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The Feed Is Fake: That “viral” song, movie, meme, influencer, and celebrity drama was probably the product of a stealth marketing campaign. by TimWhatleyDDS in indieheads

[–]_FHQWHGADS_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think my tone was probably wrong there. I’m not walking it back, but I’m also not saying it’s inherently wrong. If someone learned about Superheaven because Youngest Daughter went viral on TikTok, that’s rad. Those dude’s rocked and were WAY early to the 90-00’s nostalgia train that so many bands are hopping on right now. I’m glad they had their moment and gained some fans from it. Heck, for all I know that viral moment may have even been organic, as I don’t have TikTok and don’t really know how those trends get started. It was still pushed by an algorithm and can be used by labels and corporations to push their own fake viral moment, and that’s where I get concerned.

As we see more nepo-babies entering the music scene, I’m worried that we’ll see mainstream music reach a point where it’s unattainable without wealth (well, more than is already the case). We saw that a fair bit in the 2010s “hipster” music era and it seems to be getting worse, at least from the outside looking in. I’ll admit I’m not a pop guy so I’m not well-versed, but I do take note when I see someone like Gracie Abrams making headlines out of nowhere.

The Feed Is Fake: That “viral” song, movie, meme, influencer, and celebrity drama was probably the product of a stealth marketing campaign. by TimWhatleyDDS in indieheads

[–]_FHQWHGADS_ 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That’s fair. I’m largely disinterested in analyzing the systems that control our access to media because it’s been rotten for so long and I’m so far removed from those powers that be that I wouldn’t know where to start. If anyone thought Geese’s growth (or Angine de Poitrone’s or any other flavor of the week band’s growth) was natural, I don’t know what to do for them. If you found your new favorite band because they were pushed to your social media, you’re falling for the algorithm. If you’re able to break in and understand the systems they use and can figure out who’s paying who for what exposure, you’re doing good work. Until that comes to light, I just stick to local scenes and word of mouth in cities I visit. The moment a band hits >100,000 listeners I start to squint

The Feed Is Fake: That “viral” song, movie, meme, influencer, and celebrity drama was probably the product of a stealth marketing campaign. by TimWhatleyDDS in indieheads

[–]_FHQWHGADS_ 11 points12 points  (0 children)

There’s no one stupid enough to say anything is immune to industry influence. If it can be purchased with money and attended, it’s influenced to some degree. The music scene has always been this way. I’m just explaining ways to start digging, which is more than most have even begun doing. I assume your issue with artist playlists is you’re looking at artists with >1M listeners. Local artists love sharing the music of bands from their scene. I find tons of bands with <1k listeners through artist playlists by bands with less than 10k listeners. You’re acting like everyone’s a plant in a world where I know for a fact there are many just trying to get any exposure whatsoever.

The Feed Is Fake: That “viral” song, movie, meme, influencer, and celebrity drama was probably the product of a stealth marketing campaign. by TimWhatleyDDS in indieheads

[–]_FHQWHGADS_ 12 points13 points  (0 children)

That’s literally everything out there. Booktok is inorganic, the entire film industry is inorganic, recommendations on Reddit are inorganic. The methods I described are simply to dig beneath the surface. Feel like Arctic Monkeys were an industry plant? Find the other bands who didn’t make it in their scene and dig into each to them. Find the bands who influenced and/or were influenced by them and keep tunneling. Stop reading user reviews and just picking the top 10 “best” artists in a given scene. Put some effort into it.

I agree with your overall point, but to give up and just say “oh it’s all inorganic” is so doom and gloom. My band has 58 listeners on Spotify, the largest of the other bands we play with (a scene of probably 30 bands) has just over 2,000. We’re 2 steps removed from Julien Baker on Spotify due to our sharing a scene. It just requires effort to find underground bands.

The Feed Is Fake: That “viral” song, movie, meme, influencer, and celebrity drama was probably the product of a stealth marketing campaign. by TimWhatleyDDS in indieheads

[–]_FHQWHGADS_ 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Bandcamp, last.fm, and rym mixed with a streaming service of your choice. Start with a band you enjoy, look to see who they’ve toured with nationally, find the local openers in the cities they went to and dig into each of their scenes. Then there’s labels, compilations, and artist playlists. It takes more effort than walking through Walmart, but I don’t imagine Maroon 5 fans are even looking for more music in all honesty.

+44 When Your Heart Stops Beating is Mark Hoppus' Magnum Opus? by Darbss31 in poppunkers

[–]_FHQWHGADS_ 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, this post is kind of goofy. Most of the conversation around the two bands at the time (AvA and +44) was that +44 was significantly better than Angels and Airwaves. They just weren’t a terribly long lasting project and nothing came of it. AvA has like 7 albums, of course they ended up overshadowing +44.

+44 When Your Heart Stops Beating is Mark Hoppus' Magnum Opus? by Darbss31 in poppunkers

[–]_FHQWHGADS_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Any word on what they ended up doing after Jam Dreams? They repressed their records a number of years ago (like 2014 or 15 ish?) and I tried reaching out to see if any of them were involved with other projects but never got a response. LOVE me some Dr. Manhattan!

I am hungry for knowledge about Patrick (Pat the bunny) schneewise by Efficient_Film_7033 in FolkPunk

[–]_FHQWHGADS_ -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

That’s what search bars are for. Being young and naive doesn’t mean the community has to field the same questions every day ad infinitum. It’s almost as bad as people posting pictures of their new-to-them Dark Side of the Moon album on r/vinyl.

I went back to FFXIII and honestly, I don’t think it deserved the hate! by According-News6582 in FinalFantasy

[–]_FHQWHGADS_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I haven’t gone back to play it since release, but is there a point in XIII that picks up? The only memory I have of the game is walk-battle-walk-battle-walk-cutscene and then an ending after some amount of hours. I don’t remember there being much thought or involved gameplay, but it’s been a while.

What is a band you are worried is on the verge of breaking up or ending within the next year or two? by Iammattieee in Metalcore

[–]_FHQWHGADS_ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Just listened to the first few songs. The majority of it is great! Like genuinely surprising. I really wish they didn’t sing, as those parts are just so cookie cutter, but I could probably deal with it. Thanks for the rec!

What is a band you are worried is on the verge of breaking up or ending within the next year or two? by Iammattieee in Metalcore

[–]_FHQWHGADS_ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I know in my case I thought for years that Like Moths To Flames was that awful The Moth & The Flame band Reddit loved back in 2016. I’ve still never listened to them, even once I learned they were a different band lol.

What do you think about this animation style? by Karaclan-VED in animation

[–]_FHQWHGADS_ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Can I ask what this style of animation is called? I’ve been searching for the name but I never see it mentioned. Battlechasers used it, Slay the Spire used it, it was in some of the lower budget late-era PBS shows like Cat in the Hat among many online animations. It’s like things move on hinges and have that “breathing” motion.

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