I pulled up at this hotel on Cremazie and walked into the foyer. The event flyer said 6:00 PM start time, and it was 5:50 PM. Two things were memorable, I did not know where the event was happening at the hotel and there were not that many people there... yet.
Inevitably I was guided to the restaurant and sat down. Slowly people began to arrive and I realized how different this Talk 4 Talk 11 event would be from my usual soirees.
Lately I have craved a new infusion into my social network. I desire new opportunities and ways of thinking. I was ready.
Montreal is a bilingual city
As people arrived, I realized this event was going to lean on the French side of conversation. The completely French flyer should have clued me into this but I rarely notice that kind of thing. Quebec language laws be what they are and I’m functionally bilingual.
I am loathe to say I am fully bilingual. The reason for this becomes super clear to me when 4 qualified professionals start spitting that panel talk in French.
The conversation was mostly French. It was interesting and informative but should the language be a challenge for you, it should be said I struggled follow along sometimes. I’m grateful I was able to catch 75% of the panel discussion.
I also zoned out like I was in class a few times, focusing on coversations where i need to sit there and shut up is not a strength of mine.
This section is not to say English folk should dodge future Talk 4 Talk events. If you choose to ask a question in English or engage in English everyone is cool. The panelists even made efforts to respond more in English when appropriate.
I know if I attend more, I’ll be exposed to environments that will keep my French sword sharp. The other real benefit to attending this event is all the cool knowledge nuggets we came away with.
Algorithmic signals matter
The Talk 4 Talk panel contained expertise from managers, distributers and people who know how the music game works, meaning they get paid. The numbers they quoted representing involved millions and arguably they play in a tier we are still scheming on getting to.
Something that came up was the threat of curated playlists. These are playlists where someone chooses to add your song manually. Sometimes these can lead to bad signals for the algorithm.
The algorithm is watching for signals like:
How many song skips
How often does the song play go past 30 seconds
How many people save the song
When the algorithm is involved in pushing your music, it target people who will most likely enjoy your music. This usually means less skips, more saves, and better signals.
The threat of curated playlists is that someone may place you on a playlist where the audience decides to pass over your song. This tells the algorithm the track is not a bop and can actually hurt your algorithmic chances down the line.
To me this is relevant when people are begging to get on any old playlist or paying to add their song somewhere that it does not fit. Curated playlists can still be a dope source of exposure when tastemakers discover you and want to put you in front of the right people.
Focus Track Is Useful Jargon To Know
The panelists kept mentioning an artist's focus track. This term is used when describing the best song that represents an artist. Knowing the industry folk prefer this term is useful.
Jargon can often be a gatekeeper of opportunity. People like to work with people they can communicate easily with. Jargon serves the role of any gang marker, quickly allowing members to see who is in the squad.
Using the right jargon can help you present yourself like you know more than you do. At the very least you were clever enough to learn the right terms to use. That shows a willingness to learn.
Also, that term is never used among my rapper’s club I’m part of. We should learn more how distributers, managers and other people will represent us. More importantly how to talk that talk so we can walk that walk.
No one wants to talk to the artist
Soul.I.Am was in the crowd and asked an insightful question, one I wanted to know the answer to. How do we meet the important people we’re all supposed to meet?
The real truth is artists tend to be kept out of the business side of it. This is less a conspiracy and more pragmatism. Each link in the chain wants to deal with the people who can efficiently say what needs to be said, understanding and playing their role to the fullest.
It’s also a relationship game. A huge part of a manager’s responsibility is to talk on behalf of their artist to develop the relationships necessary to advance the artist’s career. The manager and the other business oriented folk are definitely motivated by their own goals and specialize in how to deal with art properly.
This still leaves us with how does one even get a manager, or some kind of representation. Behind every event there are organizations. Look up the organizations that throw events you want to be a part of and reach out to them directly.
Keep in mind you are pitching these people. Don’t approach them like, “Hi, I make music”. Give them a taste of who you are, why you matter and what you are trying to do with your career. If you need help with making yourself sound appealing, holla, we got you.
