How You’re Already Creating the Content You’re Looking for.
I’m pretty sure you’ve heard this before, but I want to dive into how this applies to your brand as an artist. You’ve been putting out content for awhile and pretty much get a sense of what your audience likes. You’re even more tapped into your audience if you’ve been releasing music frequently and performing. Unfortunately, there are still a huge chunk of you who have not taken the proper steps in putting out content and maybe wondering how you should operate when it comes to creating it. I’m going to give you three reasons why pictures, videos, and voice notes that are already on your phone is all you need.
Your Content is a Documentary: Ever had a year that was so crazy you wished there was a camera crew filming the whole thing? The stories that you tell everyone the next year sound so crazy that you wish you had proof that it actually happened? Well, you do…it’s your phone. Every picture, video, voice memo, and note can be used to trace the events that are happening in your life. Getting ready for a performance in a few weeks? You could film it and incorporate it into your next music video. What you could also do is shoot all the events that are happening leading up to the performance. You could interview the musicians, DJ, and promoter to add different perspectives on the night. After your friend (or manager) captures all the footage of the performance you could make a performative music video. Snippets of everything can be used for IG stories, TikToks, and twitter clips.
Your Content is a Podcast: Another thing you could do is to make a podcast episode talking about everything leading up to the performance even if you start in the previous year. What was the process of creating the next single that you are about to perform? How did you know this was the single to promote? What were your friend’s reactions? After the event you could criticize some of the things you did to give the listener a full picture. Yeah I promoted the single like crazy, but it was only three days before the performance. I should’ve done XY&Z. Talk about some of the things that went right and the things that went wrong. The crowd loved us but we weren’t as interactive as we should’ve been. We sold a lot of merch, but we could’ve sold everything if we showed up on time. People love to hear those stories that add a dynamic that humanizes the experience and brings them into it.
Your Content is a Journal: One of my favorite forms of media to express myself is a blog. I use this one as a mind dump for my day so that I can get out everything that happened to reflect later. The benefit of me doing this is that not only is it a release but my audience can look at my content and find useful information. When I first started making content I was under the impression that I needed an HD camera, a story board, and some dramatic events in my career before I could put anything out. When I started just putting out content based on the artists I was working with or the projects I was working on is when my analytics skyrocketed. Apparently people didn’t really care about my grand idea of what an IG video or TikTok should be. They just genuinely wanted to see what I was up to. I have a screenshot saved in my phone where I did what I thought was a funny video one day and another where I spoke about being broke yet working on an artist’s album. From the looks of it people cared more about me being honest than me trying to make them laugh. May be I am not as funny as I think I am but one thing I can definitely be is honest.
In conclusion, don’t overthink what you need to do to create content. More than likely you’re already creating it you’re just under the impression it has to be shiny and dramatic. I’m sure there’s a video of you trying to learn a new song you wrote that you could put out. I’ve even seen artists post voice memos they’ve sent to their producer that would later become the top line to the single they are currently promoting. People just want to see what you have going on. Your fans are more interested in hearing music and just seeing you than anything else. There may be a few weirdos out there but we’re not talking about them.
Besides, there’s a block button for that.
