Musician as Marketer - The Story of 'The Ground Below'

My first album in 2005 was an attempt to get out of my paralysed state as a musician.

I had played in bands and written songs for more than twenty years but never managed to connect with the right people and muster enough commitment and conviction to release anything meaningful, anything that officially represented myself. Plus I found it too hard to get along with and trust other musicians to collaborate effectively.

So in 2004 when I had to nominate a project for my recording arts degree I wanted to know whether all these new tools such as digital production and the internet could help me overcome the isolation I felt as a musician. I went about the mammoth task of recording, mixing, releasing and marketing my own album via the internet, with a zero budget, and then writing a thesis about this experience. The thesis is totally outdated by now but it's still up on the website.

All I really cared about was getting an album out.

Once the album was done, including a thesis, a website and an online place for it to live I was over it. I had my degree in my pocket and that was that. I knew every sound, every note, every word on that album. I knew its compromises and shortcomings, its moments of triumph and beauty. There was no mystery in this album, no moment that didn't have me all over it and, as a result, I didn't want to listen to it anymore. I let it go and started another one.

Now every marketer will tell you that releasing an album is the beginning of a process, not the end. When they say that, they mean the creative process is over, now comes the promotional part. I didn't care. I just wanted to get another one out that was better, felt rounder and pushed me further. So I guess I am not really thinking as a marketer, but as a creative musician.

Unfortunately, I shouldn't really admit this here, because I teach about the music industry and music business. I teach the rules of production, distribution and marketing, old and new, but I don't care about them.

To my defense, I don't really think I make marketable music anyway. I don't aspire to it. I aspire to getting tunes and words out of my head onto a disc, no matter whether people will like it or not. There is no calculation behind this, I just don't seem to share the mainstream perception of beauty.

So my advice to musicians is: Do what you care about, and do it well, so others that care about marketing can help you by doing their bit. Quite traditional, I know, but I see too many untalented marketers like myself embarrassing themselves publicly by trying too hard to push their own product. I am not at all comfortable with it. If this is the brave new music industry I am gladly stuck in the past.

The only caveat is that you will have to find someone you can trust, rather than falling prey to the machinations of the traditional music industry. We all know that they are evil slugs that are out to suck musicians dry. To build a network you can rely on, people that believe in you as a musician, that is your responsibility to your fans, your friends, your fellow musicians, your family and yourself.

Now, of course, I might change my mind about this. And in fact, my very blogging about this is a form of marketing, innit? Life's so contradictory sometimes, but I believe it all makes sense in a higher realm of reasoning.