Acting Local, Globally
"Content is King." "A good song will get noticed." Both are true except with this variable: It depends on the size of the pool your "content" or "good song" swims in. Getting noticed in a stadium is far more difficult than a bar. In producing either, going viral is equally hopeful as winning the lottery.
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What size room do you play to? I often float between writing about the worlds of indie artists and independent online radio stations. These groups face similar problems. Each tries to build a following. Neither has an ability to have people throw money at them (like a data security analyst). To do well, both need to put in excessive amounts of work, be it practice or performance. |
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The infrastructure to support an indie artist - instruments, travel, rooms - is close to the cost of the infrastructure to build a radio station. If there's no corporate backing like Pandora, iHeartradio, Slacker, etc, you struggle.
There's a line in the "cost" where you cross from amateur to professional, where your intent is to grow what you have. That's when whatever path you chose becomes your career.
Are you playing to the locals, or to a global stage? Do you want to do whatever it is you do (sell music or run a radio station) to people within an "X" mile radius of your location, or are you selling to the world? That's an important distinction. If you don't decide which is your priority early on, a lot of time and action will be wasted.
Whether you are an artist or radio operator, remove the "musician" or "radio" hat and answer these questions: "Does it matter if your listener comes from Sweden, Vietnam, the U.S. or Africa?" What can you offer to sell to this person? What content do you deliver which satisfies an emotion, that they may relate to?
For radio station owners who want to serve a geographically local market or region, there's a narrow set of topics you should address. For indie artists wishing to "play the local circuit," you too have a narrow way to approach reaching club owners and fans.
The ways you approach selling on the global stage are just as narrow. Different tactics are used, nothing more.
I like working with people from other countries. They're all my neighbors, and potential clients. My local is anywhere in the world the customer lives. For me, acting local, globally, is a strategy supported by tactical moves.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Today's artist introduction is to Pop from Sarah Flanagan.
Give "We Defy" a listen.
Stations: Add it to your playlist, free.
