Twitter – Less Is More – Let the moaning begin

Whenever an album comes out with a “limited” version including a DVD of the making of the album or a tour diary absolutely nobody cares. Sadly this message hasn’t reached the bands so twitter is full of news that a band has just played in Bournemouth and unsurprisingly it was a great gig or that it is day 6 in the recording studio. If something of actual interest happens at a gig then I’m sure some fans would be interested and similarly the occasional update about a new album being recorded would be welcome but if “in the old days” a band had publicised a fan letter saying how much they had enjoyed a gig it would have been seen as pretty desperate when now every such tweet is retweeted proudly by the band.

Reviews and radio plays have always been important in support to an artist’s music so those sorts of tweets are understandable though even then your mate who has a blog thinking your new album is stunning isn’t too convincing even if still it is clear that many average bands still rely on their mate who has a radio show (a proper one that people actually listen to) or their mate who writes for a newspaper/magazine to do the same thing.

There is a fair argument that for the vast majority of bands their followers are mainly their peers (rather than fans) who may be interested in the minutiae of their lives but that then only highlights the growing problem that bands are too inward looking in their approach and then wonder why people don’t go to gigs / buy their music. Bands have always supported other bands as you would expect but for most small gigs the audience will be made up almost entirely of other bands/bloggers etc. Obviously this is a useful starting point but I am constantly asked by those who recognise this is not ideal how to reach a wider public.

I’ve a VAT return to do but more later.