Some thoughts about “content” and promoting yourself online

There's been a lot of talk about “content” in the last week among musicians (thanks to this post by Chelsea Cutler among others) and it's been SO refreshing to see, not least because a lot of it echoed conversations that I've had recently with friends and artists that I work with.

I know this might sound paradoxical when I've literally just launched a new service about content creation for musicians, but the truth is, I'm not a fan of the word "content".

I don't like the way that it’s used, I don't like that that it’s everywhere, and I particularly don't like how “art” has become so closely entwined with “content” and artists are pressured into becoming content creators. I wish “content” would stop being this huge bucket in which we throw everything that we consume online, and that we’d start intentionally being more specific about the things people share that we enjoy or that resonate with us.

The reason I still use the word content is for convenience, because, well, most people kinda know what it refers to, but when I do use it, it’s almost always in the context of “content marketing”.

Chances are you’ve already done some content marketing in the past: sending out a newsletter to tell people about an upcoming tour, posting snippets of an upcoming release on social media, sharing behind the scenes from a recording session or a music video shoot… that’s all part of it. It’s capturing people’s attention and telling them about what you do and what you’ve got coming up, while building an audience who cares about you and your music. (And, full disclosure, it’s what I’m doing right here and now, too.)

But while I'm all for building content strategies to promote your music and grow your fanbase, I'm also a firm believer that you can do so without compromising your values or feeling like a sellout.

If I’m honest, I don’t post Reels on Instagram because I have a deep, burning desire to lip sync to funny audio clips and perform in front of my camera.

I cringe every time I’m about to hit send, and I wonder whether I’m only just making a fool of myself. I worry about what people who know me in real life will think.

But the thing is… I’ve made the decision in the last couple of years to promote my business online, and to me that comes with showing my face, showing my personality, and telling people about what I do, and I think it would be a shame not to use the tools that are available to me through social media to reach the people who might be interested or might benefit from what I have to offer.

And at the end of the day, discomfort and cringe factor aside, I’m not doing anything that I don’t really want to be doing. You’ll never see me dance in a Reel or on TikTok, because let’s be honest, nobody needs to see that and it would make no sense to me and my business. But I like to have a laugh, and not take myself too seriously, and I enjoy pop culture references. These are things that are pretty commonly found on Reels, so why not?! There’s no harm in sharing some light hearted content, as long as it’s something that I would also enjoy seeing from somebody else.

What I’m trying to say here is, you don’t have to post anything online that really doesn’t sit right with you, and you don’t have to hop on trends.

You don't have to post about your personal life if it feels uncomfortable.

You don't have to film yourself in your car listening to your own songs if it makes you cringe.

You don't even have to post every single day if it's not manageable for you.

YOU get to set your own rules and expectations, and figure out what works best for you.

But what I’d like to encourage you to think about is this: is there any way that you could use these tools to your advantage, in a way that feels right to you?

And if the answer is a big fat “no, not interested, don’t wanna do it”, that’s absolutely fine! There are other ways to promote yourself and your music, and nobody’s going to force you to do anything that you don’t want to do.

But if it’s a “maybe…?” then what my advice to you is to treat is as one big experiment, and not take it too seriously. See what works for you and what feels too uncomfortable, and make a note of what people actually enjoy seeing from you online, without putting too much pressure on it all. Learn from it and have fun.

Your content strategy and your online presence are only small pieces of your “artist puzzle”, and they shouldn’t stop you from building the bigger picture.