Tag: social media

The Definitive Social Media Size Guide For Musicians (2022)

Post author By James Shotwell
Post date July 21, 2022

The first step to winning fans and building a community on social media is knowing what to post and where to post it. We can help.

I don’t know of any artist making a living today without social media. They may not run it themselves, but every musician must have an online presence. More often than not, most musicians need multiple profiles spread across numerous platforms requiring all types of content in various sizes and shapes.

If you want to make the most of an Instagram account, for example, you need to know the following information:

Profile picture size
Photo thumbnail sizes for Story highlights
Photo and video sizes/aspect ratio for posts to a user’s feed
Photo and video sizes/aspect ratio for Instagram stories
Video sizes/aspect ratio for Instagram Reels

And that’s before we even discuss effectively marketing through the platform.

Between Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok, not to mention YouTube, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Linktree, Tumblr (it still exists), and the platforms we are no doubt forgetting, it’s practically impossible for anyone to remember every size and aspect ratio required to make high-quality posts everywhere an artist is expected to exist online. We know because we’ve tried it ourselves, and we bet you have.

We scoured the internet for the best guides to social media sizing, and to the surprise of nobody, countless examples exist. We tried to find the most straightforward, easy-to-follow options available and gather them here to live in perpetuity.

Facebook

Content	Size	Aspect Ratio
Facebook Profile Picture	400 x 400 px	1:1
Facebook Event Cover Photo	1920 x 1005 px	1.91:1
Facebook Group Cover Photo	1920 x 1005 px	1.91:1
Facebook Business Page Cover	1200 x 674 px	16:9
Facebook Profile Cover Photo	1125 x 633 px	2.7:1
Facebook Photo Post	1200 x 630 px	1.91:1
Facebook Video Post	1280 x 720 px	16:9
Facebook Linked Image	1200 x 630 px	1.91:1
Facebook Stories	1080 x 1920 px	9:16
Facebook “Our Story” Cover	1200 x 445 px	2.7:1
Facebook Ad (Carousel)	1080 x 1080 px	1:1
Facebook Ad (Single Image)	1200 x 628 px	1.91:1
Facebook Catalog Image	1080 x 1080	1:1

Instagram:

Type of Instagram Post	Aspect Ratio	Instagram Post Size
Square Photo	1:1	1080 x 1080px
Landscape Photo	1.91:1	1080 x 608px
Portrait Photo	4:5	1080 x 1350px
Instagram Stories	9:16	1080 x 1920px
Instagram Reels	9:16	1080 x 1920px
IGTV Cover Photo	1:1.55	420 x 654px
Instagram Square Video	1:1	1080x1080px
Instagram Landscape Video	1.91:1	1080x608px
Instagram Portrait Video	4:5	1080x1350px

Soundcloud:

GRAPHIC	SIZE
Profile Photo	1000 × 1000 px
Album Cover	800 × 800 px
Minimum Header	2480 × 520 px

TikTok

TikTok video dimensions should be 1080×1920. Aspect ratio: The aspect ratio should be that of a standard smartphone screen, 9:16. 1:1 is also possible, but it won’t take up the whole screen.

Twitch

GRAPHIC	SIZE
Profile Photo	800 × 800 px
Profile Banner	1920 × 480 px
Video Player Banner	1920 × 1080 px
Video Thumbnail	1280 × 720 px
Cover Image	380 × 1200 px
Info Panels	320 × 200 px

Twitter

Finding information about Twitter’s content options proves slightly more difficult than options for Facebook and Instagram.

Profile Photo: 400×400
Header Photo: 1500×500
Image from a Tweet with shared link: 1200 x 628 pixels
Tweet sharing a single image: 1200 x 675 pixels (recommended, but most images with standard aspect ratios will not be cropped)
Tweet sharing two images: 700 x 800 pixels (both images)
Tweet sharing three images:
- Left image: 700 x 800 pixels
- Right images: 1200 x 686 pixels
Tweet sharing four images: 1200 x 600 pixels (per image)
- Four is the maximum number of images available on one Tweet
Recommended aspect ratio is 16:9.
Can edit images if tweeting from Twitter iOS or Android app.
Maximum file size of 5 MB for photos, and 5 MB for animated GIFs on mobile and 15 MB on web.

