More than half of independent artists now consider TikTok the most important social media platform for growing their careers, according to a survey by music distributor Ditto Music.
But for emerging Perth musicians, getting noticed in a crowded feed can mean balancing what performs online with how they actually want to present themselves as artists.
Staying authentic in the feed
Brianne Reyes, singer with Perth band Calico City, said the band’s most successful social media posts were often those that felt most natural.
“The things that did well felt truer to how we are as people, instead of what you would expect from a band.”
Reyes said balancing that authenticity with the need for engagement could be difficult.
“There is the toss up of, we want better engagement but still want to do the stuff that we like.”
But Calico City has also found an audience away from social media. Reyes said printed posters helped promote the band’s first single launch for Ghost at FOUR5NINE.
“We printed out a bunch of posters,” Reyes said.
“We sold out that single launch very early on into the sales. So even though people are very much online, printed posters are still a big help for sure.”
The ‘growth mirage’
“It’s easy for us to blame the algorithm,” said artist and marketing strategist, Jimmy Moretta.
“But at the end of the day it’s a curation tool and has always been a fundamental part of sharing creative work.”
Moretta said one consequence of artists competing for attention online could be a “flattening of culture”.
“A lot of things start to look and feel the same.”
When particular formats perform well, Moretta said other creators can be encouraged to reproduce them, contributing to feeds where content increasingly looks alike.
Moretta said social media metrics could also distort how creative success was perceived.
“It’s almost like a growth mirage,” Moretta said.
“Where social media and your presence on social media has become the signal of success.”
Ultimately no matter what route you go down, Moretta said opting into content creation is like “going up against the extremes”.
“Short form videos work really well as one way of growing your art, but you don’t have control over it.”