Niche audiences are a flex
We live in an algorithm world when it comes to streaming and playlisting. Far too often we compare ourselves to successful people in other cities and ignore the holes in the local markets. Playing to what’s popular is a strategy, but so is carving out a niche audience.
To find a niche, you need to do 2 things. Figure out how you are weird and then figure out how other people are weird.
A good niche is something true to yourself that you are passionate about. Understanding your own weirdness will help you find the parts of your creativity that stand out. Seeing how other people are weird will make sure that what you are doing isn’t something that is already saturated.
A common mistake in the quest to be authentic is to ignore your peers. Far too often I’ve heard the same indie songs talk about the same subjects. Each artist having followed a similar journey to their truth. While it's super ground breaking to them, to everyone else it is a regular revelation.
To really tap into the niche world, you need to understand where you are relative to the mainstream. This will let you draw in your community and double down on the right things. Paving your own lane requires you knowing enough to not pave over someone else’s lane and call it your own.
Embracing the niche life is about fostering a community. Focus on that and the algorithm can use that communities’ preferences to show you to new people and grow your audience.
Spotify Discovery is Lit – With a marketing plan
I have anecdotally had some success with Spotify Discovery. My success equates to 4000 listeners being exposed to my track Clap Those Hands because Spotify felt people would like it. I lacked a marketing plan to capitalize on that growth and it ended there.
A marketing plan lets you tell the story of your song/project and increase interest in it. This may be done via creative assets, live performances or anything else you can think of. There should be some path the new listeners can follow to get sucked into your ecosystem.
A constant theme across the panelists was the need for proper strategy. This is because stuff like the Spotify algorithm may decide to push your music to new people. You need strategy to not waste those opportunities.
Spotify’s Discovery tools are completely based on algorithms and behaviour. If enough people like music similar to yours, you will get recommended to them. If those people play you enough, you get exposed to more and more until the signals go sour. Getting more people in your corner to spin the song from external sources is helpful.
Fun fact, Spotify Radio spins count as radio spins as far as SOCAN is concerned.
Make sure to scope out and understand what genres your music can play into. Maybe you think you are a Hip Hop artist but do better in Alternative. Anything genre related is really open to interpretation and the right combination of metadata and sound can do wonders for your track.
FylX Performance & Talk 4 Talk
After the panel was done, FylX and his man performed some dope melodic vibes. They did 2 tracks that came as a fun break. At this point it felt like school was done and it was okay to duck outside and come back with a different aroma. I was polite and waited till FylX was done as there was a scheduled break after.
This was a networking event in my eyes and I managed to walk out with a few more instagrams contacts and new connects. There were label people and managers there. If any of my artist peers want to know where managers are, they are at these kind of events.
Following the break was more of an open discussion. The moderator would respond to the individual comments made by the crowd. I enjoyed the conversation enough to participate. The main theme was the urban industry versus the mainstream, but basically was “the Montreal/your city problem”.
Yes that problem is in all the cities. It’s not exclusive to whatever place you are, where you feel it is worse. The music scene is a saturated world with insane competition. People need to focus on their craft and get their knowledge up to really compete beyond the super tiny local markets.
The open discussion is cool because you get a lot of PRSPCTVS and food for thought. You can also ask whatever question you want in a room where someone is likely to have an answer for you. Even if that answer comes privately after the event is done.
Final Thoughts & Recommendation
This Talk 4 Talk 11 event was well worth the 30$ I spent. This definitely feels like going to school, but the subject matter is directly related to stuff that affects my “day to day” music life.
The real caveat is that you need to understand French to truly appreciate it. You don’t need to speak well, but since a lot of the chat is going to be in fast paced natural French, it’s worth mentioning again.
I believe not attending the past editions of this event, or other events like this, was a blunder on my end. I want to know how to really win in this game and that starts with hearing from real deal professionals. Plus everyone in that room knows you are there to learn, that is only going to make people take you more seriously.
Live long and prosper everyone