LONG NOTE INCOMING AND IM NOT SURE IF I EVEN EXPRESSED MY THOUGHTS VERY WELL
i think the issue with a lot of the internet we’ve made nowadays is that people want to know how to do things, and how to improve themselves and bla bla bla… in short: many people don’t want the art as much as they want the tools to help them feel like they have the capacity to make the art. this isn’t just about substack but the internet on a whole. so of course the How To posts and Listicles end up doing well on Substack.
it’s like why i end up watching a video of how to paint with gouache rather than breaking out my paints and just making something myself.
when it comes to promoting music, tiktok musicbiz influencers always say ‘you need to provide VALUE to your audience’ and i think, ‘isn’t my music value enough?’ but no! i have to teach people something. or give them a life perspective. or show them how to make something.
sometimes it feels like you’re on this providing-value train and the people you’re serving want the value, you get successful providing the value, the how-to’s, the heres-what-to-dos and the handy listicles… but the value is always on the outside of the art, and isn’t the art itself.
i love reading and and because their value lies in their art (their writing). sometimes i get caught in a trap of wanting to write a post which performs well, which is a how-to or an opinion piece about a popular topic, but i have to remember that the only way i’ll grow authentically as an artist is to keep writing the things which develop my voice and artistic practice.
AT THE SAME TIME i love reading and because their guidance leads artists like me to making better work. and they have passions and practices which inform the advice they’re able to give and the spaces they’re able to make. so i’m not just saying that only artistic essays on substack are the way to go, or the ‘best’ type of content.
this is very rambling but if you got to the end of this go listen to my new single Earthquake Room
