The Manipulation of Independent Musicians

Through isolation and attention on social media platforms

Four years ago Mustard was welcomed into the independent music community. Their introduction to this community was through social media platform TikTok during the global pandemic. Like many others Mustard found refuge through videos curated to their interests. Without us (and our information/data) the algorithm does not get fed. Through likes and re-shares Mustard did their part in feeding the algorithm. At that same time they were also on other social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. It is through these platforms that Mustard met many incredible independent artists determined to get their music heard. Each day these artists would upload a new video teasing an upcoming song or sharing cryptic photographs through Instagram. This would become routine, expected. With each video (or photo) they hoped to earn another pre-save on their new song or gain a new follower. Cycles like this should eventually end but they do not. Because the goal of social media platforms such as these is to keep its users in a constant loop.

Independent musicians have been manipulated by platforms whose only concern with their art is not the substance of what they make but how they engage with it. Leaving or directing your followers elsewhere is a sin. Artists need to state that their link is in the bio (or story) in order not to upset the algorithm. Because as Mustard mentioned earlier it must always be fed. The algorithm takes from our hand and is never fulfilled. It always wants more. Much like those in charge of these platforms.

All of this content leads to Spotify. Spotify is the mall that everyone hangs out at but aimlessly wanders through. As we trek through the mall we are greeted with ads meant to entice and intrigue us. Perhaps if we buy that product our life will be better. Spotify, like the mall, hopes you use its directory. The directory will guide you. Through its guidance you will seek everything you were looking for and perhaps more. It - like its conspiracies want you to stay as long as possible. Social media and Spotify win when its users are isolated and contained.

Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, claimed last year through Twitter that the cost of “creating content” is “close to zero” in a tweet. The owner of the mall, in which many populate, does not even consider music - music. Rather it is simply content. Music will outlive billionaires who only consider themselves (and their shareholders.) The art in which an independent musician makes is more than just “content.” As an independent artist you know this. So much goes into releasing even one song. Mustard has said this before but being an independent artist is a full-time job. It is a full-time job as artists now need to be concerned about creating “content” for these platforms because the algorithm must be fed at all times.

The algorithm must be fed and those that feed it earn pennies. Because music is viewed as “content” the labor that goes making it is not considered valuable or essential.

Seth Werkheiser

(of Social Media Escape Club) and

Kate Ellen

(of Little Door) highlight this in their comprehensive Ghosting Spotify guide.

But now, Spotify has added insult to injury by implementing a policy where tracks with fewer than 1,000 annual streams earn nothing at all. For independent artists pouring their hearts into their craft, this means their work can literally generate zero income, reinforcing a system where only the already-popular can survive.3

This royalty structure isn’t just unfair—it’s predatory by design, sending a clear message to musicians: Your art has no inherent value unless it’s already winning the algorithm’s lottery.

Know that you do not need to feed the algorithm. You do not need these platforms in order to cultivate a community. Having followers on these platforms is nice, sure, but it is not sustainable. How many of them do you actually speak with or know? That is the difference between a community and following. In a community you all know one another and work on helping each other. Remaining isolated through these platforms does not help you build a community; it hinders it.

Mustard reached out to

Seth Werkheiser

to talk about artists innate need to want to the feed algorithm and how they manipulate us. They have helped many ditch these platforms that manipulate its user base and build a genuine community without the isolation and false comfort of social media.

Social media platforms survive because we feed the algorithm. Independent artists are told that they need social media in order to grow and succeed. How do these platforms manipulate users to their benefit? As someone who helps others escape social media what advice would you give to those interested in transitioning off these platforms?

Seth: The social media platforms manipulate us the same way casinos do - sometimes they pay out, most times they don't. It's like a scratch off lottery ticket - you might win, but you probably won't. Social media is the same game. One of your posts might really "take off," but then your next dozen might flop, but that's why we keep logging in and playing the game, because the next one might hit!

Cory Doctorow writes about it like seeing someone at the local carnival walking around with a giant teddy bear. It's maddening difficult to actually win one, but they'll make sure some folks get one and walk around with it because then it's a big advertisement - look what you can win!

Social media is the same thing. An artist will go viral, and that's just a signal to everyone else "hey, this could be you! Step right up!"

As someone who helps others escape social media what advice would you give to those interested in transitioning off these platforms?

Seth: Consider that if you replaced the 5+ hours per week you spend on social media if you instead spent those five hours writing music. Or instead of posting, consider sending emails to people in your market and field that could help you grow, or maybe collaborate on something. Think about working with other artists like designers, or animators, or video folks, and making something together - then you're making cool work, and you're being introduced to their audience as well.

And always be building an email list. I know it sounds archaic, but people still buy cassettes and vinyl records, both of which will outlast Meta and Twitter, I promise. Play shows, make music, work with other cool people - that's how you build a fanbase. Having an email list means you can actually reach that fanbase.