YouTube

TYPE	SIZE
Channel Icon	800 × 800 px
Channel Art	2560 × 1440 px
Desktop Display	2560 × 423 px
Tablet Display	1855 × 423 px
Desktop and Mobile Display	1546 × 423 px
Video Thumbnail	1280 × 720 px

Video Guidelines

Recommended dimensions: 426 x 240 (240p), 640 x 360 (360p), 854 x 480 (480p), 1280 x 720 (720p), 1920 x 1080 (1080p), 2560 x 1440 (1440p) and 3840 x 2160 (2160p).
Aspect ratio is 16:9 (auto adds pillarboxing if 4:3).
Max file size is 128GB or 12 hours, whichever is less.
Accepted video formats include: .MOV, .MPEG4, MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, and WebM.
Video length max is 12 hours.

YouTube SHORTS video guidelines

Recommended dimensions: 240×426 (240p), 360×640 (360p), 480×854 (480p), 720×1280 (720p), 1080×1920 (1080p), 1440×2560 (1440p), and 2160×3840 (2160p),
Aspect ratio is 9:16.
Video length is 60 seconds max.
Accepted video formats include: .MOV, .MPEG4, MP4, .AVI, .WMV, .MPEGPS, .FLV, 3GPP, and WebM.
Music from the YouTube music library is limited to 15 seconds.
Title character limit: 100 characters max.

Tags Music Business, music industry, social media, social media sizes, Twitch Image sizes, Twitter, YouTube

News

Hashtags Don’t Matter, According To New Report

Post author By James Shotwell
Post date April 20, 2022

Your social media planning just got a bit easier. Hashtags no longer matter.

There is no one way to market anything. Marketing is an ever-shifting landscape that can wildly fluctuate from week to week. A decade ago, what made someone a social media guru is now considered common knowledge. The same will be true for the tricks and tips used by professionals today in as little as six months. As algorithms shift, so must our marketing efforts, and the latest change we must embrace is the imminent death of hashtags.

In March, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, said that Instagram hashtags don’t “really” help with post distribution in one of his Stories. That announcement goes against the thinking taught by social media professors, wizards, and internet hucksters for over a decade. There are countless pet parents and Instagram moms with notes in their Notes app filled with hashtags for specific types of posts. Trust me—I am one of those pet parents.

*The shameful reality of a dog dad’s Notes app.*

The team at Socialinsider decided to dig deeper into Instagram’s data to understand Mosseri’s comments better. They analyzed 75,361,233 Instagram posts published between March 2021 and March 2022 to see whether Instagram hashtags play a role in post views, calculated as the average engagement rate by impressions.

The research shows that the number of hashtags an Instagram post has does not influence post distribution.

As you can see in the graphic below, there are no significant differences in the average engagement rate by impressions values of the Instagram posts analyzed, despite the number of hashtags.

There is a logic behind these findings. Instagram hashtags were never designed to increase reach or engagement. The goal of hashtags—on IG and elsewhere—is to categorize content for other users to make it discoverable.

The key here is the word discoverable. Hashtags make it easy for users to find content related to specific topics, such as #cooking or #heavymetal. But users still have to use those hashtags to find that content before reach or engagement increases.

Ask yourself: How often do you click on hashtags?

I’ve never intentionally clicked on an Instagram hashtag to see similar content or find new creators. I cannot recall one instance when I used music-related hashtags to discover new artists or find the next song that changed my life. Maybe I’m an exception to the norm, but I doubt it.

