Just a single question for Artists, Writers, Video makers, Musicians, and others who believe their trade/hobby is an art.

[ItsTheWriter]

Hello there, observer and possible participant from near, far, and everywhere in between. Hopefully you can participate in my study.

Research Question:
Does Marketing offend you?
Is marketing necessary for an artist to thrive? (Do you believe it is necessary for an artist to market for them to become successful?)


Purpose:
This study is meant to address my roommates hypothesis that artists are offended by the term marketing. My belief is that marketing is a necessary requirement for any artist from any field (literature, music, art, plot-writing, roleplaying, advertising, etc.). Unfortunately, he backed his claim with anecdotal evidence (personal experience) and emotion alone. He believed I insulted him when I said that his experiences with the term marketing doesn't apply to all artists. I wish to bring some light about this argument with more than just articles from scientific journals, published history books about art and its relationship with marketing, and another survey I'm conducting in real life. For that, I need you fellow people on BMR to provide your thoughts about the subject.

Definition for this survey:
- Marketing: The process or technique of promoting, selling, and distributing a product or service (From Webster's Dictionary)

Procedure:
Answer the survey based on which answer you believe is correct. All information pertaining to the participant will be held private. People will be able to remain anonymous. Thank you for participating in my survey.

 

[Deante]

Among other things, you may find different viewers based on medium. As a writer who is onvolved with multiple communities of writers, I can tell you that we all bemoan how hard it is to find readers. Because reading a thong takes a lot more effort on person’s part than say, looking at a picture.

So writers are well aware that marketing is necessary to get readers. Many new writers may think marketing is the publisher’s job, but most pubs expect, if not require, the author to promote themselves.

I can see this artist offended that he’d have to dirty his hands with anything but creating art, which is a naive view of things. But I can also see the attitude from someone who has zero desire to show their art to anyone. It is done purely for themselves and they don’t care about any sort of following, much less profit. But that viewpoint is I think very uncommon, unless it’s literally a hobby they do to relax and have fun, like gardening.

Or he’s just an ass.

 

[ItsTheWriter]

Thank you @Deante for the explanation about its importance. I wanted to gather information from others as well to understand more about why is it so important and in what way marketing is so important as well. I've actually been connecting with other communities (in both real life and online). Some of these communities include Artist Reddit, Musician Reddit, and even the music and arts wing of my college community(as well as others).

From the sounds of what he has told me before, he performs in a band and he talks about copyrighting his own music. He brought up another argument with me before about how he wanted to copyright photos with pictures of him if he's performing outside. I tried my best to argue about things like public domain where you can't exactly sue for that reason. I think that his beliefs about copyrighting pictures of him in public paints his intentions well. Oh, forgive me if I sound antagonistic of my roommate. He brings up arguments out of nowhere but he doesn't try to do research or bring up evidence outside of personal experience. He also believes he is right no matter what, not letting anyone else (my other roommates included) get a word in while he speaks. I just want to prove to him that just because he feels a specific way about marketing (or anything in general), doesn't make it applicable to others.

 

[Deante]

Copyright...images of... himself. Okay then.

It sounds like no matter how many people you can get to agree with you, he won’t believe you because he thinks he’s right. Also, I’ve found that in some things, peole just do not believe or accept an idea until they think it was their own realization.

In other words, trying to discourage a fool from being a fool is an excercise in frustrating yourself.

 

[P DeRudio]

He's naïve. If someone's going to make a living at an art, like music, marketing is absolutely necessary. If you send a demo to a club manager you are marketing. Networking is marketing. There are hundreds of youtube blogs on this very point (and almost all will say don't perform for free). Or just ask any working musician. I'm a jazz musician, but it's a hobby, not what I do to earn a living, so I don't care about marketing.

He's not that bright when it comes to copyrighting. All of his photos are copyrighted when the shutter clicks. He doesn't have to do anything, not even put a (c) mark if published. On the internet, anyone can download the photo for private use, copyright ownership against unauthorized use can be enforced by take down or cease and desist letters, or by legal action if the copyright is registered with the federal government. Registration is cheap and can be done online.

 

[Xanaphia]

I am just delving into all this, and I probably agree with your roomate that marketing is a nightmare. Especially for an anxiety-riddled introvert like myself. Half the time I am like"Hey, I wrote a novel, do you want to read it? Not that you have to, it's actually pretty dark, with heavy themes and adult situaitons. Honestly, you might not even like it, because it is really gritty and raw, so don't worry about. Sorry to bother you." I've been so worried someone who wouldn't like it might reade my story, that I've alienated people who would be interested. Yeah, I've had to convince myself that, while my books is intense, and not for everyone, it is well-written, and potential readers can decide for themselves if it's too intense for them. So I am learning how to market, and put myself out there.

The fact of the matter is, it doesn't matter how well done your art/music/book/youtube video/ podcast is, if no one knows about it, no one will engage. And, with so many options available for entertainment, you have to put yourself out there if you want an audience. You can outsource that work of promotion and marketing to a third party, but it's going to cost. So, you have to decide, is it worthwhile to pay someone to do it, or learn how to do it yourself. Depending on one's level of talent and demand, it might be more profitable to continue creating their art while someone else promotes it, but somewhere down the line, someone is going to need to put in the effort.

 

[Deante]

I am just delving into all this, and I probably agree with your roomate that marketing is a nightmare. Especially for an anxiety-riddled introvert like myself. Half the time I am like"Hey, I wrote a novel, do you want to read it? Not that you have to, it's actually pretty dark, with heavy themes and adult situaitons. Honestly, you might not even like it, because it is really gritty and raw, so don't worry about. Sorry to bother you." I've been so worried someone who wouldn't like it might reade my story, that I've alienated people who would be interested. Yeah, I've had to convince myself that, while my books is intense, and not for everyone, it is well-written, and potential readers can decide for themselves if it's too intense for them. So I am learning how to market, and put myself out there.

Reminds me of an author whose self admitted reaction is “I wrote a book, I’m so sorry to tell you.”

As far as your content and issue, it’s just clearly marking it. Rather than “Be careful, this is harsh and brutal and it will wrench your guts, so please don’t be triggered”. Instead, frame it as though you are letting the audience you Want know that this is their thing. “Do you like dark and grim? Do you want your protagonists to climb crawl through broken glass fields and then watch infomercials and have holiday get together with annoying relatives? Then this is your book.” Because the peope who don’t like that will run screaming and those that do m will pay attention.

And at the end of the day, people who don’t like what you write will put the book down rather than keep reading. I have no qualms chucking a book, and if they won’t? That’s on them.

 

[Xanaphia]

Yeah, I am learning to ignore my anxiety, but it's a daily struggle. Just last month, out of the blue, I sold a copy of all the books I currently have up for sale (4 in a series), and it freaked me out. Like, it's one thing to see sell through other a matter of days and weeks, where clearly they read one book, enjoyed it and went on to the next., The idea that someone took a chance on me and bought everything felt like too much pressure. Like, "Hey, slow down there, Partner. Why not just buy one, see if you like it, before you spend money on the rest?"

Yeah, I am a mess.