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Through this isolation these platforms earn your attention. Attention is what matters. They know that your attention is shortening and do everything in their power to make sure you continue to scroll and scroll and scroll and scroll until it becomes a habit that is hard to break. Once that happens they have won. The more we feed the algorithm the bigger bonus they receive and the less you get - and you just need to deal with it. Your (hopeful) apathy means they continue to win.

Mustard recently rejoined Instagram with this essay in mind. Nothing has changed. Two minutes into the platform and they observe artists seeking pre-saves, asking to share their latest reel, or to like and leave a comment on their newest post. It is a tiring experience and one that does not make you feel good. But whether or not you feel good on the platform is none of their concern. What matters is that these platforms have your attention. Attention is currency and independent artists are not getting cut a check.

Last week Mustard shared the following on their Instagram story. Because not everyone sees your story on Instagram Mustard was unsure of the response they would receive. To the surprise many artists feel passionately about this topic and reached out interested in wanting to participate.

To those that responded Mustard sent them a set of three questions. Below is a collection of everyone’s answers regarding this topic.

TV Wonder is an independent nerd rock band from Austin Texas.
Fruit Clinic is a rock and roll band from New England.
Rachel Bearinger is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Annabelle Grace is a upcoming artist from Melbourne, Australia.
Kate White is a singer-songwriter from Boston, Massachusetts.
Omlet is a playful singer-songwriter from the sunburn kingdom of Naples, Florida
Britta Joseph is an independent musician and writer from Sacramento California. They write for Swim Into Sound and Start-Track.

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Would you be able to share more about your experience using social media as an independent artist?

TV Wonder: TV Wonder's social media presence is focused on Instagram and TikTok. Instagram is more for professional announcements, like shows, sharing a new song, or promoting our friends' music, while TikTok is more for informal vids trying to reach a broader audience with our music.

It's hard to say how much of an impact it's had overall, but the barrier for entry is super low and the financial cost to start making "content" is practically nothing (after the cost of your phone and recording your song). The real cost is that energy that could be used on creative pursuits is now directed towards "marketing" and the mental effort of trying to "win" the algorithm.

Fruit Clinic: I’ve been promoting my music online since 2018. Over the years, the experience of using social media has changed drastically. In the old days of the internet, users had dedicated forums and avenues for seeking the art, music, and community that they desired. Nowadays, you go to one of 6-7 websites ruled by different algorithms, where “engagement” is the result of an equation you have to solve. What time do I post to make sure people will see it? Should it include a picture of my face? Are there any words that could be censored on this platform? Is it a long enough video? It’s exhausting. Thinking about it creates a massive hurdle in my brain, standing in the way of any energy that could be used for creating.

Rachel Bearinger: I have so many thoughts on this. Social media has actually been my “day job” for the past 6 years. I’ve done social for big brands, municipalities, local businesses, software companies and more, and of course, for my music projects. We’ve gone through what many are calling a social media revolution over the past few years, and while the changes have been fantastic for some, they’ve made the experience more difficult and discouraging for the vast majority of artists and creatives. I’ve gone through stages of working hard to “play the game” by posting often, trying to participate in trends, and doing tons of outbound engagement. No matter what, I always reach a point of burnout and end up needing long breaks from the grind—not only to regain my sanity but also to make more time for the many other tasks that come with being a DIY artist, such as making the dang music. There’s inherent whiplash when you have a post or two that really pop off, juxtaposed with all the “average” performers or the posts that end up with embarrassingly low engagement. For myself and for others I’ve observed, the quality of the content itself isn’t the problem, it’s just whatever way the unpredictable winds of the algorithm decided to blow that day. It’s frustrating, and I’ve contemplated leaving social all together, but the expectation fans have to be able to find and keep up with you is the main thing that keeps me there, as well as the fact that social can be really effective for music marketing when it works.

Annabelle Grace: As a fully “fresh” small artist on the scene, I have quickly realised how important (or at least not avoidable) social media may actually be in playing a role for my songs to simply be heard.

My first ever single is coming out shortly and I’ve been polarised with the need to create a presence socially that people can discover me and subsequently my music. And I love this, the idea that my music may be heard and I have the power to strengthen who it may reach! But it also can feel slightly diminishing, I want my music to just find those who love it and receive any form of success that way.

I love the idea that ‘back in the day’ the way music was shared, discovered and followed was by someone deciding to walk into a local record or CD shop and finding a new sparkly fresh CD. They get to go home and sit through the 6-9 tracks and discover this whole new world of an artist. If they didn’t like it - they could simply give the CD to a friend of theirs and then the cycle continued! If they did like it - they would tape it, share it around, tell their mates, and all of a sudden this word of mouth and human interaction would transform the artist into being heard. (Or at least this is what I imagine and can infer from my dad’s stories as I was personally born in 2004…)

Kate White: I won’t lie, using social media is very draining. the pressure put on artists to create a “brand” and to be consistent makes it harder to enjoy the fact that they’re releasing something they care about. i personally like my music to speak for itself, and in a world where it’s expected that you overemphasize and over-explain everything, that becomes more relevant than the quality and content of the song itself.