Even Instagram doesn’t rely heavily on hashtags for discovery. Instagram’s main source of discovery, the Explore page, utilizes a complex algorithm that considers followers, past likes, most viewed content, and various other factors when determining which content to show users. Hashtags likely factor into the equation, albeit at a much lower capacity than the aforementioned elements.

That does not mean hashtags are dead—at least not yet

The highest average engagement rate by impressions (3.41%) is generated by posts with 3-4 hashtags. That comes as no surprise – Instagram itself has previously noted that keeping between 3-5 hashtags is the best strategy to adopt when dealing with post distribution.

To dig further, Socialinsider added a ‘Follower Count’ parameter to ensure that they were looking at equal comparisons.

The data shows that there aren’t any major differences in the average impression rates of the Instagram posts analyzed when looking at the number of hashtags and followers. However, depending on the profiles’ following base, there are some nuances.

As you can see in the graphic above, big account (50K and 1M followers) impression rates decrease as they use more hashtags. The same is true for small accounts (5k-10k followers), although the decline is less steep.

That said, it’s still a good practice for small accounts to include fewer hashtags (focusing on 5-6 hashtags) to achieve the best engagement rates. The same trend applies to mid-sized accounts, with 10K – 50K followers, which should use more 5-6 hashtags to ensure higher impression rates.

Where do we go from here?

Hashtags are not quite dead, but their utility in social media is beginning to wane. If you choose to continue using hashtags, keep it to 5-6 hashtags per post. When you’re ready to make a significant change, try posting with fewer hashtags and see what, if any, impact that switch has on your engagement.

Tags hashtags, instagram, music, Music Business, music industry, social media

News

Save This Simple, Must-Have Social Media Sizing Guide For 2022

Post author By James Shotwell
Post date January 25, 2022

Your music is going to end up in a lot of places. We have the shapes and sizes you need to ensure your social media makes a big impact on your fans.

Where are you going to post your next announcement? If the first answer that popped into your head was “everywhere,” then you are not alone. Most musicians find themselves sharing and re-sharing content across various social media platforms. There is a quick and dirty way to do this, of course, but if you want to maximize the impact of your content, you need to follow the guidelines of each platform.

Social media platforms do not play nicely with one another. Twitter has different rules and guidelines for media than Instagram or Facebook. Likewise, the requirements for Facebook and Instagram are almost nothing alike. One utilizes square images and videos, while the other does better with more traditional content shapes.

Knowing where to post and what sizes fit best for each post can be tricky, but we can help. Below you will find a complete sizing guide for social media in 2022. These measurements are based on the latest information provided by the leading social platforms. Check it out:

Instagram

Profile photo – 320 x 320 pixels

Feed photos

Landscape – 1080 x 566
Portrait – 1080 x 1350
Square – 1080 x 1080

Thumbnails – 161 x 161 (recommended 1080 wide)

Stories – 1080 x 1920

Carousels

Landscape – 1080 x 566
Portrait – 1080 x 1350
Square – 1080 x 1080

Reels – 1080 x 1920

Twitter

Profile photo – 400 x 400 recommended

Header photo – 1500 x 500

In-stream photos – 1600 x 1900 recommended

Card image – 120 x 120

Fleets – 1080 x 1920

Facebook

Profile picture – 170 x 170

Timeline photos – 1200 x 630 recommended

Cover photo – 851 x 315 (phone)

Cover photo – 1200 x 628 (desktop)

YouTube

Profile photo – 800 x 800

Banner – 2048 x 1152

Video – 1280 x 720 minimum

Thumbnail – 1280 x 720

TikTok

Profile photo – 20 x 20 minimum

Video – 1080 x 1920

REMEMBER: The size of an image or video that appears on social media may differ from the recommended size in these guides. Ignore what you see and always follow the guide. That will result in the best, highest-quality content.

