Artist Skills in 2022
Artist in this day and age require a litany of skills that artists across generations have cultivated: great songwriting prowess, vocal talent that cuts through the noise, and a palatable charism that draws people inward. Thanks to the advent of social media, digital streaming platforms, and this thing we call the attention economy, an artist must develop other sets of skills.
Chief among these skills is the ability to be prolific. DSP’s seem to reward indie artists who release new songs monthly and, because fans are flooded with photos and videos all the time, fans are more likely to reward artists who feed them new songs regularly as well. Prolificness in 2022 also means posting regularly to the major DSPs like TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. While the artists require time off to meditate on new artistic ideas, the marketplace for music requires an unending trove of new material. These two impulses are at odds with one another. It behooves the artist to find a happy medium.
Beyond prolificness, an artist must have some semblance of how to attract attention on social media. They must understand online trends, memes, and how to create compelling online content that pull focus - this is especially true in the early days of an artist’s career when they must leverage their pull on the internet to build a fanbase. An artist working to move from the bottom rung of the later to the highest rung can benefit from twitter schemes like Lil Nas X or overloading TikTok with irreverent videos like Doja Cat. Being tuned in to social media platforms and using their algorithms to your own advantage is how to win in the social media era.
Another set of skills may help an artist esepecially in the early days of their career: the ability to produce your own music. Inflation is running rampant even in the music industry! In order to keep your input costs low, you can learn to produce your own music. This could help cut the cost of hiring a producer, a mixer, and even a mastering engineer if you refine your skills correctly. This will make pursuing music an independent artist a bit more financially viable! I highly recommend learning this skill.
Dear reader, I am overwhelmed thinking about all of the skills that an artist in 2022 must develop. But, I guess that is just the madness of our era!
