- HIGH END TIMES
- Posts
- Consistency vs. Creativity
In 20 years of music, one thing stands out:
Changing up your sound every year or two is great for your creativity...
But bad for business.
How so?
Let me explain…
First, you should definitely evolve and take in new influences.
New sources of inspiration and trends keep music exciting.
It’s a delicate balance to keep your style while taking in new influences and making them your own.
But...
If music is your main thing (or you want it to be), then putting yourself in your listeners shoes is crucial.
What do I mean?
If you fail to meet what your listeners expect, they will check out.
And your fan base stops growing.
In other words, fans like you for a certain sound but then you go ahead and switch things up on them.
You know you might lose some fans, but you’re hoping to pick up new ones.
But what if you don’t?
Change up enough times and you really start to miss out on the compound effects of that consistent audience growth.
It starts to feel like you’re working harder without seeing the results you want.
I've been there myself…
Starting in my early teens in Chicago…
I made hip-hop and experimental electronic music…
Later, I joined a punk band…
Then I produced and played house and bass music in NYC…
Then back to hip hop again…
And then back to house music.
So many eras.
So many sounds.
My different eras.
I kept people guessing and always followed my own muse.
And ultimately, I don’t regret any of it.
But I wish I had been more consistent in my sound.
It would have likely led to a larger fan base and less decision fatigue on my part.
I don’t dwell on the past much, but this is one lesson I wish I’d learned sooner.
Building a brand and your unique sound takes time.
Frequently changing your sound and genre prevents you from reaping the long-term benefits of consistent growth.
And whether you’ve been making music for 2 years or 2 decades, I don’t believe you are ever too old to start reaping the benefits TODAY.
If making music is pure self-expression for you, do whatever you want.
Have fun with it!
But if you want to make a career out of music and work smarter, not harder…
Understanding your audience and respecting what they expect from you will make building a fanbase so much easier.
In other news…
I went viral this past week with this Instagram Reel.
300k views in 5 days!
I get it…
I came in hot and touched on a few hot-button DJ topics.
But it does seem that many people missed the main message of my reel.
The main idea is that understanding the crowd and choosing the right tracks outweigh technical DJ concerns.
I’ve played hundreds of gigs of all types, and I’ve never had a single person EVER mention anything to me about what format of song I was playing.
Does playing a WAV over an MP3 matter? Sure.
Does it matter to your average person on the dance floor? Nope.
I finally updated my Soundcloud and created my own Brenmar Bandcamp page with the new 2024 remixes.
I had a few people tell me they didn’t love Dropbox because they couldn’t easily stream the tracks. Fair enough.
I hope this helps!
Hit me up if you have any questions or if I can help in some way.
I respond to every email.
Till next week!
Brenmar
Sound Bites 🔉
Whoa! AI music is getting good. Check out this tweet.
Twitch launched a dj program. A step in the right direction.
Generate your own sound effects with AI: HERE
Tools & Resources ⚒️
REMIXES 🎶
ALL REMIXES ON BANDCAMP
ALL REMIXES ON SOUNDCLOUD