Tags Marketing, music, Music Business, music industry, size guide 2022, social media, Social Media Marketing, social media sizes, social media tips

Business Advice Industry News News

How To Reach New Audiences on Instagram in 2022

Post author By James Shotwell
Post date January 20, 2022

You’ve got an Instagram account, and your fans know it exists. Now what? We can help.

Boasting more than 1.3 billion active monthly users, Instagram is now the fourth most popular social media service globally. Every day, worldwide, millions of people open the app repeatedly in hopes of seeing a new post or Story update from their favorite friends and content creators. Those same people are looking for new accounts to follow, and that’s where this article comes in.

Building an audience on any social media platform in 2022 is a challenge. Most people have been online the majority of their lives, and many have used Instagram for over a decade. They know what they want and where to find it, so that’s what they do. Breaking those individuals out of their normal behavior patterns on the app is highly unlikely. Convincing someone there is another account they need to follow requires creativity, so today, we will share five small changes you can make right now to attract new followers using tools already available on IG.

Music Biz is brought to you by Haulix, the music industry’s leading promotional distribution platform. Start your one-month free trial today and gain instant access to the same promotional tools used by BMG, Concord, Rise Records, Pure Noise Records, and hundreds more. Visit http://haulix.com/signup for details.

Don’t have time for the video? No worries! Here are five quick tips for building an audience on Instagram in 2022.

Instagram Collabs. No artist is an island. Every musical act has peers, and those peers have followers whose lives would benefit from following you. The problem is, how do you convince them to change? Instagram Collabs allow users to co-author a post or Reel with another Instagram user. That content can then be shared on both collaborators’ pages, including mentions/tags of everyone involved.

Example: Let’s say you’re planning to tour with three other bands later this year. You can create collaborative content with the various other artists/musicians and share that content to boost one another’s followings and your fans’ familiarity with the other bands on tour.

Instagram Reels. Since their introduction, Reels have proven to be one of the best tools for exposure. We recommend consistently sharing Reels that align with your niche to reach new audiences via Instagram’s suggested content feeds (aka the ‘Explore Page’). Artists should be making at least one Reel per week, though 2-3 would generally be better. You should also include 3-5 relevant hashtags in your captions to help the Reels algorithm categorize your content. OH! And don’t forget to share a preview of your latest Reel to your feed to boost reach.

Instagram Carousel Posts. The goal of Instagram is to keep you on Instagram. The company wants its users to spend as much time as possible on the app each day, and its algorithm aims to achieve this goal by promoting content that encourages that behavior. A perfect example of this is carousel posts, which are main feed posts containing two or more photos or videos. The presence of a carousel post encourages users to swipe between images, which keeps them on the app a split-second longer than a normal post. That might not seem like a big deal, but it adds up over time.

Adding A Keyword To Your Instagram Name Field. We’ll be the first to admit this one is a little weird, but it works! By adding a common search term to your Instagram name field, users can increase the likelihood their content appears on the Explore Page.

Example: Let’s say you’re a young country artist trying to build a following around your music via Instagram. Rather than have your name appear as ‘John Smith,’ you should instead try “John Smith, Country Artist.” The IG algorithm will detect that phrase and consider promoting your account to any users who commonly interact with content it identifies as being similar to “country artist.”

Giveaways. Never underestimate the power of free stuff. People love free stuff, and most will complete a few basic tasks to receive something for nothing. Giveaways of any kind can make a huge impact on your Instagram. Not only does it boost engagement from your existing fans, but contests requiring entrants to share content in their feed or stories will also give the giveaway host a massive boost in exposure.

Tags instagram, Instagram Growth, Instagram Marketing, Instagram Reels, Instagram Stories, Marketing, music, Music Business, music industry, social media, Social Media Marketing

Artist Advice Editorials Industry News News

5 Music Growth Hacks To Avoid [Video]

Post author By James Shotwell
Post date June 29, 2021

Everyone wants to make it big in music, but utilizing these popular growth hacks could derail your career entirely.

