Vitória R. Cação
Berklee Online
Prologue
To my family and all the 135 fans who funded my career in music so far; to the top 10 Ser Feliz team, who were quick in helping me reach my goals; to instructor Jennifer Caraluzzi, representing all my incredible professors and instructors at Berklee Online; to advisor Molli Lunnen, who would call me every semester on week 6 “just to check how things are going” and see if I needed any support, representing the college staff; to my dear and talented Berklee peers around the world, in special Luiz Augusto Buff and Vivian Aguiar-Buff, who first introduced me to the Berklee path; to the artists and art enthusiast in my network: I hope this capstone will inspire you to shine, and make you proud of this step in my journey.
Abstract
Artists seize the benefits of art due to their very own capacity of creating. Those who are not artists though, are dependent on someone else’s creation to have access to the same benefits, just as patients are dependent on doctors to have the benefits of medicine to their own health. Since we live in societies sharing individual skills in exchange for money or other services, it is important that artists are aware of their social impact on developing culture and promoting dialogues amongst fans and authorities. This understanding empowers artists to plan a career path and succeed in establishing their professional brand in the market.
Keywords: Art, music, society, fans, interaction, artists, music industry, career.
Introduction
For two intense, most delightful years, I had the privilege of attending Berklee Online’s Bachelor of Arts in Music Business degree program. I had many opportunities to learn from industry leaders, reflect on my values and social impact as an artist, what it means to develop my artistry and make powerful music, how to measure success and develop a career path with a “fans first” mentality, the importance of developing a personal brand, how to explore diverse revenue streams as an artist or industry player, and much more. I have been impacted and had my career impacted in many ways.
At the same time, I have watched artists struggle and artists succeed in developing their careers themselves. Some invested in content production for social media and I watched as they built three thousand, one hundred thousand, even one million people fanbases. Others signed with independent labels and invested in high quality video clips, keeping social media minimalist and building an audience live, selling out one venue after another. Another group kept trying but did not see much change and eventually started new businesses in other industries.
This capstone is my contribution to artists and fans who may not have had the opportunities I did. It is a summary of the themes that impacted me the most during my journey in terms of artistry and career development, including my experience with crowdfunding campaigns and meaningful insights from some of the courses I took. The internet has made the world smaller, but it does not mean that we do not need each other anymore. On the contrary. We will see how including the fans in the “Do It Yourself” process, making it a “Do It Ourselves”, empowers artists to develop their best selves and shape society through art.
Art
In Berklee’s Developing Your Artistry course, we were asked to define art and our sense of aesthetics. According to the Oxford Languages dictionary, the term Aesthetics is defined as “the branch of philosophy that deals with the principles of beauty and artistic taste”. It developed from the Greek root “aisthesthai”, meaning “to perceive”, and included “senses” and “beauty” in German, in the mid 18th century, being adopted into English in the 19th century.
Art and aesthetics would be, then, influenced by each one’s unique perception, while music would be one of the many art forms that allows us to perceive reality through our senses, judging beauty for ourselves. The definitions around art in Aristotle’s “The Poetics” and Tolstoy’s “What is art?” were also covered in the course, and here is what I have found to be the most amazing concepts to me:
Aristotle’s catharsis
“Poetry is finer and more philosophical than history; for poetry expresses the universal, and history only the particular.”
Although the ancient Greek philosopher was covering mostly poetry, we can apply his concepts and thoughts to music with no loss. As stated in the course’s first lesson: “Catharsis is a kind of emotional purging and the best art, according to Aristotle, provides the space for the audience to have a cathartic experience.” So we would be able to feel “drained and purged” by identifying with characters in any art form, such as a book or a play, due to the obstacles they eventually face. As musicians, we can provoke this cathartic experience and the same results with any musical experience that leads the audience to “weep or feel great joy.”
The course’s author, professor Camille Colatosti, summarizes Aristotle’s aesthetics in the sentences “art imitates reality in order to teach us something about our world” and “the best art not only has an instructive purpose but an emotional one because it provides us with an opportunity for emotional purging or catharsis by experiencing what the characters are experiencing.”
