Friday, November 18, 2011

Facebook Online Music Irritants

The vast majority of online musicians conduct their business in a professional and consistent manner. This professionalism is in the overall interests of their followers, prospective followers and fellow musicians.

A great deal of online music promotion is down to good administration and timing. Supporters don't want to know every time a musician blows their nose or be reminded countless times in a short period of time that they have a new song completed. There is no need whatsoever to post the same 'news' on sharing sites many times over in a short period of time.

Quite some time ago I decided to block posting on my Facebook profile page. I was noticing bands posting their music site of choice slowly but surely increasing to the point where my posts relating to my music almost vanished amidst a collection of other bands. I have nothing musically against these bands but it came to a head when I posted a link to my ReverbNation page at around 10.pm. The following morning, I found that my page had been 'bombarded' by posts from no less than 16 bands!

I kept a mental note of these bands and things settled down for a while. Over the last few weeks, bands have

now been posting their links under 'comments' on my profile page; the initial posts generally being totally un-related. I also find posts by bands that are composed entirely in capital letters and exclamation marks somewhat off-putting. The bands message is over-ruled by the glaring nature of their posts; sometimes a few seconds apart.

I had no option than do post a pretty direct message regarding this. There are NO "three strikes." One strike and you're gone. Some musicians will be reading this thinking I'm an egotistical bastard. People who know me know otherwise. I noted that I lost about 8 'friends' on Facebook since the post went up. I'm inclined to think that this is more to do with my singular use of the "f-word."

I am not targeting this entry at any band or musician. The culprits know who they are. The professionals know who they are too. I am not taking a holier-than-thou approach either. I've made the majority of these mistakes myself....but I've learned from them.

Music, to my mind, is not a competition. What will be, will be. There are followers of every genre of music out there. Respect this diversity. If handled professionally it is your best asset.


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