Thread by @Kindness, Respectfully I think it's 100% bad! Being good at the internet and [...]

Respectfully I think it& #39;s 100% bad! Being good at the internet and making good music are two different things.

Sadly my favourite musicians are often only good at music making! I don& #39;t think any musical career should hinge on an ability to connect via social media https://twitter.com/cheriehu42/status/1311355139148709889">https://twitter.com/cheriehu4...

https://twitter.com/cheriehu42/status/1311355139148709889

I& #39;m genuinely fascinated & horrified by some of the responses to my tweet above & to Cherie& #39;s original post. I feel some of the pro-change/ tech disruption reply guys need to understand that there is another way that works, because I& #39;ve been doing it my whole career

My disclaimer/preface to this would be that I have been extraordinarily lucky. I have white passing & cis-passing privilege too.

But I think there& #39;s still value in recounting a career that gets to be an outlier

I signed a conventional major label deal with Polydor records in late 2009. Part of my condition with them was that I would have a website, and would do traditional media (interviews, photoshoots etc) but that as an experiment I would have zero social media presence

I had no Facebook, Instagram or Twitter

In hindsight, it was a massive mistake! I felt totally liberated, yes! But people who liked my music had no outlet for their enjoyment. Nothing to interact with, even on the most basic level. And it was the most successful album of my career too

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤣" title="Lachend auf dem Boden rollen" aria-label="Emoji: Lachend auf dem Boden rollen">

Years later I realise that the savviest musicians follow something like the @tavitulle model. Have accounts as a place for like minded people to congregate, sure! But let someone else entirely different post the imagery so you don& #39;t have to feel you& #39;re losing hours of the day

Around 2013, a year before my second album, I started a finsta to follow friends and understand what Instagram was about. It was genuinely kinda nice to connect with friends. Twitter also radicalised me politically so I& #39;m all for it! But I saw how both could become full time jobs

So I have actively tried to avoid that. The lessons I& #39;ve learned from smarter people than myself are these:
Other people will do social media better than you do. That& #39;s ok! It& #39;s an innate natural skill that some people are born with.

Cherry pick the parts of what they do that you like and run with it. Do no more than you& #39;re comfortable with

I& #39;m blessed to have worked alongside Dev & Solange and seen how they both used these platforms in a very honest & savvy way at a moment in time. But interestingly neither are particularly active now. It& #39;s ok to get your message out there and disappear overnight

My other suggestion to beat the algorithm: upcoming musicians - be sure to keep things in a place that feels non-exploitative. But if you do enjoy fashion or being photographed, collaborate with people. 99% of the imagery I post now is from shoots. I ain& #39;t doing selfies no more!

There are so many incredible teams making beautiful visual work, many of whom are super passionate about music. Find like minded people in your town or city with a dream similar to yours and do what each of you do creatively best - just together

I& #39;m super inspired by the team at https://instagram.com/abagaworld ">https://instagram.com/abagaworl... in London. Black creatives making incredible work for themselves and community. I see the way they& #39;re helping artists they like by letting each person do what comes naturally.

The music makers make music & the image makers make images. But the essence is still mutual support & collaboration.

I think less is definitely more. I have so much love for the folks that don& #39;t enjoy social media, and I will actively resist the narrative that claims you& #39;re somehow foolish or entitled for thinking that you should be able to make music if you don& #39;t engage

Simply from a perspective of neurodiversity there ought to be viable careers in music that don& #39;t rely on social media. Something which I& #39;m sure effects many musicians mental health

Anyway I woke up at 4am to feed the cat and I& #39;ve lost my train of thought. There are no real rules to all of this. I love my anti-internet gang and I am here for you. Somehow I have built a career despite resisting social media. Be reassured it& #39;s possible..be an outlier!

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🥰" title="Smiling face with 3 hearts" aria-label="Emoji: Smiling face with 3 hearts">

And to clarify, I was dropped like a lead balloon after my first LP. I have been an independent artist ever since! I don& #39;t trust majors and never will

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😘" title="Kusshand zuwerfendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Kusshand zuwerfendes Gesicht">

Latest Threads Unrolled: