Welcome back to The Club List, a newsletter about making a business out of what you love.

This is right around when New York gets extra-fun - it’s not summer yet, but it’s definitely spring! Skip ahead to the List of Clubs for a couple of enjoyable things you should know about. You won’t be short on options this weekend, and I’m looking forward to being out in it after being on the road for chunks of March and April.

Today’s letter is for those of you who aren’t quite comfortable posting your artistic wins in an era where the networks are noisy and everything seems to be on fire. This could be multiple issues and a lot of unpacking, quite easily. As you’ll see, the only real right way is to create what you create first - and then try, consistently, after.

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“Do I Have To Do It?”

There’s an increasingly popular new trend among people making things online: they are really, profoundly uncomfortable with Business As Usual on social media.

And who can blame them?

We’re right on the edge of an economic recession as I write this, with US GDP contracting during the first quarter of 2025. If Q2 goes like that, it’s a recession, not conjecture. Tariffs are squeezing independent artists, many of whom either rely on overseas bulk orders for products they convert into sellable work (for visual artists) or are suddenly realizing that a good bit of gear they would use to make records with has gone way up in price. Even if some of this eases up, it’s an uneasy period.

So it shouldn’t really surprise anyone that a fair number of artists are checking out from doing things online without a clear reason.

In other words, they don’t want to be on social media purely for the sake of doing it.

I’m noticing this most clearly among newer artist clients I’ve worked with in the past few months, who all seem to want to take different approaches from the usual “flood Instagram and TikTok” directive that was previously assumed as the primary tactic for anyone with albums to promote and tickets to sell. It’s not hard to see why. We have no way to know if TikTok will even be around through this year in the US, and its algorithm has gotten way harder to catch a boost from. Instagram is doing exactly what every Meta property eventually does, which is “force everyone to use a new mechanic by putting an algorithmic spike on it, and then slowly make it less useful until you’re buying ads to reach your existing fanbase.” Reels are still pretty useful, but not like six months ago, and we all know they’re going to keep shifting down. Same-day posts about a show? Forget about it. The algorithm on Instagram is going to make sure everyone sees it two days after it happened; the savvy know to prepare accordingly, but you shouldn’t have to be an expert to use this stuff.

If you just want a platform that works, it’s hard to want to opt in to Instagram when it shows you tough news for your business and an attention economy supported by diversions from the tough news. I’m a daily user, and I wholeheartedly understand why someone wouldn’t want to be there.

So I deal with a fair number of musician clients lately who are taking a totally different approach. Some are skipping these platforms entirely and mainly putting themselves on YouTube, or purposefully deciding they’re going to post very minimally on socials except when they have something to share. Most of them are not at the level where they can rely solely on direct-to-fan campaigns, which may work for someone like James Blake but can only connect to an extent for someone who is still growing an audience from square one. We love to say “direct-to-fan” in the current music industry, but we’re not collectively great at giving artists the tools to do that.

And so, when I suggest to these artists that they should have at least a cursory presence on Instagram, I sometimes now get this question:

“Do I have to do it?”

First of all - you’re the artist. I’m a day-one subscriber to the idea that rock ’n’ roll is about rebellion, in any of its forms, even if it’s a safer “I can’t express my feelings anywhere else and I need quiet time with a guitar and you” kind of rebellion. So, no. You don’t have to do it. You don’t have to do a damn thing that stands in the way of your expression. And I’ve known far, far too many artists who spend so much time worrying about whether they’re presenting themselves “correctly” or whether they’re proficient enough as players or whether they’ll ever be well-paid following this path that they don’t actually follow through and make anything. Don’t end up like this.

Secondly - when it comes to Instagram specifically, people use it like Google when they’re trying to find a band they already like. It serves everyone to have a page parked there that’s for your music. Does it have to be connected to the rest of you online? No. Do you have to post on it? No! You should, at bare minimum, have one post that explains you aren’t really there much and then a link to your website (or Linktree, or beacons.ai which is better and gives you traffic data more easily than a Linktree!), and also have your email somewhere on it. There you go. Instant parked page, which maybe you rarely post anything that isn’t tour dates and an album announcement on, if even that.

If your people aren’t on Instagram - or YouTube, or TikTok, or even anywhere in the physical world - you don’t have to be there. You will reach new people over time by being in places your people don’t already exist, but it’s not a requirement. You don’t have to do anything just because you see other musicians doing it.

And that’s where we get to my third point:

From a marketing standpoint, you should be where your people are. It’s really that simple.

If you want them to come find you elsewhere, you have to make it very easy for them.

I spend a lot of time helping people develop their marketing funnels, and let me tell you what: the average human browsing your pages is not observant. They don’t know to join your mailing list unless you are bluntly telling them to do it and where, even if they love your last three singles and came looking for a way to subscribe to your every move. They won’t click on that link in bio unless you are giving them reason to do it, because they only have a few moments on your page and the rest of the Internet is yelling at them to look elsewhere.

As an example: if I were launching a music project tomorrow and didn’t want to use Instagram and TikTok regularly, how would I set it up to reach people?

