Aussie music legends say social media is fine to build your brand… just remember why you’re doing it
Being active on social media is near-compulsory for anyone building a brand nowadays, and according to two of Australia’s most revered songwriters, that is great… as long as you stay on track.
Appearing on a new episode of The Plug podcast, Powderfinger legend Bernard Fanning and Something For Kate frontman Paul Dempsey – promoting their debut album as a duo, The Deluge – said given the precarious state of the Australian music industry, artists looking to build their brand need to be careful when using social media.
“Social media content creation is important,” Dempsey told host Neil Griffiths.
“It is one of the only ways to reach people. But keep it about your music. If all your social media content creation is about you at the laundromat, or you walking your dog, all your music has lost its mystique, it’s lost its attraction. It’s just become a TV show about everything you do when you’re not a musician.”
Fanning said that in all creative industries currently, there is a “disruption with new technology” particularly with new entrants.
Fanning (left) and Dempsey (right). Pic by Cybele Malinowski
“They’re expected to create all of this ‘content’, including the music – which is the key to the whole thing – at their own expense. Budgets to allow them to do that really have been slashed unbelievably, like literally decimated. But the trade off is that you have access to everybody on the planet that has a phone.
“When Something For Kate and Powderfinger were coming up in the ’90s, we still had fan letters, you know? We had newsletters that we would write, send out to our fans once a month and stuff like that. All that access now that people have to artists and to music is undeniably positive. But there’s all of the negatives that go with the model, right? Not getting paid for starters and just the way that music has been so incredibly devalued in society by the big streaming platforms and the labels and everybody else.
“I would say embrace that idea that you have lots of access to and make sure you’ve got your shit together live. ’cause that’s the only way that you’re gonna actually be able to convince people to come back and see you and, and also make a single dollar, you know?”
Listen to the full podcast here.
The Deluge is out now.
Subscribe to the daily newsletter
Got a tip?
Neil Griffiths is the Managing Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the company in October 2023.
Linkedin
topics
Bernard Fanning
Fanning Dempsey National Park
live music
Paul Dempsey
Powderfinger
Something For Kate
The Deluge
The Plug Podcast
Have your say