The Wrong Scoreboard
Here's what happened to musicians on social media:
They started keeping score with the wrong numbers.
Likes became the applause meter. Followers became the headcount. Views became the venue size.
But here's the thing about scoreboards—they only matter if you're playing the right game.
The Treadmill Trap
Watch a musician's Instagram story today. Post, post, post. Meme, trend, lip-sync, repeat. The hamster wheel of "staying active."
They're optimizing for the algorithm instead of optimizing for humans.
They're trading their voice for visibility. Their art for activity. Their message for metrics.
And the saddest part? The very people they're trying to reach are scrolling right past.
What Actually Counts
Not likes. Connection.
Not reach. Recognition.
Not views. Conversations.
When someone takes the time to write back, to share your work with a friend, to ask "where can I hear more?"—that's not a vanity metric. That's a human choosing to engage with your art.
One person who forwards your song to their partner is worth more than a hundred double-taps from strangers.
The Frequency Fallacy
"How often should I post?" is the wrong question.
The right question: "How often do I have something worth sharing?"
Because here's what we've forgotten: Musicians are not content creators. They're not lifestyle influencers. They're not personal brands.
They're artists.
And artists create when they have something to say, not when the calendar tells them to.
The Courage to Be Unremarkable (Online)
Every artist faces the same choice: Be yourself, or be optimal.
The algorithm rewards predictability. Art rewards the opposite.
Your rough voice memo recorded in your car. Your story about the song that changed everything. Your admission that you're struggling, that you're learning, that you don't have it all figured out.
This isn't content. It's humanity.
And humanity, it turns out, is the most shareable thing of all.
The Real Metric
Stop measuring your art in numbers that don't matter.
Start measuring it in moments that do.
Did someone feel less alone after hearing your song? Did your post spark a conversation? Did your music remind someone of who they used to be, or who they want to become?
That's not engagement. That's impact.
And impact—not impressions—is what builds a career that lasts.
The scoreboard you've been watching? It's keeping score of the wrong game entirely.