Tolstoy’s true art
“The receiver of true artistic impression is so united to the artist that he feels as if the work were his own and not someone else’s—as if what it expresses were just what he had long been wishing to express.”
While Aristotle’s definition on art relies greatly on measurable rules, tools and forms, Leo Tolstoy, one of the greatest and most influential writers in the world, explores the differentiation of “true art” from “counterfeit art”. By analyzing its emotional authenticity for the author, as well as the cathartic effect on the observer, the author writes that “(…) however poetical, realistic, effectful, or interesting a work may be, it is not a work of art if it does not evoke that feeling (…) of joy, and of spiritual union with another (the author) and with others (those who are also infected by it).”
Professor Colastosti summarizes Tolstoy’s definition of art as “sincerity in art of emotional expression and communication.” It would be more of a tool to communicate real feelings than one to explore beauty in certain ways, an activity as important as speech. In his words, “one man laughs, and another who hears becomes merry. (…) if people lacked this capacity to receive the thoughts conceived by the men who preceded them, and to pass on to others their own thoughts, men would be like wild beasts.”
Art in the 21st century
How can we apply these concepts? If we explore Aristotle’s concept of catharsis, and Tolstoy’s concept of “true art” in our own artistic expression as musicians in the 21st century, the desired outcome would be to create songs and musical performances that are true to our feelings (or how we would imagine to feel), while establishing a communication with audiences both online or live, offering them our bests so they can achieve the benefits of a cathartic experience.
Artist and audience connect through different art forms as well, on physical, intellectual, and emotional levels. When developing a music concert, for example, we can keep in mind the possibilities of integrating poetry, dance, visual elements, technology and online platforms to increase the means of expression, reception, and cathartic potential of our art.
Society
The popular use of the internet from 1997 on has significantly diminished physical boundaries. Online portfolios and social media platforms have made it easier to share, consume, and establish dialogues. The emotional connection between artist, creation, and audience still happens, once each of them can still experience cathartic moments. Now we are even able to leave comments, reply to each other, and share online when interacting with an art piece.
Through individual expositions to the same artist’s creation, be it a song, be it a written manifesto at a video’s description, dialogues are established around the artist, and its consequences for society are as good as it could have been prior to 1997. In the case of the creation being a song, song lyric, live or recorded music experience, it would align with what professor John P. Kellogg called a “powerful product”, in the course Music Business 101: An art form that fulfills its job greatly, taking you and your audience beyond the initial state where you found yourselves as artist and potential fans.
On this topic, I would like to share with you a few personal studies I did during the program, that covered how music can shape society’s routine and interaction in real time:
Av. Paulista
One of the assignments in the course Music Venue Management asked students to visit a public place where people interacted with music, and just observe, taking notes of anything interesting in their own judgment. Living in São Paulo, I went to the famous Av. Paulista, an avenue that temporarily closes for automobile traffic on Sundays until 5pm, turning the streets into a public spectacle.
Along all of its 2.5 kilometers, you can find an enormous variety of artistic manifestations. In terms of music, it goes from amateurs to hired professionals, from solo acts to performing groups, using improvised stages to full P.A. systems in the streets. Bands playing every music genre, and even a DJ at McDonalds’ balcony. Some of the acts are promoted by shopping malls, some actually hired a private P.A. station for about R$200,00 an hour (U$40.00), gathered their audience, and recorded a free concert at such a meaningful place.
Interviewing a few people, I learned that it is not uncommon that they drive from other cities bringing their family just to spend the afternoon walking around. Vendors take advantage of the audiences around musicians, and sell mostly sodas, water bottles, and water in coconuts. Surprisingly enough, a few police officers clarified that none of that was legal or regulated by the government, and their shift consisted in only watching out for violence and people’s safety.
Blue Note
As stated in the course, music venues play a very important role in society. I was mesmerized to see it in action in the heart of São Paulo. I had the pleasure to interview Pedro Xavier, Blue Note São Paulo’s current operations director, and sub manager Fernando Aquino. Beyond keeping the excellence of music presentations and making sure that there were opportunities for new acts, “the blue hearted venue” also emphasized its social role when hiring their team, giving preference to candidates from varied backgrounds.
