open chord 001
in defence of marketing
First of all: you are receiving this email because at some point between 2021 and today, you signed up for email communication from me. If you don’t feel like it anymore, that’s totally okay- please send me a note and I’ll remove you from the list. xoxo
I love my friends' newsletters. I revel in Lula's lush visual diaries about her culinary interests; I am driven to reflection by Sadie's wry and poignant observational writing. I wish all of my friends had newsletters so that I could peek inside their brains.
That’s why I am starting my own- how could I ask that of people without sharing myself?
open chord was born of a need to coalesce dreams about creativity, community, and marketing. As an independent musician, I am thinking about one, two, or all three of these things at any given time.
As artists, the primacy of creativity is pretty obvious. Community, too, is a close fit- just about any artist with an exciting career has the ability to foster and leverage community.
But marketing? I know your eyes are glazing over. Disassociating, transported to industry panels in eggshell hotel conference rooms where native short-form video content and post-every-day strategies (but make it ~authentic) are touted as golden tickets to boosting ROI. (I’m speaking from a music perspective, but I’m sure every industry has its proxy).
That kind of marketing works for a lot of creative people, but I find it dry and depleting.
Thesis: Marketing in conversation with creativity and community can be just as inspiring as the process of making the art you want to market.
I am going to try out some new stuff here, including stepping away from social media. If you want to stick around and learn with me while I workshop different ways to build a life in the arts, I would be so happy to have you.
OUT: goals, products, arrival, achievement. IN: process, becoming, failing, trying it out.
If you have any thoughts or feedback, I would be SO happy to hear from you!