How jealous are you of those viral video stars who rack up millions upon millions of plays on youtube? Oh yeah, you can play far better than them or maybe they have never toured and lived on $5 bucks a day per diem. Are they are smarter than you? In much simpler terms they figured out how to be heard. Maybe its a fleeting marketing pitch on their part, but it does work in certain regards, same as the Snuggie captured attention for a few months and became a pop culture phenom.
We can sit around with some cold beers or over coffee and talk ideas all day, on how to best get the word out to the masses. Don't forget the biggest piece of the entire puzzle, at any time. Write great music and the crowds will follow. Shit, how easy is that to say and still seem like great advice? The truth will set you free and in this case it boils down to leveraging talent, skill and plain ol' street smarts to be heard.
There is no exact path, except hard work and a dedication to your craft. If you truly believe that your music needs to be heard and this career path for which you were born to live, then bleed for it. Honesty and integrity are severely lacking in this "gimme" and disposable culture, which we live in now. Create something with a long a shelf life and truly believe in it, for that is just step one.
After hearing our diatribe, listen to Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins lay it down. Here is a dude that has been there and done that. Can you measure up?
Link to original article on Mashable.com
"As guitarist and co-founder of the Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan was at the forefront of one of the most important music movements in recent history. And he’s not finished. The Pumpkins have a new album coming out in June, and Corgan is splitting time between music and helping artists take back control from labels. He wants talented musicians to have more lucrative careers and engage their fans. At the same time, he’s calling on fans — who play a more critical role in artist success than ever before — to invest in the artists they love.
Corgan, who’s no stranger to controversy, believes that the music industry is currently structured to prevent artists from achieving the type of success his band enjoyed. In fact, Corgan doesn’t believe the Pumpkins could achieve the success they have, or anything close to it, if they debuted now.
In March, Billy and I took the stage together at SXSW Interactive and for a discussion that sent a series of shockwaves throughout the music industry. As he said in Austin, artists are becoming much like sex workers — once you’ve scored a record deal, “you’re just the fresh stripper.”
Sensationalism aside, his point is that both artists and fans must assume responsibility for the future of music if it is to mean something more than viral videos and hit singles. This is about engagement. This is about sustained relevance.
While we were in Austin, we took some time to also record the season three premiere episode of Revolution."
"As guitarist and co-founder of the Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan was at the forefront of one of the most important music movements in recent history. And he’s not finished. The Pumpkins have a new album coming out in June, and Corgan is splitting time between music and helping artists take back control from labels. He wants talented musicians to have more lucrative careers and engage their fans. At the same time, he’s calling on fans — who play a more critical role in artist success than ever before — to invest in the artists they love.
Corgan, who’s no stranger to controversy, believes that the music industry is currently structured to prevent artists from achieving the type of success his band enjoyed. In fact, Corgan doesn’t believe the Pumpkins could achieve the success they have, or anything close to it, if they debuted now.
In March, Billy and I took the stage together at SXSW Interactive and for a discussion that sent a series of shockwaves throughout the music industry. As he said in Austin, artists are becoming much like sex workers — once you’ve scored a record deal, “you’re just the fresh stripper.”
Sensationalism aside, his point is that both artists and fans must assume responsibility for the future of music if it is to mean something more than viral videos and hit singles. This is about engagement. This is about sustained relevance.
While we were in Austin, we took some time to also record the season three premiere episode of Revolution."
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