Well, I would have it parked more places than usual. I would have Bluesky parked with my own website as the handle, which is some wild shit on paper but pretty easy to set up. I would have Instagram parked because I know people will search for me on it; I would not have TikTok parked because you can’t link out from one externally until you clear 1,000 followers, but I might park it anyway if I had a really great artist name that shouldn’t be taken. I would have Threads parked, even if I hated it. I would have Facebook parked so no one can take my page name, and also so that if I ever decide to post something on Instagram, I could set it up to cross-post automatically without me having to log onto the cursed Facespace. I would have YouTube parked, Bandcamp parked, a fresh mailing list set up with Beehiiv that can at least do emails 2-3 times a year, and I’d have flyers with my next shows on it and a QR code or a link to hear stuff printed up at my local coffee shop. That would just be for starters.

And when the venue I’m playing next wants to know how I’m promoting my show, I’m going to list all of that, and also mention that I don’t use Instagram but I’m going to post about it there once and then flyer like crazy around town to make up for it. And then I’d tell my local subReddit about the show, in whatever way I could that wouldn’t get me permabanned.

Yes, some of what you do as an artist on social media is about meeting the expectations of your collaborators. That includes venues, and it also includes band members.

But if you really want to dial it in your own way, you can! Just be prepared, because it will take some work if you want to close the gap.

I like this kind of thinking though because it requires moving with intentionality. You’re not expecting Meta’s annoying algorithms to make your show a sell-out. You’re commanding attention, opting out of some of the usual mess in your own fashion, and it can be made into a statement on how you want to function in the modern attention economy. You’re taking “do-it-yourself” seriously.

So let’s revisit the original question:

“Do I have to do it?”

Do you have to market yourself? If you want to build an audience, yes. You have to do some online stuff, and some physical world stuff, with consistency.

But that doesn’t mean you have to do “get ready with me” videos (I had a client who was very relieved to learn this). It doesn’t mean you have to post on the same social network a hundred times a year, or even five times a month.

Think about how you want to move in the world. What you would do to find an artist. How you’d want to be talked to, and also talked with, because it’s Social Media, after all.

You can do that at a distance from listeners, in an occasional but deliberate way. Or you can invite people into your living room. 

You don’t have to be a dancing monkey on a network you don’t like.

There are lots of ways to reach people nowadays.

Just get started. And then consider how you’re doing it, and keep doing that. And remember that making art is why you’re doing this in the first place - and art is often about knowing some rules, and then breaking them with glee.

One Thing You Can Use Today

Explanation is the next level of mastery.

Have you ever been in a position where you are absolutely, intrinsically sure you know what you are doing as you go along - even while learning - but then struggle to explain your work?

I’ve seen managers, CEOs, and band leaders get stressed when a high performer can’t explain how they are doing something. This has a way of making you afraid to take risks in a group setting. 

But the process of learning and then practicing a new task comes long before explaining it.

And if you’re an artist, you know this intrinsically.

Consider:

A significant portion of the painting process involves not just using brushstrokes you have already learned will work in a situation, but also in adjusting the work as you go. This is a multisensory task. You’re molding the canvas, the colors, and possibly even the brush’s own movement. There may be some trial and error.

Does that mean you aren’t doing the work? Far from it. You are doing the most work.

Ask a guitarist about this. Playing a part fast is difficult, until you learn it. Playing a part so well that you can slow down to half-speed and teach it to someone is even harder. You no longer have muscle memory alone to rely on there - you have to know where your fingers are going, and why.

It’s the same thing with mastering a task, or doing sales work, or operating in an office environment in general. And it can be the same with improvisation.

Muscle memory is learning getting internalized. But you will struggle to explain it. The work is still being done - you just aren’t at the explanation stage.

If you ever get down on yourself for feeling too “autopilot” about a process you’re still actively doing, remember this.

Track of the Week

Model/Actriz - “Diva”

For the record, it’s pronounced like “model actress,” and it wasn’t until I finally saw them that I sorted this out. I’ve been a mega-fan of this band since their debut album Dogsbody, which topped my 2023 year-end list and still gets repeat plays in every set of speakers I have. Now, they’re unequivocally the best band in New York right now, and arguably the most exciting new American band period. “Diva” was the last single to come out before their much buzzed-about new album Pirouette, but its magnificence still has me floored after many weeks. Built around a post-punk-gone-industrial-meets The Neptunes sort of hook, Cole Haden’s tales of cruising on tour in Europe hit with a surreal, existentialist joy you can only fully know if you’re used to being the strangest soul at every party and running the dance floor while you do that.

Spotify | Apple Music | Bandcamp

List of Clubs

These are the kinds of clubs I’d like to be in around NYC! Wherever you might find music, art, or a compelling experience under one roof, that’s a club to me. I only list clubs I’d enjoy going to. If I list a client, you’ll know.

Saturday, May 10 (day) - Caspar David Freidrich @ The Met
If you’re a huge nerd for this master of creepy landscapes, join me. His part in the sprawling Met is open through this weekend.

Saturday, May 10 (evening) - ANTICS Magazine Issue 3 Release @ Trans Pecos
Every release show ANTICS does is stacked, and this one is no exception. It’s also pretty affordable for a show with this level of three-band card. Get into it!

Through Next Week - The Dare residency @ Baby’s All Right
Seven days, seven sold-out shows. If you’ll be at the Wednesday show, you’ll see me in the club. I’m also noting it here because Baby’s did something really smart with this residency and posted access codes for a second batch of tickets in their newsletter today, so if you were quick, you might be going now. Who’s to say they won’t do it again?

Thanks for reading! And now, an image of me in the club…

The Club List is a newsletter from MeInTheClub.com. All issues are available at TheClubList.net. To inquire about marketing services for your work, contact [email protected] and include "Services” in the subject line.