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Happy New Year! It's a new year, so I thought I'd fill you in a few thoughts and changes that have been influencing OSC-related endeavours of late.
Back in 2022 I penned this blog about what the future (or next phase) of OSC might look like. At that time, I was coming up on OSC's ten-year anniversary and I had a vague idea of doing something big (of sorts), to usher in the next phase of OSC. Moreover, I was hoping to usher in the next phase in my life; growing OSC into something that earned enough money to be my sole means of income. I.e. to achieve the dream of earning a viable income from doing what I love. But that didn't happen...
I surveyed and canvassed opinions of what my audience would like to see/hear more of, and whilst the responses were positive, they were very varied, leaving me none the wiser as to what I could/should do to better engage with audiences. Any/all options would have required a significant investment in both time and money, and weren't supported by sufficient interest or enthusiasm to yield the necessary returns to make them viable/justifiable.
The notion of taking a single, big, progressive step forward for OSC's tenth anniversary faded, however my analytics were pointing in the right directions, and so I decided to carry on doing my thing, with some faith that audiences and incomes would grow (eventually to a point of livelihood viability). That was until my status quo was seemingly upended by a politically malevolent narcissist!
Blindsided
Very shortly after posting the above-mentioned blog, Elon Musk purchased Twitter. This upended my social media strategy, as Twitter was my primary platform of choice at the time, and a place where I had my most positive and engaged audience.
In the weeks that followed his takeover, lots of my followers (understandably) left the platform, and my feed became awash with unwanted content, adverts and bot-posts. Presumably my (remaining) followers' feeds were also full of similar adverts, paid-posts and bot-made content, as engagement in my posts plummeted. I can only assume that my posts were no longer reaching my followers amidst the quagmire of drivel that had been unleashed on the platform.
This was something of a blessing in disguise for me. Twitter was by far my most active social media platform at the time, and I had therefore assumed it was responsible for most of my audience growth. However, this drop in my follower-count and engagement prompted me to take a meaningful look into the correlations between my social media accounts and my music's consumption on BandCamp.
2023 and social media apathy
As a result of Twitter's takeover and decline in usability, I studied my BandCamp analytics and found (to my surprise) that the majority of my social media was almost worthless (in terms of generating traffic for BandCamp). I was initially frustrated by this, as I had poured years into my social media accounts, on the assumption that I was growing an active and engaged audience of listeners. However, to the contrary, the majority of my listeners came to me via the BandCamp platform itself, suggesting that my efforts in growing my social media presence had been relatively fruitless.
However, once my initial frustration subsided, I was struck by a sense of liberation, and emboldened to stop caring about social media, and thus I was free of the pressure of keeping up with the social media grind. Moreover, these analytics showed me what areas were better to focus on; my BandCamp mailing list and YouTube channel. I no longer worried or felt concerned that my Twitter audience had been decimated, as it turned out that it was never that impactful anyway.
This prompted me to reevaluate my entire approach to social media. As outlined in my blog about the distraction economy, I'd come to view social media traction as an almost impossible grind as the general noise and traffic on these platforms has become so astronomically huge.
I'd come to the conclusion that paradoxically, musicians are led to believe that social media presence and output is our only means of gaining any hope of traction, success, and viability, despite the sheer magnitude of social media platforms being largely unsuitable for most independent musicians who may also be holding down a day-job and/or supporting a family, healthy work/life balance, and so on.
I decided to step back and stop worrying about my social media presence, my follower count, and whether or not I could reach new audiences. I now mostly only post if/when I have something to announce or there's something I think my followers will genuinely appreciate. I no longer hang-out or spend my free time on social media, and no longer look for things to post or share for the sake of it. I check-in briefly to respond to notifications, and that's about it.
2024 and a better use of time (a paradigm shift)
Over the last twelve months or so, instead of spending time on social media, I've been reading books, taking Japanese classes, building electric guitars, and spending countless hours practicing the piano, guitar and bass guitar. I've not documented it, and I've not made a thing of it (for social media). I've simply been enjoying self-indulgently doing things that make me happy, with no thought or intention of sharing any of it with anyone online. Frankly, it's been liberating, and something of a revolutionary paradigm shift in my lifestyle, as I'm finding myself to be much calmer, less anxious, and better organised. Intellectually my mind is quieter and clearer, and I'm much more focused. My calmer, more focused mindset has resulted in my creativity being more focused, efficient and productive. This, in turn, means that I'm able to realise ideas and execute productions more swiftly, which in turn gifts me yet more free time to spend on hobbies, interests, self-care and wellbeing.
In other words, stepping back from social media and spending more time focusing on myself has not only made me feel like a happier and healthier person, but it's also given me a more positive and productive creative spirit.
To sum up, whilst I may appear quiet on social media, the music at OSC HQ is continuing to flow. I've already released several works through 2024 that have resulted from my newfound clearer headspace, but there's an album coming later this month that that will hopefully stand apart from my prior works, as a weighty, and impactful body of work. This new album is a significant milestone in my creative journey; one that looks back upon ten years of growth through Synthwave, Funk, Vaporwave, and Electro and takes the OSC sound into new (yet hopefully still familiar) territories.
So, I'll sign off by wishing you a happy new year 🍻. I'll pen another blog soon about my upcoming album, and in the meantime, if you follow me on social media, don't worry if you think I seem rather inactive; it's all part of the plan. I'm not going anywhere, I'm just being quiet 😉.
Steve (OSC)