On the internet wagon

It is said that ‘don’t strive to make your presence noticed, just make your absence felt’. But that might not hold true for social media where everyone wants to be noticed these days. While the pros and cons of this are debatable, the platform is a blessing for artistes, especially indie musicians, who have been using it to promote their work.

Rakesh VG, a member of ‘Out of Office’, says, “There are certain things that you have to keep in mind while promoting your work on social media. Since every Tom, Dick and Harry is doing the same thing, you have to do a little bit extra to make your work stand out.”

So before any song is released, Rakesh posts an audio teaser to build an audience. “Since each one of our songs has a story, we write a brief about it and post it on Facebook and Instagram. Blogs about the song also help spread the word.”

For the music to reach a larger audience, a little ‘boost’ (an apt moniker for paid distribution) also helps. Says Eben Johnson from ‘All The Fat Children’, “While the post might get a lot of likes, the actual number of people who saw that post will be half of that. That’s why you need a proper plan while using social media and paid distribution plays a major role.”

He adds that artistes who took to social media about five years ago were the ones who managed to get a loyal fan following before the whole thing became increasingly commercial. “The logistics that Facebook, Instagram and YouTube follow are very different now and they change quite often. It’s hard to predict what will work or not. And since these platforms are overcrowded with people trying to make a mark, taking to new methods like ‘Snapmaps’ is a good option.”

This constant change is probably why many old-timers aren’t a big fan of the medium. Supratik from ‘Aurko’ shares, “Earlier, music used to be just about audio but now nothing works without a video. As one is reading this sentence, thousands of music videos are being uploaded; each one explaining why their music is worth a listen. So anyone can get the recognition but that doesn’t necessarily give one longevity.”

“Using social media to talk about your work and exposing your listeners to new content is not a bad thing. We have a presence online but that doesn’t mean you upload anything and everything,” he notes, adding that a fallout of the online din is that good music may be missed.