Aquino was comfortable sharing his experience as a transgender man, and how he felt embraced by the “blue heart family” during his transition. In his words: “It was a great challenge at first, considering that we have more senior clients, from different economic classes. We had to train the whole team to receive trans people, and create ways that everyone would feel comfortable. (…) It is really cool now when we see these more serious clients interacting with ‘diverse people’, and both realize that what matters is that we all share a great musical experience.”
Xavier quotes Gisele Gutierrez, former operations director, highlighting the culture they inherited from her: “A dream only becomes reality when it is dreamed together. We can break these social barriers with good hospitality and a good smile, no matter the color, belief, race, gender… a smile makes everyone embrace it.”
Music festivals
There are many examples of how music festivals act as social catalyzers and representations of a generation’s way of thinking: We had Woodstock in 1969, promoting “3 Days of Peace & Music”; Live Aid in 1985, raising funds for the famine crisis in Africa; Rock in Rio’s Espaço Favela inauguration in 2019, a new stage to promote and debate the music made at peripheral communities.
On a local scale, I volunteer at SONORA Festival for Women Songwriters in Bauru, a 380,000 habitants, young and culturally rich city. The festival is part of an international network, SONORA, that raises the visibility of professional women in the music industry. It has been stimulating and instructing new artists on how to start careers since 2016, offering them the opportunity to perform professionally and have high quality audiovisual material made during the festival. It was actually after producing one edition that I decided to apply to Berklee.
SONORA also gave me the opportunity to get to know Monique Dardenne (WME cofounder) and Carol de Amar (A Macaco cofounder) at Casa SONORA residency. Dardenne shared how WME’s initiative provoked Lollapaloza’s 2021 lineup, replacing all the male artists with female artists at the same career size and popularity. Amar shared how Sarará Festival, a reference in inclusion and accessibility, works with transgender and elderly staff, how passionate they are to be included, and the many positive impacts of this initiative.
How does all of that relate to you? Well, it is all about music! Humans have the need for belonging, understanding and expressing their feelings. All of these beautiful events and lucrative industries revolve around artists and the connection between art and audience. You should know that, and you should use that when developing your career.
Fans
The first lesson I want to share with you that I have learned about fans, is that family and friends are important first supporters, but they may or may not be your fans. Understanding this will help you develop a healthier relationship with yourself and your audience, especially one that will support you and your career. Your fans are the people that will experience cathartic moments when they get in touch with your true art, and naturally engage with you as an artist.
Maybe the reason why you feel like you need to beg for people to come see you playing live, or pre save your next song release because it would help your band so much, is just that you have not found your audience yet. Berklee Online has an incredible, one minute video on Youtube titled “Finding Your Audience” that I always watch whenever I need to remind myself of that. In 40 seconds, you are given the following exercise:
Think of an artist with whom you really engage as a fan, and write a few keywords that “come to mind when you think about who they are and what they represent to you”. Then, replace the artist’s name with yours, because these keywords are “the qualities and the values that match how you see yourself or who you aspire to be, (…) your potential reflected back to you”. It was mind blowing when I first tried it. I hope you will understand by doing this exercise, that your actual fans will naturally connect with you, because they relate with the same keywords, with you, and with what you share, just like you do with the artists you admire.
Fans first
The topics we saw so far were meant to help you strengthen your self-esteem as an artist. After being happy with what you do and why, it is time to look at who you do that for, otherwise music will just be an expensive hobby. The truth is, there are different levels of fans and fan engagement, communication, consumption, and support. A fan can be someone who listens to your songs from time to time. A super fan is more likely to listen to your songs on replay, travel long distances with other fans to watch you play live, talk about you in their social circles, and use your songs in their social media posts without you asking them to.
The most impactful concepts to me, covered in Music Marketing 101 and Modern Music Marketing courses, were what touchpoints are (the sum of every permission-based interaction point you have with your fans), how to measure and use them in your career, and how to approach it with a “fans first mentality”. In order to “let fans support you”, it is important to think like a fan, and understand how to create different levels of interaction with your art. It will be extremely helpful in developing your career, if you serve the super fan with creative merchandising items, for example, and unique experiences beyond concert tickets, to develop a sense of belonging in the fan club “family”.