Talking about a time in music where the only thing you needed to succeed was talent is like talking about the world before automobiles. Any musician breaking through in 2021 is doing so because they have much more than talent. Today’s stars are musicians, brand ambassadors, marketing directors, and social media wizards. They are plugged in and engaging with followers 24/7 while diversifying their revenue streams for long-term sustained growth. Being proficient as a musician is a plus, of course, but one can argue it’s not the most crucial element to success. At least not right now.

But here’s the thing. Many outstanding musicians have a genuine fear of never being hurt because they are not strong marketers. They worry that they’re a follower count or the number of likes they get on each Instagram post will somehow dictate the fate of their career. Despite having everything we tell each other you need to be a star, Carroll is musicians find themselves feeling desperate and helpless because they don’t know how to make the internet like them. It may read like a silly thing, but it’s not. The internet is the heart of culture. Artists either learn how to go with the flow, or they sink into anonymity.

When you Google advice for growing your digital presents, millions of articles regurgitate the same dozen or so ideas on making friends with strangers. In truth, the best advice is usually the simplest. People who make good content and treat others with kindness often rise to the top. How long that takes to accomplish depends on about a million factors, including how lucky you are with the uncaring algorithms, but it works if you work it.

A lot of the other ideas you find are more deceptive. Growth hacking is a work-intensive, systematic approach to undermining algorithms that rarely produces actionable results. These so-called tricks will have artists direct messaging strangers and engaging with old posts in a desperate attempt to attract followers. It’s the social media equivalent to “spray and pray,” only the results are somehow worse.

In this Music Biz update, host James Shotwell addresses five popular growth hacks for building online followings and the ways they can harm your career. He explains the difference between giving the appearance of an audience and having engaged followers and the many ways the industry will review an artist’s digital stats before working with them. Check it out:

Tags Growth Hacking, growth hacks, music biz, Music Biz 101, social media, Social Media Marketing, social media tips

Industry News News

Twitter Introduces Two New Revenue Streams For Artists

Post author By James Shotwell
Post date June 24, 2021

With the launch of Super Follows and Ticketed Spaces, social media giant Twitter is doing its part to help creators make more money online.

Twitter recently launched two new offerings that artists can earn from, though both are currently available to only a select amount of users. The first, Super Follows, enables creators to generate monthly revenue for themselves (and Twitter) by allowing users to subscribe to a feed for $2.99, $4.99, or $9.99 per month. Only users who are over the age of 18 and have at least 10,000 followers can enable the new super follows feature.

According to reports, Twitter will only take 3% of creators’ revenue after in-app purchase fees. But that’s on top of the 30% already charged by Apple and Google. Twitter also ups their cut as you begin making serious money. For example, after users exceed $50,000 lifetime earnings on Twitter, the app will take 20% of all future earnings after fees. That’s a jump from 33% to 50% of revenue taken before it enters the creator’s pocket. Compare that to something like Patreon, which only takes 5% to 12% of a creator’s earnings, with no concern about in-app purchases.

The other feature, Ticketed Spaces, hopes to leverage the recent popularity of audio-based social media for profit. Anyone eligible to create a Ticketed Space can set their ticket price between $1 and $999. Creators also control how many tickets can be sold, which might justify that near $1k price tag for a one-on-one meeting. Ticketed Spaces attendees are notified of the event through in-app notifications.

Anyone on Twitter over the age of 18 with at least 1,000 followers and three hosted Spaces can apply to use Ticketed Spaces. Access to Ticketed Spaces is limited for now, so everyone will need to apply. Twitter faces competition from Facebook, which has implemented something similar in its recently launched Facebook Live Audio Rooms.

Clubhouse, the platform that helped bring drop-in audio chats to the masses, allows users to tip anyone hosting an event. While that feature is useful, it redirects users to third-party services to complete the process. Those extra steps can be costly in more ways than one. Twitter Spaces, while tied to a fairly steep revenue share, streamlines the process.

