I've finally got back into the music game...
Either as a newbie or a long standing reader, I welcome you to my latest blog post! Wooooo! This is a place where I document my journey through the music industry (and life in general) and in case you don't know me (helloooooooo), I am Silvre, a female singer and environmentalist and I aim to be as honest and authentic as possible whilst discussing matters close to my heart! If any topics discussed below are important to you or something you think is a load of bollocks, please share and let me know! I'm always keen to hear what you SEXY BUNCH think!! LET'S GET TO IT!!!!
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MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC
I've had such an AMAZING month with regards to music and it has been truly wonderful getting back into the rhythm of it all!! After taking a bit of a back seat (or rather me just not having the DAM TIME to do anything about it), music is now top of my agenda!!! Which means ....... OOOHHH HELLO SOCIAL MEDIA!!! (cue eye roll!)
One of the struggles of being an independent artist is that you don't have the support of a major label, who have the weight, resources and budgets to throw at publicity, marketing, playlist placements and everything else inbetween!! You have to do this AAAALLLLL YOURSELF!!! The plus side to this is that you have complete control of your creative output, which arguably is the most important thing!! The downside is that you have (as do most independent artists) ZERO BUDGET to invest in promotion! And without promotion, not many people will hear your music!! Did you know that nearly 60,000 tracks are uploaded to Spotify EVERY FUCKING DAY!!! I mean, if one of those tracks are from Rihanna or Lizzo, even I'm not gona be listening to my own track!! hahahaha *laugh cry*
In the past, I have been super fortunate to have budget to spend on promotion, working with a PR agency to obtain radio plays, playlist placement and blog reviews/features!! AND IT WORKED!!! Call Me What You Want has had just under 40k streams, was aired on 15 radio stations and featured across a handful of blogs!! THAT. IS. AWESOME!! ............ But it cost me a small fortune (£1,800 to be precise)!!! And to put context behind this, I've made just over £45 in revenue from streaming!! Now, I'm all for investing in the dream like it's a business, but this isn't sustainable!! To the point where I ABSOLUTELY DON'T have the budget for promotion like this anymore!! And what's even more annoying is that my second EP is EVEN BETTER THAN THE FIRST!! So I kind of feel people should give it a listen!! (shameless plug)
My over arching point is that this shit it tough and this is where social media comes in as it is an amazing and FREE way to reach new fans!! The biggest issues is that I truly FUCKING HATE social media! LOL!! The follow for a follow dance is ridiculous, unfollowing people you have met in person to keep your 'Following' number down is soul-destroying and don't get me started on filters and portraying perfection! I mean, if this was the description on their adverts, I don't think many people would sign up!! You then throw mental health into the mix and you have A LOVELY LONG LIST of why I (and many others) hate social media!! But, right now, it is essential to promoting music! So, you'll be seeing me much more on social media over the release of my EP! (until I bugger off on our honeymoon in July!)
Which is a lovely segway to the release of 'VICE', which dropped yesterday! Hopefully some of you will have taken advantage of the presale early this week, but if not, please give it a listen via your fav streaming platform, or if you really wana support an independent artist, head to the link below to buy the actual track!!
My final point about this whole rant is that I'm not having a massive moan, but sharing the realities of what the music industry looks like and how musicians make (or don't make) money! The whole purpose of my musical project, aside from making music, is to shine a light on the industry and how FUCKED UP it is! With mental health problems on the rise, showing the negative sides of an otherwise glamourised industry is what I am here for!!!
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PERSONAL FUNTIMES
May has been an incredible month of both excitement and chilling!! We had a wonderful mini-moon in the Cotswold's, which felt amazing after the intensity of the wedding came to an end! Alongside this we made our own Dirty Burgers at home, watched the sunset whilst riding a steam train, drank beer, drove a Morgan and generally basked in the sun! All in all, a pretty banging month!! Ooooh and then we wrapped it all up with a night out in Lincoln!! BOOOOM!! TEQUILA ROSE ANYONE!!!!
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LAST WORD
This month's Last Word is gona be a short one as I've already waffled my arse off enough!!! I've OBVIOUSLY mentioned how much I hate social media, but it HAS to be a part of my music promotion game - which is fine, but I have had to find the good in them all!! Yes there is a HELL OF A LOT of shit out there, but you have to hunt out the good stuff!! I did a BRUTAL tidy up of my social media accounts a few weeks ago and basically unfollowed any negative or bullshit accounts!! It was amazing and my feeds soon became a nicer place!! I also started following accounts that had the same agenda as me, such as iWeigh, The Female Lead, Lizzo, Jameela Jamil and Knee Deep in Life!! Instagram, in particular, is just trying to make you stay in the app for as long as possible by firing TONNES of recommended crap at you!! Make a note of the accounts you actually like and head over to their pages, don't rely on the feed to show you what you 'want' to see - HUNT THAT SHIT OUT!!! I literally love most things that Jameela Jamil does, but she NEVER comes up on my feed......WHAT. THE. FUCK!!! Ultimately, make these places work for you, don't just allow them to tell you what you need to see, read, hear and watch, you are the one who controls this!!!
Thanks for reading you sexy dream, tune in next month for another update and rant!! Stay safe and keep being you!
x - Silvre - x
P.S. SIGN UP BITCHES!