Taylor Swift
It is impossible to mention fans in 2024 without bringing Taylor Swift to the table. At Berklee Online, there was not a single week when at least one of the courses or live classes did not mention her, from Music Business Law for Artists to Creative Writing live classes. Whether you consider yourself to be a “Swiftie” or not, dr. Swift is known to have built a very dedicated fanbase. In interviews, she credits her fans for having supported her emotionally in times of bad media exposure, and always thanks the fans for making her a multiple times, multiple prizes awarded, artist and woman of the decade, and a billionaire during her The Eras Tour.
I want to bring your attention to a detail related to the strong “fans first” mentality in her speeches. In one of her firsts national radio interviews, teenager Swift shared her experience at a country artist LeAnn Rimes’ concert, at the age of 8. In her words: “I was like, holding up this huge banner in the front row saying ‘I love you LeAnn’ like a stalker, and I had sent her all these letters, this package of like, drawings and pictures of me, and stuff to her hotel room the night before. (…) When she was going around shaking hands with people in the audience, she looked down and I was like ‘LeAnn, did you get my letters?’ and she goes ‘I sure did, Taylor'”. As a reflection of that moment, and how she felt as a fan, Taylor shared in the same interview that she would sign autographs for as long as she could—sometimes for three to four hours straight.
The artist relies on more than truthful lyrics to provoke cathartic experiences, but also in a very relatable personality to connect with an audience that mirrors herself as a fan. Another example is the way Swifties are always looking for easter eggs. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Taylor explains: “It’s just been really fun to kind of expand the musical experience past just listening to a song. (…) I also want people to be watching the music video and ‘what’s that thing in the background and what is that song playing underneath there, and is there a reason she said that in french?'” That comes from Swift’s own interest in forensics: “(…) figuring out how things happen and putting situations together. It is something I am really passionate about”, said Taylor in a Country Weekly Magazine’s interview, ten years prior.
The fan experience
Being a fan of someone goes beyond just listening to their music. As Tolstoy wrote, it includes sharing experiences with other people that are, like us, impacted by the same art pieces. For example, if I got us tickets to a new artist’s concert, what would we probably do? Learn the lyrics so we will not be so lost in the audience. By singing along with the crowd, we have the feeling that we belong and enjoy the whole experience being part of it.
In Songwriting: Writing Hit Songs and Commercial Songwriting Techniques courses, we learned incredible tools to help increase the fan experience and favor cathartic moments. Without ever compromising your artistry, it is possible to explore harmony, melody development, prosody and repetition to favor a powerful song. In the same way, we can think about fans that go through the same things that we may be going through. Fans during the covid 19 pandemic, for example, or who struggle with mental health, need artists like Berklee former student ROSIE and her powerful approach on mental health awareness. Fans like you, need artists like you.
Support
Fans engage with artists to have the benefits of art—they use your art to feel better, connect with themselves and others. But developing a career in music demands constant investment of time and money. How does your relationship with your fans translate into developing a sustainable career for you? How can you understand them, and better serve them, as an artist trying to develop a sustainable career in the long run?
In the course Music Business 101, we learned about peer-to-peer file sharing applications launched in 1999, and how this technology allowed people to share mp3 files online for free.
The music industry suffered a major impact on CD sales, and people may have got used to not paying for music. iTunes’ launch in 2003 was the beginning of what we know today as streaming applications, such as Spotify and Youtube Music, but when it comes to royalty payment rates, online platforms are still in the process of being fairly regulated. While it is extremely important that you learn about copyright and your rights as a copyright owner, it is also important to pay attention to alternative revenue streams and support, at least until music alone starts to bring you a significant return.
Know your audience
In the course Modern Music Marketing, we saw that we can foresee approximately how much a fan is probably going to spend in terms of time and money with their favorite artists, and for how long in their lives, before they have other priorities or face decisive life changing phases, such as having kids. A K-pop die-hard fan, alpha generation teenager, for example, will have different consumption habits as a rock core, baby boomer in their fifties.
