inBachs / Worst Social Media Advice for Musicians

As someone who posts a lot on social media, this is a strange one for me to be writing. My intent here isn't to be clickbait, it's just something that has been on my mind lately.

Sometimes people ask me: “Do I need to start posting on social media?”

I don’t always say yes.

To say to all musicians that going the influencer route or posting for visibility (as a blanket statement) just doesn't feel right for me.

My hot take: social media is not for everyone.

It’s very scary to put yourself out there as a musician because you’re afraid of being judged by your peers.

A lot of us are seeing comments on other posts or hearing musicians behind the scenes saying negative things about one another, which is a really messed up part of our artistic culture. The thing that’s really difficult is the perfectionism that is baked into us as musicians.

We were taught to not put on anything until it’s “performance ready” but that means that we significantly limit our creative process because we can’t reiterate and experiment quite as quickly.

I think this is especially true for classical musicians, and the need to be performance ready helps “protect” us from judgment. Also, the people who came before us, the professors, the teachers, the symphony players the people that we hold up is being “successful” in the industry did not use social media to get there in the generations before so it feels still quite novel.

This is especially true for classical music which celebrates long-standing historical art over hundreds of years. So being that person doing something novel is very scary because you’re breaking the mold and acting in a way that is different than your mentors, your inspiration and your peers. Then add in all the judgment from them and it’s kind of a nightmare.

Social media is awesome for promoting your career and business but let’s be real it’s not the one size fits all solution. I’d love to hear from you whether you agree or disagree!