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The Blake Debate:
Artistic Integrity vs. Social Media's Grasp
Over the last few weeks, James Blake began a discourse on social media. His idea is simple: artists shouldn’t be expected to learn how to market themselves, and instead should be free to create art and make an equitable living from that, without expending time and energy on social media promotion.
He very quickly followed up this viral sentiment with the announcement of a product launch for a music-coded Patreon derivative called Vault, which according to James Blake, will encourage artists to create “…their favourite, most integral music, not just the big 15 second TikTok moment.”
Another recent quote from him (which appears to be foundational to his viewpoint): “How do we sort this shit out?” he says in a Reel. “Because most musicians are not extroverts who are social media and branding geniuses.”
Both of those thoughts stood out to me, and it’s those ideas that I want to talk about.
What Makes a TikTok Song?
The first is the fundamentally old-headed conception of so-called “TikTok music” as being somehow separate from, and inherently less artistically valuable than, other forms of music. It’s offensive to artists pushing new boundaries and having unique breakthroughs on the platform to imply that they’re not releasing their best work, that they’re instead chasing an ultimately inconsequential garbage heap of content masquerading as music.
TikTok has created a new paradigm of marketing media and fan connection – where before visual media and world building was a one-way street, presented by the artist teams and then consumed by fans, it’s now turned to a world of reciprocal action and intractability. There is no creative limitation on what will work on TikTok – and the fact that anyone can tap into the vast audience reach of TikTok from their phone has opened up more doors for artists than ever before.
I’d like to briefly note here my belief that TikTok itself is a monopolistic nightmare which has entirely too much control over music marketing at the moment – it’s not a good thing that the tech industry is starting to take over music. However, this is where we are, and where before artists and labels were at the mercy of Viacom / MTV, we’re now at the mercy of TikTok. We adapt and we take advantage of the environs we occupy.
The Reality of Music Making:
Hard Work and Industry Hurdles
His second quote reaches the core of my point in writing all this – music is fucking hard. This is an insane industry with no real rules or guidelines, and even the best in the world don’t have a complete understanding of how they got there beyond a coincidence of effort and blind providence. There shouldn’t be a mentality that minimum effort should yield strong results.
I feel very strongly that no one is entitled to success simply because they want to succeed.
Adaptation and Hustle:
A Critical Look at Artist Independence
You have to figure out ways to fund tours, and debate the merits of spending money on a music video versus paid marketing campaign. You have to take on enormous personal risk and investment, all on faith that this belief that you have in the success of your endeavor will yield strong trees.
James Blake’s assertion that artists shouldn’t be expected to understand and take advantage of the marketing verticals given to them is defeatist and out of touch. We’re given enormous opportunity as independents to build on our own terms. Where before we would have been entirely reliant on established labels to handle large-budget marketing campaigns, CD manufacturing, radio plugging, and MTV / VH1 plugging, we’re now able to start with a cracked version of Ableton and TikTok posts.
There isn’t a reality where people will be rewarded entirely for doing the “fun stuff”. EVERYONE wants to be able to sit in a room and make beats all day and get paid a living wage, but it’s not the reality of our capitalistic world. And I find it exhilarating.
Myself and the people I admire most are driven by an urgent sense of competitive purpose – we want to be the best in the world and we want to facilitate greatness for those we work with. I’m driven by the belief that art and expression are the most important things in the small microcosm of the universe occupied by human consciousness, and it’s my goal to participate in and help build up great art.
Future Visions:
Redefining Success in the Digital Age
I express my art through facilitation and direction; Don’t Be Greedy is far more than just a label. It's a vehicle to understand the machinations of this business, of human psychology, of the creative experience. If the imperative is to build artists, then that’s what we do. We learn what needs to be done and we implement it, and we find joy and reward in the process of learning new things.
Ultimately, I feel that artists are positioned better than ever before to succeed. What James Blake talks about belies an underlying misconception of the current state of the developing artist. We’re given nothing but opportunity, and our destiny is as much in our hands as it could ever be.
Sam Levine: New Medicine Box Writer
The views expressed in this article are those of the author, Sam Levine. We are thrilled to have Sam join our writing team, bringing his unique perspectives and insights to our community. Welcome aboard, Sam!
