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As a musician myself, who has also brushed elbows in coming up amongst friends within the industry, one of the most vital skills a musician can learn is that avoiding overexposure is the key to long-term survival, just as much as making great music that endures... I know many artists that were very prominent years ago, but now can barely climb that hill again because of overexposure and huge re-marketing costs, coupled with an ageing fan base. People who follow trends, and try to sound like others is definitely an indication that their career is short lived, but in this day and age, with the way social media promotion works, too many artists compete to constantly be on trending lists, and that easily burns out audiences on them and their names... It's relatively easy to "look popular" if you dump tons of money into music promotion, and labels love it when an artists dominates online, but that also makes them flood out everyone else, and even more important trending topics than music at times. There can be a huge backlash for bought popularity, and for promoting yourself as more important than other vital topics people care about in their daily lives, as on social media, there is only one timeline and trending list for everything. Absence can potentially make the heart grow fonder for listeners towards a music artist when well timed, especially if every time the artist re-emerges they put out consistently great music projects... Modern musicians need to learn how to share the microphone, and social media needs to create a more even playing field for multiple artists to coexist in over time, rather than pushing just 3-7 celebrity artists all of the time... That's the key to longer careers in music in my opinion. |