One way to do that is taking yourself as your fan persona, and calculating how much that would be for your career: Do you engage in fan club activities? How many times do you buy concert tickets per year? How much do you spend on merchandising collections? For how long do you believe you will be able to keep this consumption level before life demands other priorities from you, and how much will it change?
Also keep in mind that your consumption and engagement as a fan varies from artist to artist, so your fans and super fans will behave differently as well. While we may not know this data with high accuracy on our own, it is always important to keep that in mind when developing our career on our own, then with a close friends and fans team (the “Do It Ourselves” phase), with a professional manager, or when hiring a public relations agency.
Letting fans be part of it
The crowdfunding record breaker and artist Amanda Palmer gives great advice in her TED Talks episode: fans want to be part of it, you just need to ask. Never underestimate the power of music. Remember that, for non artists, artists are the professionals in society that provide the benefits of having cathartic moments and connecting with themselves, with artists and others, to feel like they belong. The most passionate fans will actually pay to be part of your career, as happens in crowdfunding campaigns—or fan fundings, as I rather call them.
You may not have someone in your team to actively book you concerts around the country, but you can ask super fans to recommend you the best music venue in their cities where they would like to watch you playing live. When your numbers on online platforms and streaming applications tell you that you may sell out there, approaching the houses’ promoter will be much more interesting for you, for the venues, and for the fans.
Personal experience
- Offering varied advertisement opportunities
People gather around music. Financing SONORA Festival editions 1 to 5 in Bauru relied heavily on that. The volunteers were women from different backgrounds, most of them out of the music industry, but all of them completely in love with our mission. Just like the vendors in Av. Paulista, Bauru’s local entrepreneurs and small business owners also saw our festival as a great opportunity to be exposed to our audience. From that, we were able to approach service providers that would volunteer as well, diminishing our main costs, and offer paid advertising opportunities to cover what could not be done for free. These opportunities ranged from including logos in our merchandising items, publications in our social media profiles, and small institutional videos between acts in the festival’s live transmission.
- Offering limited participation slots
Limiting partnership slots is important for two main reasons: first, you keep the quality of your work, since you want your ads to be effective without getting to the point of bothering your audience with too much propaganda; second, you create authority and a sense or urgency related to your brand, once a well done job will retain partners for your next initiatives. If you have a clear goal for your finances, treat your supporters as fans and do not go beyond what you really need without justifying or compensating every party involved in it.
- Give names their real importance
As the timeless, bestseller author Dale Carnegie wrote: “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” A huge part of the super fan experience is to feel seen and have their efforts recognized. If you want fans and brands to support you in your career, add their names to your story! I keep a list of the 135 supporters of my CD’s fan funding campaign, a list of the 15 companies that have supported our music festival during the covid19 pandemic, and a list of the ten first merchandising kit buyers from when I funded my Audiovisual Production Capstone project.
Love may not pay the bills alone, but it fulfills the human heart, and this can be just what incredible people and brands around you need right now. Let them be part of it and share your passion for music with them, you may receive just what you needed in return.
Research
The best way to know our audience is by asking them. I invited 214 of my most engaged fans to be part of my capstone, by asking them who self-identified as an art fan, a professional artist, or somewhere in between. 52 of them also shared their ideas on what art and artists mean in their lives, how their hobbies help them enjoy the benefits of art, or how they perceive their future in the industry, as follows:
Fans were asked: What is the role of art and artists in your life?
17% of the participants self-identified as art fans. Their answers revolved around feelings of relief, inspiration, motivation, and comfort, being able to identify their own feelings, and actually express themselves in ways they did not know how to do on their own. They manifested the wish to develop an artistic hobby some time, defining art as fundamental, the time to switch off of all things and just enjoy the moment, the awakening of feelings and new ideas, what gives life purpose, and artists as the people who “make them believe that dreams are necessary.”
Artists for hobby were asked: What, why, and for what do you do what you do?
37% of the participants self-identified as artists for hobby (15%), or were reluctant to apply the term “artist” to themselves, but admitted to be creatively active in some way (22%). The first group expressed light feelings and objectives such as relaxing, self-expression, love, and self-awareness as the reason why they considered themselves active creators. Some of them even mentioned the wish to become professional artists one day, but as a consequence of “running a marathon, one step at a time, instead of trying to win a 100 meters race”, naming their path “more beautiful and consistent that way.”
