Why Your Band Isn’t Getting The Attention It (Probably) Deserves
One of the things I hear the most, and which is one of the most depressing things that you can hear from an artist is, “No one cares about my band and I don’t know why.” And I get it, that shit sucks and often it can feel like there’s no way out. But this is an important question – if you have good music then shouldn’t it all come together?
Well, no. There’s actually a whole swathe of reasons why people might not care about your band. These boil down to three key points. In brief – you probably aren’t posting enough, you aren’t giving people a reason to care, and scariest of all – maybe your music isn’t that good after all.
You Aren’t Posting Enough
This one drives me fucking bananas. Bands all the time will say, “Oh, no one cares about our music” or “Social media doesn’t work for us” when they only post once a month. How is anyone supposed to find out about you and care if you are never fuckin’ around? Seriously, this should not be complicated.
What you need if you want to grow is what Jesse Cannon calls constant sustained promotion. If you don’t have that, then you are putting yourself at constant risk and essentially guaranteeing that people are not going to see what you have to offer.
You Aren’t Telling Your Story
Here’s another one that drives me up a wall. Bands will post a bunch on social media, but their Instagram captions are just like “Us playing live” or their Tiktoks are just randomly uploaded videos with minimal context. People need to understand who you are if you want them to give a shit.
It really doesn’t need to be complicated. All you need to do is make sure people understand who you are and why you do what you do. This can take the form of long Instagram captions, TikToks where you directly address your audience, or really any manner of tools, but the story needs to be there. If it isn’t then no one will care.
Maybe Your Music Needs Work?
This is a brutal one, but one that I see rear its ugly head time and time again. Sometimes people go for it, but their music still needs work. They don’t want to accept that people just don’t like their songs. They could not like their songs for any number of reasons, but if they don’t have music people care about they’re kind of fucked.
This is why it’s important to have honest friends – or better yet a good producer. You need people to tell you when your songs are too long (the biggest issue with rock bands), your mix flat, or any other number of issues. I know this really sucks to have to admit to yourself, but having that level of honesty and self-awareness is really important.
These are all insights that it can suck to hear, but they are important things. You need to make sure that you are consistently posting and that you are telling a story that people genuinely want to hear. Beyond that, if you realize your music needs improving, then go in and do that. It’s only going to benefit you in the long run!
Matt Bacon (IG: mattbacon666) with Dropout Media is a consultant, A&R man, and journalist specializing in the world of heavy metal. You can read other articles in the series by clicking the “Bacon’s Blog” hashtag below. Matt can also be heard on the Dumb & Dumbest podcast, which he co-hosts with Curtis Dewar of Dewar PR. Matt has contributed over 100 articles to Doomed & Stoned.