Musicians call out marketing burnout

Future. Musicians at all stages of their careers are experiencing burnout from self-promoting, especially because staying relevant and active on social platforms like TikTok and Instagram is becoming essential to sustaining a career. While there’s little to be done about the sheer number of artists now vying for attention, labels may help maintain the mental health of its musicians by ditching the one-size-fits-all formula of getting people noticed online.

TikTok, always on the clock
For many musicians, it’s more work to market their music than actually make it.

• Singer-songwriter Chelsea Cutler created a stir in the music world when she complained about the insane amount of TikTok and Instagram content she needed to make to promote her music.
• The post resonated with many huge artists, including Ryan Tedder and Maren Morris, who backed her and expressed the same feeling.
• One artist, Noah Kahan, said there isn’t even a single phone call with his label where TikTok isn’t mentioned.

Even Post Malone told Billboard that the current state of music promotion is giving him burnout — “You think about everything at the same time, and it’s f—ing overload.”

Solo artists
Why does it seem harder now to stay in the conversation than in years past? The democratization of music, thanks to platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, has heightened the battle for attention.

• According to MIDiA Research, self-releasing artists increased by a third in 2020, “outpacing growth in streaming revenue.”
• Spotify reported that 60,000 new tracks are uploaded every day.
• And to keep up with the fast-moving music culture, artists are pushed to upload new songs constantly to keep monthly-listener numbers up.
• They are also encouraged to post on socials every day in order to drive listeners to streaming services.

The problem is especially hard on new or midsize acts who, too cash-strapped to hire a digital-promotion team, are balancing the duties of self-marketing and self-promotion with… you know… the actual music part — making music and touring