In contrast, the second group expressed the most passionate and extreme opinions, such as not being able to live without some level of artistic activity in their lives, or giving up on their artistic dreams, but still relying on art to manage their anxiety levels. Some of them were unsure or even negative about their own artistic potential, and regretted not being professional due to the uncertainties of the industry and poor salaries, labeling art as “an arduous task and a pleasure at the same time”.
Professional artists were asked: How do you feel about self-fulfillment and your future?
Leading the pool, 46% of participants self-identified as professional artists. They gave the most rational answers, realizing the importance of studying, creating their own demand, and looking out for the best opportunities to develop their careers. The feelings mentioned ranged from happy, recognized, satisfied, belonging and privileged, to awful and “financially incertain but working to change it”, some of them mentioning government cultural funding policies, and defining the artistic career as “a hard challenge but with enormous chances of self-realization.”
You
I believe this is the most important part of this project. Declaring to be an independent, professional artist depends on yourself and your own parameters only. Taking concrete actions towards building a career, on the other hand, and deciding at which point it can be considered a success, can be a great challenge. Even when it seems like all the answers are available online, it is not as simple as asking Chat GPT what you should do next. Only you know how exciting, emotionally demanding, realistic, draining, fulfilling, possible, and terrifying at the same time it would be for you to do what it takes, for as long as you need, until you start seeing results.
While in years prior to the internet, signing with major labels was the path to fund and develop a career in music, now artists have direct access to the fan’s feed, but are also expected to produce tons of free promotional content, run their careers from zero, figure out mysterious algorithms and trends that are always changing, keep boundaries while sharing lots of their private life in the name of authenticity, pay all the bills, and keep themselves sane and up to date with healthy habits.
Uniqueness
I will say it again: Fans like you, need artists like you. In the course Creative Writing, professor Pat Pattison proposes daily exercises to stimulate “writing from the senses”, and explore metaphors that come from our individual experiences. With that, you get pieces that could not have been crafted by anyone else, exactly because one person never perceives the world paying attention to the same details as another. It means that you are not as unique to the point of being the only one in the world to experience your emotions, but when you are an artist, you are the one who can turn it into a comprehensible, unique art piece.
Artists are people like you, sensitive, maybe a little messy, maybe struggling to keep a study discipline, just like lawyers tend to be avid readers, and programmers are tech savvy and more detail oriented. In the book The Artist’s Way, author Julia Cameron proposes the “morning pages” exercise: writing three pages every morning without judgment, to stimulate your inner artist and stop holding creativity back. You have a unique way of perceiving life, just trust it.
Remember the fans
You do not have to do it all alone. The secret here is to invite the right people to join you in this incredible, deep, social activity. You, through the eyes of the fans, are the person who can find the words they need. Each individual has its talent and contribution to give, so invite them to contribute where they want to, and you will be turning your “Do It Yourself” career into a stronger “Do It Ourselves” one. There are many stories of friendships that started in fan club activities, couples that met in concerts, and people who proudly say “music saved my life”.
Also, exploring multiple art forms and platforms will not only enrich the fan experience, but bring your art beyond the stage into people’s lives (on stage, backstage, and social media). Experimenting with dancing, visual elements, poetry, guest performers, different instruments, techniques and music styles may bring your inner child back to life and relieve a few irrational fears that may be blocking you right now. Do not worry, this is a moment to enjoy yourself. Try thinking that you do not have to share what you feel is not ready (or never will) to be shared.
Don’t be so hard on yourself
In the Brazilian comedy An Almost Perfect Uncle, Uncle Tony (Marcus Majella) says the unexpected phrase “Is it something that dies?” when encouraging his nephew to play soccer inside the house. The unusual advice turned into a tool for the kids to decide on their own whenever they wanted to do something. Kids may have less responsibilities and preoccupations as artists deciding their professional careers, but sometimes, anxiety and inner thoughts can make reality seem more dangerous than it actually is. Bringing your expectations to reality, if there is nothing to lose, if there is no real danger waiting for you, why not give it a try?
