The global music industry is rapidly evolving, and it is growing larger with the introduction of musical contributions by millions of emerging artists. For many years, music artists believed in the phrase, “If you’re good enough, you’ll make it.” They progressed in their musical career with nothing but their sheer talent and ability to stand out as music artists. However, today’s music industry seeks more than just good music, and that is why only making great tracks is not enough to gain success on your musical journey.
The modern digital-first world has become highly competitive, and music artists are required to actively participate in marketing, branding, and audience engagement to stand out. Talent is definitely important, but it works like a piece of a puzzle where the bigger picture consists of many other pieces that need to be put together in order to create a prolific and successful musical journey. Let’s take a better look at the modern music industry and why talent alone is not enough to navigate through it.
• Mere Exposure Effect: Repetition Became the Key to Success
It goes without saying that the online music streaming platforms are currently dominating the industry, and the main goal for most artists is to gain more streams on these platforms, which helps them to get popular and earn money for their music. While chasing after the repetition of streams, artists are focusing on creating more viral moments rather than gradual growth. Ever thought about how some songs seem to have a magic spell, and it stays in your mind? It does not happen due to its catchiness but for a mere psychological reason.
It is also called the Mere Exposure Effect, where people develop a knack for things that they are repetitively exposed to. It is a cognitive bias that happens for music as well. Successful music is considered to be the tracks that have the highest visibility in the market, and that attention is gained via playlist placements, TikTok trends, or social media virality through Instagram reels and Facebook posts. It simply happens because people are repetitively listening to it in loops, even when they are not streaming the song. Therefore, modern artists need to repeatedly expose listeners to their songs, which allows them to create viral moments that offer quick exposure. In today’s industry, music artists need engineer visibility through social media campaigns, strategic marketing, and other methods.
• Marketing over Musicality: An Economy of Attention
The Attention Economy is a popular phenomenon in the modern world, where attention is considered to be the most valuable currency since the market is saturated and overloaded with content. This concept has been defined by Herbert Simon, and its effects are widely visible in the music industry as well. It means that gaining attention and maintaining it is as important as making good music. Music artists who are well-versed with the branding approaches, able to intrigue listeners, or capable of leaning into a controversy, are often more successful than those who solely depend on their talent and skills to stand out in the market.
For example, if you consider the meteoric rise of Doja Cat, it would not have been possible without her engagement through social media and modern pop culture. She is definitely talented, but she also knows how to seamlessly blend with the internet humor, meme culture, viral trends, and other online activities that keep our fans engaged. It also helps to build anticipation before the release of her every music project, and thus, it becomes a success along with a grand premiere. Her ability to create such moments online and have complete control over them is something that every music artist should learn from her. In this saturated digital landscape, strategy can work better than just raw skills. Therefore, you are supposed to grab attention as a music artist, or else you can lose the noise or momentum on your musical journey.
• The Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule): How Efforts Work
There is a popular principle known as The Pareto Principle, which suggests that 80% of success can be gained by putting 20% efforts. This is widely visible in the modern music industry, where most successful music artists gain success with a little effort in music-making and a greater effort in promotional approaches. The industry is filled with numerous musicians who have spent years and decades just to hone their skills and to perfect their craft while avoiding all the efforts of marketing, and thus, their talent could not carry their musical career.
This is visible in the musical careers of many independent and emerging artists who did not rely on the major labels. Rapper Russ can be considered a fine example in this case, as this independent music artist could establish a successful music career with his consistent approach to engaging with the listeners. He consistently released new music projects and actively engaged with audiences through social media and other platforms. While he was an average rising rapper, he soon curated a massive audience and fan base by constantly investing time in content creation and audience engagement. That is how he made it to the top without any traditional record deal. Since talent is not enough for communication, you need to find ways to connect with the audience, which drives more exposure and engagement.
• The Halo Effect: How Perception Can Change Reality
The Halo Effect refers to the psychological bias where the perception of people can influence their judgment of aspects that are completely unrelated to the topic. In the case of the music industry, this often happens, and listeners consider artists way more talented than they actually are. With the help of a professional artist's image, branding, and an overall persona, they can shape the perception of the listeners with their presence rather than their musical creations. This can work positively for the artists who are already talented, and building the perception can help them become even more successful music artists.
Pop singer Billie Eilish is a good example in this case, who is best known for her visual aesthetic and attractive branding approaches, which helped her stand out among most other young female pop stars. While most modern artists are comfortable in their skin, Billie stands out with her complexities, baggy and covered outfits, which helped to create a unique musical persona that also aligns with her creation. With her visual storytelling and strong public image, the artist perfectly offered a reflection of her music, or rather, offered the perfect perception of her music, which helped to shape the idea of how people perceive her as a music genius. Evidently, perception matters as much as reality, and artists need to create a strong and memorable brand to captivate more fans.
• The Bandwagon Effect and Algorithmic Favoritism
The modern digital landscape of the music industry has shifted, and success in the industry often leads to more success. The algorithm favors musical content that gained initial momentum. As a result, the online streaming platforms and social media sites often promote what is already performing well in the competitive market. It is not always about the quality of the music but its capability to create momentum among the online users. This situation gives birth to a “cumulative advantage” and viral moments do not happen naturally but more like rise through a ‘manufacturing process’.
A majority of the independent music artists are well aware of it, and they utilize dynamic strategies in order to trigger the algorithms that can help them go viral. Some of the most effective strategies in this modern era are influencer collaborations, ad placements, audience engagement, and other methods. This can help your music appear on the popular platforms, and once it appears, it will be able to reinforce the perceived success, making listeners dig for it even more. The songs that have already gained traction can drive algorithmic push even further, and eventually, people start believing that it was meant to be a hit. However, this is the aftereffect of a snowball effect that is making emerging artists famous in the modern era. Evidently, gaining early traction has become more crucial as early visibility can help your music be part of the top algorithms. It also works like social proof for success.
Concluding Thoughts
You can be an amazing music artist, but that might not be enough to pave a successful music career in this competitive industry, where marketing, branding, and visibility are prioritized more than musical talent. It is time for music artists to look beyond their raw talents and take a strategic approach in their journey and music career to gain more success.