One positive side effect of the ongoing pandemic is there more companies than ever are helping creative people make money online. From streaming platforms to social media, it seems everyone wants to be in business with people able to create digital spaces that draw users. These companies are also making a percentage of all the money everyone else makes, of course, but that’s the nature of business.

Tags social media, Twitter, Twitter Marketing, Twitter Spaces, Twitter Super Follows

Artist Advice Business Advice Editorials Industry News News

What To Do If You’ve Bought Fake Followers [Video]

Post author By James Shotwell
Post date June 15, 2021

Purchasing fake followers may sound like an easy path to rapid growth, but the potential fallout isn’t worth the risk.

Don’t buy fake followers. That message has echoed throughout social media in the music business for more than a decade. Unfortunately, to this day, artists worldwide continue to buy followers. Some even go as far as to buy fake streams and fake engagement.

The question I always ask is, why? What benefit is there to buying fake followers, streams, or engagement? Do the people who do this believe the rest of us won’t see what’s happening?

The goal of every artist is to forge a lasting connection with fans. Artists want to make the thing they make and connect with people who like what they create. Purchasing fake followers and streams does nothing to accomplish this goal. You can buy 10,000 streams of your new single for less than $50, for example, but you won’t make any money in that scenario.

Buying followers is even worse. People can see right through that. We know if an artist that has never had a hit single or successful tour suddenly has thousands of followers that something is wrong. We know that if you have one song with 1 million plays on Spotify and the rest have barely broken 1000 that you’ve either gone viral on TikTok or you’re actively buying streams. If we look at places where your music is most popular, and every top city is in a country you’ve never visited with fans you don’t try to engage with, it is immediately apparent that you’re trying to pull one over on everyone else.

Even if you can successfully fool ordinary people, you can never trick the algorithms. All Internet companies have spent every year of their existence mining data to understand their audience. The algorithms behind Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are so advanced that they can detect irregular behavior without human intervention. An individual working at those companies does not need to flag your account for the platform to recognize foul play. Algorithms can identify unusual behavior and take steps to correct it. Generally speaking, the means banning an account altogether or shadow-banning them (which drops organic reach to virtually nothing as a means of making future growth impossible.

At this point, it should be clear that purchasing fake engagement of any kind is bad for business. Not only will consumers and the industry at large see through it, but the algorithms that make these platforms run will do everything in their power to prevent you from further growth. Nothing will bring a career to its knees faster than being identified as a fraud outside of public controversy. It’s not worth it.

But what if it’s too late? What if you’ve already purchased fake followers or engagement or streams in the past? Is all hope lost? Of course not!

In the latest Music Biz update, host James Shotwell walks through the case against purchasing fake engagement. He explains how easy it is to fall victim to scams promising rapid growth and even plays footage of so-called click farms. James also advises anyone who has made this mistake in the past. He explains the proper way to reset your standing on the services to ensure you’re able to grow further in your career without the guilt and regret of past decisions. Check it out:

Tags Fake Followers, Fake Streams, music biz, Music Biz 101, Shadow ban, Shadow Banning, social media

Industry News News

How To Win Fans Without Annoying Your Audience [VIDEO]

Post author By James Shotwell
Post date April 20, 2021

Everyone wants to win fans online, but not everyone can grow their audience without alienating their listeners.

Digital promotion is a complicated proposition. On the one hand, it has never been easier to reach your audience and engage with fans regularly. At the same time, every attempt to grow that audience runs the risk of alienating the people who already love your music. As with many things in life, successful digital marketing it’s all about finding a balance, and we are here to help.

We believe it is entirely possible to steadily grow your audience without feeling tethered to social media at all times or driving yourself crazy trying to develop content ideas. Figuring out the right recipe for your career and audience will take time, but we can give you several things to consider when planning your future promotional efforts.