Quoting Tolstoy one more time: “To value a work of art by the degree of its realism, by the accuracy of the details reproduced, is as strange as to judge of the nutritive quality of food by its external appearance.” The musical art, according to him, “(…) by its nature has an immediate physiological action on the nerves.” Of course realism has its fascinating effect on its audience, the point here is to not freeze due to excessive inner criticism. Aiming to express yourself the best way you can at the moment, is enough to offer the audience cathartic experiences at live concerts, streaming music applications, when buying merchandising items, and enjoying opportunities to play a role in supporting your artistry.
Conclusion
When the moments of stress and doubt come, I want you to remember how grateful fans are that artists share the benefits of art with them, and how much of society revolves around it. Try to remember Tolstoy’s definitions of true art as creations that are true to the artist’s feelings. Are you feeling lost? Try talking with your fans and making art about it. If you ever decide to share it with your audience, know that every person that eventually gets exposed to your creation will have a chance to understand themselves better, purge, connect, and talk about feeling lost too. Remember Aristotle’s definition of catharsis, and my effort to show you how important art is to society and individuals in it.
Self-awareness
It is not about world domination, it is about sharing your experiences in a way that is comprehensible to others, so they can understand themselves better, feel heard and like they belong. It is about crafting your artistry through your whole life, so it will grow with you. It is about feeling like you are playing an important role in society, because you are. You are an artist. You have a universal story to tell in a unique way, the ability, and a sort of inner urge to do it. Someone has to do it anyway, there is nothing in the world saying that it can not be done by you.
Study the industry
You are convinced of your role as an artist and feel ready to embrace your destiny, but wanting alone will not make it tangible. You need to put in the work. In times where the internet brings you closer to people and knowledge, it is your responsibility to look out for opportunities to learn, and take advantage of it. Feed your possibilities, experiment with the options, try new things, allow yourself to make mistakes if you have to.
Letting fans support you
Now that we have considered multiple levels of fan engagement, and the possible interactions between artist and fans, it is time to find your audience. Understand what you have to offer and how it benefits you in the first place. Your fans are out there, waiting for you to appear in their feed, in their city, in a friend’s algorithmic playlist.
Then, identify the parts of your career and personality that you feel that need support, and that you feel comfortable asking for help with. Be creative with your options to build a team of fans around it, for example starting a contest for the best art cover to be used in your next release, setting sales or number of streaming goals, and making it something exciting for your audience to be part of. Invest in becoming a better leader, if you have to.
Do you believe that the next step in your career is running a fan funding campaign? Get ready to do it together. Maybe you can start with small numbers, until you are confident to aim for higher goals, so your fanbase self-confidence can grow with yours. Do you see an opportunity to craft a merchandising collection that will support your message and revenue streams? Find the right suppliers and share the news! Letting fans support you will not only improve your chances of developing a successful career in music, but also make the process more realistic and fun.
