Breaking Through the Noise
The music industry isn’t broken. It’s working perfectly—as a system designed to reward the loudest, most visible, and most algorithm-friendly. For everyone else? It feels like screaming into a void.
Here’s the truth: If you don’t already have a fanbase, building one feels like rolling a boulder uphill. Social media might create awareness, but awareness without attention is a leaky bucket. A great song? It might as well be a whisper in a crowded room. The noise is deafening, and the audience’s attention span is shrinking. Even the best art can be skipped with the swipe of a thumb.
So, how do you break through?
Let’s start with Kendrick Lamar. Why is he “hot”? Is it just his music? No. It’s because he’s being talked about. People talk about him, write about him, and share him with their friends. The sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, and he’s part of the cultural conversation. He’s not shouting into the void; he is the void. When you search his name on Google News, you don’t just see his work—you see his impact.
But here’s the catch: being talked about is a result, not a strategy. So, what’s the strategy?
Be worth talking about. A song so good it moves people to action? That’s the dream. But here’s the reality: the song also has to be algorithm-friendly. If it’s too unfamiliar, too bold, too different, the skip rate skyrockets. Playlists are designed to minimize skips, not take risks. Great art doesn’t always fit into neat, skippable boxes.
Create your own noise. Gimmicks can work (hello, TikTok), but they’re a lottery. Ads can help, but everyone’s running ads. What sets you apart isn’t how loud you shout, but how resonant your voice is. Are you creating moments worth sharing? Are you connecting with people in a way that feels authentic?
Focus on sentiment, not scale. It’s not just about being talked about—it’s about how you’re being talked about. What’s the story people are telling about you? Are you the artist they can’t stop listening to, or the one with that one viral moment everyone forgot about?
The truth is, there’s no map to guaranteed success in music. There’s only a compass: make something real, make something shareable, and make it so good people can’t help but tell their friends.
And remember, breaking through isn’t about being the loudest. It’s about being the most memorable.
