Why Do Producers Always Seem to Have More Problems Than Solutions?
A rant....kindof
What’s up Forum,
Normally, I try to keep topics light, fun, and informative, but lately, there has been an influx of absolutely loathsome content spewing out of some creators in the producer space.
I want to preface this by saying this does NOT apply to all creators in the music space but rather to creators who keep mentioning the ‘producer community.’ After some analysis, I’ve come to understand this as the community with hip-hop, boom-bap, or lo-fi as their sub-niche in the production space.
If you don’t follow many creators in this space, you’re really not missing out on much.
If you’ve seen one (redacted) video, you’ve essentially seen them all. Which essentially brings me to my point.
Producers in the content space, who complain about the problem in the space are 100% the problem themselves.
Each one of us has a choice: to either be the change or the shining star example of what a content creator is OR to succumb to our lesser desires, spew hatred, and superimpose blame.
Im sure that if you asked, most creators are choosing the red pill. However, I believe these individuals to be colorblind.
When you decide not to do the work and hang out with friends, drink, smoke, and be merry—or perhaps decide to spew venom at large companies or claim that you don’t care about your audience—you’ve effectively chosen the blue pill. Why? because it’s the one that tastes good.
The red pill requires work. It requires looking inward, saying “am I doing what it takes to improve the current situation?”. It requires not getting upset at the investment of thousands of dollars in music equipment rendered obsolete by Kontakt or Logic Pro.
Red pill requires doing the real work, which means outside of looking at data, trends and adjusting your content strategy to match that of your target audience the internal work. Red pill requires not just complaining about the problem, but getting out and being the shining example of what is supposed to happen in the industry, it's easy to point the finger and say
I could easily name the creators that I'm thinking of; however, in all transparency, these are black men, and I'm not gonna throw them under the bus for the sake of content, but what I am going to do is call them out on their bullshit.
It seems like
every other stream these guys hop on and complain and rant about some other person inside the community.
While I understand venting one's frustrations, at a certain point the scales tip and the constant rhetoric become venomous towards the entire ecosystem. So, in those instances, who are they really servicing, and how is that content benefiting them?
Looking at other places inside the music community, you can see that people are offering solutions to problems like: ‘how to play an instrument’, ‘how to mix’, ‘how to produce pluggnb’, how to connect with people, etc., whereas People who use the term ‘producer community’ often look at the community IE other creators and point fingers.
Now contrary to what this post may sound like, I really don't have any problems with any of the creators inside of the community. If anything, I find most of the content somewhat engaging. I only begin to scrutinize when producers start pointing fingers at other creators in the community as if they are the single issue or part of the problem at large.
After hearing so much of this content, it starts to sound like a bunch of grown-ass men with wives, kids, families, and responsibilities outside of music complaining about the current status of music, and subsequently masking their frustrations at their popularity or relevance in the landscape by calling out other content creators.
No matter how long you've been making music or what accolades you have accrued, respect and acknowledgment don't always equal admiration or support from fans and followers in the content space. You have to provide value, plain and simple. Or at least be entertaining enough to justify a new sub, like, or donation. Just because you open your mouth doesn't mean people will subscribe to your program or continue to buy your recycled drum packs.
I saw a creator, comparing the lack of collaboration in the producer community with the likes of KSI and Kai Senat…
So, let's juxtapose these characters against those in the ‘producer community’. Kai Senat is signed to AMP and Prime. (AMP which is a large content house and Prime as in the gaming/streaming platform) while KSI is signed to Warner.
Collaboration between these two companies means audience sharing between the two larger brands. It may not seem like much, but every time somebody subs, donates a sub, offers a donation, or even, in some instances, sells merch, the creator gets a piece of revenue, and so does the platform (or label).
So, after building a following and signing to said companies, it's mutually beneficial for the parties to continue in collaborative efforts as the revenue in the brand presence is further expanded. And that opportunity comes with a certain level of responsibility, you can tell by the content.
Its also safe to say these guys provide inspiration in some fashion for their supporters. Somwhere there is some viewer who says "I want to be like Kai, or iShowSpeed, or KSI”. and that desire to be like is winning them attention.
I would assume someone who is successful in music would inspire the same sentiment in their viewership right? well…
If we look at the ‘producer community’, we have producers who are highlighting free plug-ins over paid plugins, some telling their audience that they don't care about them and they’re bots, and others saying that the large companies are lying to them or scamming them. Again sounding like a bunch of begrudgingly rejected old men slow to accept their status in the ‘producer community’.
who wants to be like that? And especially when revenue is concerned, who wants to support and/or partner with that?
While, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I see nothing wrong with expressing that. What I do find erroneous is the expectation that one’s following should grow and that brands (including smaller creators) would want to partner with said creators when the type of content being produced is of such low quality.
So, in summary, I say that the problem in the community is the community itself. It's each individual creator and the problems that they present and fail to solve, myself included.
Or more directly,
To all of you negative content creators.