The most important thing you need to know about digital promotion is that people are more intelligent than you think. Nobody needs to be told where your music is available because they assume that it’s available everywhere. Very few artists only post their music to one or two platforms, so you don’t need to tell people where to find your art. Your music, like the music created by everyone else, is available wherever people consume music. That is the world we live in.

The next thing to consider is what type of contact you are creating. Most social media managers will tell you that they try to balance different pieces of content that entertain, educate, or inform. Some posts can do all three, but others may only tackle one or two. Here are some quick examples:

Entertaining content makes people feel something. Artists often use song clips and video teasers to elicit an emotional response from their audience.

Educational content teaches us something, such as how to pre-order your new record or follow your account on Spotify.

Informative content tells us something important, such as tour dates.

Once you figure out the type of contact you want to post, you may wonder how frequently you should be posting to various digital platforms. You can find many tutorials on maximizing reach online, but we recommend prioritizing your mental health above all else. You should only post every day if you have the content and time to do so. If that feels too overwhelming, then maybe posting two or three times a week instead is a better approach. Your fans will adjust their expectations to match your output, so as long as you develop a routine, whatever you choose to do will work.

In the latest Music Biz update, host James Shotwell teaches you how to win fans without annoying your audience. He walks through things most musicians do not consider before posting online and offers advice to make all your promotional efforts more welcoming to everyone they reach. Check it out:

Tags digital marketing, Fans, music biz, Music Marketing, Reach your fans, Reaching Your Fans, social media, Win Fans

Industry News News

Clubhouse has a BIG Problem (And We Have The Solution)

Post author By James Shotwell
Post date February 25, 2021

Clubhouse is the must-have social media app of 2021 that’s all-in on audio, but it’s leaving people with disabilities behind.

Clubhouse is the most popular new social media app to launch since TikTok. Every day, thousands join the invitation-only platform to participate in drop-in audio chats, and thousands more are searching online for someone who can grant them access. Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and numerous music industry influencers have already hosted successful Clubhouse events, and more people in power will no doubt use it to reach content consumers soon.

But Clubhouse has a big problem on its hands. Despite being the hot new app of 2021, the voice-focused platform creates unnecessary hurdles for people with speech, hearing, and vision-related disabilities. As one writer for Forbes put it, the app is now so exclusive that it excludes thousands of disabled people with no evidence of corrective developments on the horizon.

In this Music Biz update, host James Shotwell explains the utility of Clubhouse, the drawbacks to its UI, and ways the company can improve its service to make it more enjoyable for a more diverse audience.

Tags Accessibility, Cloudhouse Invites, Clubhouse, Clubhouse accessibility, Clubhouse App, Marketing, social media, Social Media Marketing

Artist Advice Business Advice Editorials Industry News News Writing Tips

The One Thing You Need To STOP Doing This Week

Post author By James Shotwell
Post date January 17, 2021

We are all suffering from the same problem, and it’s ruining our lives. Consider this an internet intervention.

Host James Shotwell opens this video with an apology. While we enjoy making videos to help you navigate the music industry and build a lasting career, we often overlook the problems people encounter on their journeys. Namely, we rarely mention the risk of technology addiction. We struggle with it, and we’re to bet you do as well.

3.96 billion people use social media today, which accounts for roughly half (51%) of the global population. The average social media user in the United States will spend more than two hours scrolling Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook daily.

And why do we do this? People everywhere have bought into the lie that life without social media is incomplete. We tell ourselves that being active is the best way to engage the world, take in new ideas, and build our professional profiles. We think posting and scrolling are doing something for us, but we’re merely consumers in reality. We hope to improve or change our lives, but all we accomplish is making tech companies more money while providing them with more data to keep us glued to our screens in perpetuity.

We hate how much of our lives are being wasted by feeding the idea that whatever small amount of serotonin the internet provides is better than the satisfaction of making or doing things that bring lasting joy. If you agree, then we have a solution anyone can use to take back control of their lives.

Tags Internet Addiction, Internet Intervention, music biz, Music Biz 101, social media, Social Media Addiction