Deveski: The 3 Hard Changes For Musicians

DEVESKI: The 3 Hard Changes Needed To Be Made By Musicians in 2022

Joel “Deveski” Devereux from FNQ Originals gives his experience and knowledge to deliver some invaluable information for musicians in 2022.

It’s funny when I think back to the mid 1990’s and how everything was starting to change.

With my overwhelming need to impress girls with my knowledge of playing Offspring and Oasis songs on an acoustic guitar, and the introduction of the internet, you could tell even then that it was going to be the future of entertainment. I remember the very first mp3 made, which was “Just A Girl” by No Doubt, and I was amazed it was a full quality song downloaded over the internet. Times were about to change, and the first Reset was on its way.

As 2022 looms over us during its 3/4 mark, with its increasing living costs and corporations recording record profits, one of the things that we always hope stays the same, and that is the entertainment industry. Unfortunately that is not the case and hasn’t been for a long time. We all still work as a community, and more so now here at Cairns FM as we see the start of Cairns Festival and the great talent on show. Its time we modify the things we do.

Some traditional rules no longer work, so here is my 3 hard changes that people can do to help them maximise their brand as a musician:

REALITY: Music Videos only work for people who are already established and have a huge following.

I was a massive music video producer. If I look back on everything I have done in my life, producing music videos was the thing I did the longest. From Little Birdy, Kate Miller Heidke etc, doing a great artistic video to a great song was always part of the process. It breaks my heart that in today’s climate that music videos no longer have the same relevance as they once did. Today is about Tik Tok and shorter media content. As the organisation behind Tik Tok about to launch their own music streaming service within their app, at this stage, breaking down one videos into 5-10 unique videos around 30 secs each with sections of your single is going to be a lot more effective. As our society become more attention deficient, breaking things up into bite size pieces makes it more palatable for people to absorb your content. Spotify and traditional streaming services are also becoming last generation, as Gen Z prefer to use Tik Tok and Soundcloud as their platforms of choice.

REALITY: The ability to be forgotten for being terrible or procrastinating with your music brand is literally once.

In today’s world, there is no excuse for bad or clumsy communication. As I sit drinking my coffee in the morning whilst doing things writing this article, the constant of seeing people ignoring messages and phone calls whilst flipping mindlessly through Instagram or Tik Tok is all too common. During my time at the radio station, I have had mixed results with people and their ability to communicate their brand, and to take it seriously. The truth is, if you can’t communication or procrastinate with organising things, then people won’t bother and you’ll just be another musician/songwriter who once was. The ones who work hard, network with people, take on constructive criticism to move forward, will always be the one who succeeds regardless of talent. If you feel you don’t have it in you, find someone who is happy to be your manager/publicist.

REALITY: The Music Industry Was Never Designed To Make Money From Music Recordings

When Record Labels realised they could make money from selling records, it was seen as bonus revenue from the live shows, endorsements, TV appearances, and other non music related activities that saw as the “Real Money”. It was always seen that the music was just the ‘calling card’ for the artist in order for people to become invested in your brand and what you were offering as part of being an artist. Early radio play followed by MTV refusing to play to promote music saw Record Labels scrambling to keep that revenue. Profiteering from Records Labels came to a rough end in the late 90s loomed and Napster launched and all of a sudden, and music sales started to drop.

Interestingly what they don’t talk about, was the launch of the musical discovery during this time. Myself, personally would get random burnt CD’s of songs from musicians I’d never heard. I went to these artists shows, bought merchandise, and become a fan, which in hindsight was more valuable to the artist. Spending time stressing that you spend thousands of dollars recording your music, hoping to get back money, that is just not going to happen unless you start getting a following and you can start selling CD’s and vinyl as merchandise. Treat your songs on streaming services as the same calling card as it has always been. Allow people to become a fan from your music and be rewarded by fans supporting your music in other ways. This goes for your local musicians peers as well. Support them by buying merchandise, using their phones in Instagram Stories and Tik Toks and help them rediscover been discovered.

These are to used as a guide, and I’m sure there are things that work for you. Soon, we are going to showcase some artists as a learning resource.

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