you cannot pull inspiration from artists that have already came and gone or that are popular in the music industry, what I'm saying this make it your own and inspire yourself to be different. Once you like it and believe in it it's only a matter of time before we do to. Good luck to you all and continue to make good music while enjoying the ups and downs of the music business.