So uhh here’s the thing. Occasionally a project comes in (okay never) where in exchange for giving up your independent rebel cred and autonomy you get to work on exactly ONE thing while a bunch of other people slave over stuff that you would otherwise also have to do yourself in the large majority of familiar scenarios. That sounds absolutely horrible doesn’t it (wincing now) ? Now to make things worse there are these other rules regarding social media (like it not being a thing for the duration) that are absolutely draconian (hard time breathing now) and then of course there is the possibility of being incredibly busy for the rest of one’s life afterwards (is carried out on stretcher)…
Coincidentally I’d just finished a surmise of possible social media strategies for marketing new music. As much as I love Mastodon there are certain difficulties with respect to streaming and the statistics of user base that come into play. To put it bluntly Mastodon is still short of the magnitudes and distributions required to have considerable impact in terms of new releases. There is a lot to like about Mastodon- it may actually be the best up and coming network not held in sway of forces otherwise on the dark side.
But the biggest players have that certain statistical reality in play in terms of user base versus amplification. The inherent conflict can be circumscribed thus: streaming platforms will only support your music via income when your hitting quite high streaming frequencies. Personally I’d rather release vinyl and CDs on my own label and tell it all with a rebel yell for streaming platforms to go fark themselves. Theoretically you want to establish that base first so you have the bargaining power to negotiate a better deal with the big platforms later on (someone mentioned that sounded like pulling a Taylor Swift but she was already way huge when she went there). I honestly don’t know if you can formulate an optimized strategy when the current music industry resembles nothing of the past. It’s not for want of trying