Climbing Your Way Out of Obscurity as an Artist

by David Andrew Wiebe | Nov 17, 2021 | Creativity

Nobody would know the best guitarist in the world if they didn’t network and market themselves.

It seems unfair. It seems unjust.

And yet, the part that’s often overlooked by artists is just how fun marketing can be.

I get that you’d rather hand it off to someone else. Hope they know what your music is about. Pray that they know the best way to promote it.

But most of the time, it doesn’t work out that way. Just ask John Oszajca.

The best person to promote your music is you! Because you know what it’s about, why it matters, who you were influenced by, and all the subtleties that make your music what it is.

So often, we rely on others (like reviewers) to weave a word picture so beautiful and so clear that it makes the job of marketing our music a triviality.

And sometimes that happens, but it’s quite unrealistic to expect it.

See, the person most qualified, the person most in tune with who you are and what your music is about is you. And that makes you the best person to describe, explain, share, and promote your music.

Yes, hopefully you will collect quotes and testimonials, get played on the most prominent of radio stations and playlists, get booked at the premier music venues in your town, and so on. And hopefully you’ll remember to put all that back into your marketing engine to generate a fresh bundle of opportunity.

But it’s got to start with you. You’ve got to be your biggest fan. And that’s the toughest job you have, to keep your energy, stay ignited, and bring it with you everywhere you go.

I remember when I would sit around a dinner table with friends sneaking in a sentence about how great I was ever so often, provoking laughter in the process.

It’s not about being arrogant. It’s about realizing that being down of yourself is mostly a losing formula, unless the specific type of emo or shoegaze act, you’re a part of requires it of you. And then it’s just about playing a part like an actor plays a role.

You’ve still got to be your biggest cheerleader though!

Figuring out what you’re about is sometimes the hard part. But there’s still plenty of time to discover that in this guide.

Once you’ve uncovered your identity, marketing gets so much easier. Because your identity informs your marketing!

Figuring out who you’re appealing to, where they like to hang out online, what blogs they read, throwing your hooks in the water to grab their attention – that’s the fun part, and anyone can learn to do it!

So, make friends with marketing. Your marketing hat looks good on you.