References
Colatosti, C. (2002). Developing your artistry, Lesson 1. Berklee Online. Retrievable July 1, 2022, from https://online.berklee.edu/courses/developing-your-artistry
Aristotle, (1974). The poetics of Aristotle, translated to English by Butcher, S.H. The Gutenberg Project. Retrieved May 6, 2024, from https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1974/1974-h/1974-h.htm
Tolstoy, L. (1897). What is art? Standard Ebooks. Retrieved March 1, 2024, from https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/leo-tolstoy/what-is-art/aylmer-maude
Tolstoy, L. (1897). What is art? Archive. Retrieved March 1, 2024, from https://archive.org/details/whatisart00tolsuoft/page/111/mode/1up?q=counterfeit
Kellogg, J. P. (2002). Music Business 101, Lesson 1. Berklee Online. Retrievable April 4, 2022, from https://online.berklee.edu/courses/music-business-101
Creamer, M. (2002). Music Venue Management. Berklee Online. Retrievable June 28, 2022, from https://online.berklee.edu/courses/music-venue-management
About Blue Note. (2024). Blue Note São Paulo. Available on March 1, 2024, at https://bluenotesp.com/sobre
Woodstock, (1969). Retrievable March 13, 2024, from https://www.woodstock.com/lineup/
Live Aid 1985: How it all happened. BBC UK. Retrieved March 3, 2024, from https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/thelive8event/liveaid/history.shtml
O Som dos Morros (2019). UOL Entretenimento. Retrievable March 3, 2024, from https://entretenimento.uol.com.br/reportagens-especiais/espaco-favela-no-rock-in-rio-2019/#cover
SONORA, (2023). Sonora Festival Bauru. Vitoria Cacao. Retrievable March 3, 2024, from https://vitoriacacao.com/sonora/
Bate-papo com Monique Dardenne, (2023). CASA SONORA, SONORA Internacional. Retrievable August 11, 2023, at 53’00” from https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwGSQhPICSz/?igsh=Nm51ZTc0Y21zMm1k
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Bate-papo com Carol de Amar, (2023). CARA SONORA, SONORA International. Retrievable August 11, 2023, at 27’00” from https://www.instagram.com/reel/CwDtQRSISEn/?igsh=anl0MjB6djZjeGVs
Finding Your Audience, (2022). Berklee Online Youtube Channel. Retrievable March 4, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp9o6-xPdWQ
King, M. (2002). Music Marketing 101. Berklee Online. Retrievable April 4, 2022, from https://online.berklee.edu/courses/music-marketing-101
King, M. (2002). Modern Music Marketing: Music Promotion, Fan Relationships, and Direct-to-Fan Strategies. Berklee Online. Retrievable April 3, 2023, from https://online.berklee.edu/courses/modern-music-marketing
Lovely, V. (2002). Music Business Law For Artists. Berklee Online. Retrievable April 3, 2023, from https://online.berklee.edu/courses/music-business-law-for-artists
Pattison, P. (2002). Creative Writing: Finding Your Voice. Berklee Online. Retrievable April 4, 2022, from https://online.berklee.edu/courses/creative-writing-finding-your-voice
Dodds, E. (2024) Taylor Swift awards: All the biggest accolades she’s won over the years. Planet Radio. Retrievable March 4, 2024, from https://planetradio.co.uk/hits-radio/entertainment/music/taylor-swift-awards/
Taylor Swift Age 16 First National Radio Interview (2006). Taylor Music Youtube Channel. Retrievable March 4, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9I8ua1EcW4
Taylor Swift’s Full Interview with Ellen, (2020). The Ellen Show Youtube Channel. (6’20”-7’20”) Retrievable March 4, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=on4bHNdUm-I
Wheikes (2023). What Taylor Swift would be doing if she wasn’t a Music Star. Reddit. Retrievable March 4, 2024, from https://www.reddit.com/r/TaylorSwift/comments/1334yet/what_taylor_swift_would_be
Kachulis, J. (2002). Songwriting: Writing Hit Songs. Berklee Online. Retrievable April 4, 2022, from https://online.berklee.edu/courses/songwriting-writing-hit-songs
Stolpe, A. (2002). Commercial Songwriting Techniques. Berklee Online. Retrievable September 18, 2022, from https://online.berklee.edu/courses/commercial-songwriting-techniques
About ROSIE. (2024). ROSIE Bio. ROSIE. Available on March 4, 2024, at https://www.rosiemusicofficial.com/about
Sequeira, N. (2003). Apple Launches the iTunes Music Store. Apple’s News Room. Retrievable March 5, 2024, from https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/04/28Apple-Launches-the-iTunes-Music-Store/
Palmer, A. (2013). The art of asking. TED Talks. Available March 5, 2024, at https://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking?language=en
Carnegie, D. (1936). How to win friends and influence people. Chapter 6. Ed. Gallery Books. Available March 5, 2024, at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4865.How_to_Win_Friends
Cameron, J. (1992). The Artist’s Way. Available March 5, 2024, at https://juliacameronlive.com/the-artists-way/
An Almost Perfect Uncle. (2017). Globo Filmes. Retrievable March 6, 2024, from https://globofilmes.globo.com/filmografia/comedia/filme/um-tio-quase-perfeito.ghtml