How does social media play a role in your songwriting? Do you consider content while making music?

TV Wonder: Social media feels like an obstacle to songwriting. The habitual phone checking is a constant distractor from actually playing or writing. There's also a risk that I'll see something that triggers my feelings of jealousy or inadequacy as an artist if I see another musician doing well or getting a cool show or playing with a band I really like. Truthfully, it's embarrassing to admit, but maybe others feel the same? I've gotten better with managing those feelings, but that type of emotion suppresses creativity, rather than encourage it.

I do spend more time thinking of ways to promote songs! But that's usually after the song is done.

Fruit Clinic: If algorithms are a problem to solve, the songs become a part of it. I try not to let the algorithm influence the way that I write, but it’s difficult not to when you also have to look at your art from a marketing perspective

Rachel Bearinger: I try to write music for myself, not necessarily an audience, so I don’t feel that social media has made me reshape song structures or make my songs shorter or more “TikTok friendly”. I feel somewhat fortunate that the folky style of music that I like to make naturally lends itself quite well to simple performance videos that aren’t tough to make. Where the content piece comes in is just deciding what portion of a song might work best to stop the scroll.

Annabelle Grace: For now my full focus is my music, I hope to never really consider social media ever when making and producing my songs. I make my songs for myself. However, my first single which is about to release is certainly not the type of thing that would trend on TikTok and potentially promote me as an artist… and that’s a bit of conflicting thought, the thought that if my song was more trendy, a bit more “pop” and shorter in length it would be more likely to navigate its way through social media. It’s a bit of a catch 22… This new age of social media and promoting music through that which definitely feels like the main way to be heard. But then not wanting to submit yourself to that. I think at the end of the day it’s about keeping authenticity and keeping who you really are, and keeping your songs and your music real and truly yourself, for yourself. For me personally my music isn’t for anyone else, it’s mine, it’s for me, and I like the thought that one day it could reach the people that it can also be for, who will also enjoy it. Although they may not be able to ‘pass the CD on to friends’, maybe they can share a Spotify link, a TikTok link or an Instagram link! So definitely social media will help in that spread the word sense - and Ive been working tirelessly to plan content to help that happen.

Kate White: social media plays no role in my songwriting. i keep it as authentic and real as possible, and i don’t consider anything other than the song itself when it’s being written. once it’s written, however, i pick through the song for possible visual elements for animations, music videos, photo shoots, etc. for example, for my song “draw me the line” there’s implications of a person leaving a relationship and the writer feeling his presence constantly, thus the emphasis on ghost visuals. i always have my content planned prior (i do the same things), from acoustic versions, animations, and voice memos of the song when i wrote it, to photos from a shoot, pinterest boards, and more. i try not to let the daunting task of making content dictate what and how i create.

Omlet: I think songwriting is the one thing I’ve been able to keep separate from thinking about social media and algorithms and stuff. It’s the visuals I create that I always think about in the context of social media, unfortunately. I see my music as one big art project where I am able to build fantastical worlds to serve as the backdrop for my tunes. Social media puts pressure on musicians to be perfectly manicured and a neat product to be packaged and sold… which doesn’t always align with what I create. Sometimes I ask myself if I’m doing enough to create content that will lure people in, which is the exact opposite mentality I wish I had.

Britta Joseph: When I’m writing music, I often consider whether I should post a clip of what I’m working on in hopes that it will garner some interest. I don’t heavily think about content while I’m making music though, as it has proven to be a losing battle in terms of engagement and views. It often feels embarrassing to self-promote online, as to me, music is deeply expressive and is something to be savored and contemplated. Promotion often feels like it cheapens the entire experience.

How do you feel about the CEO of Spotify describing music as “content?”

TV Wonder: I'm not a fan of Daniel Ek or the business practices of his company. Music, like movies or other consumables, is content. But the way he uses that word feels deeply nihilistic. In his eyes, music is only a commodity, only valued on the merit of profitability. There is no respect for artistry, which is reflected in their decision to demonetized tracks with fewer than 1,000 streams, promote their own AI artists, and pay the very little per stream despite being the largest streaming service in the world.

Fruit Clinic: Spotify has been the driving force of a movement to devalue the labor of musicians and recording artists everywhere for a long time. Only in recent years, with the changes in algorithmic content and advancements in AI technology, did Daniel Ek’s language become explicit. The model for streaming has been decidedly unprofitable, but somehow he has $600 million dollars to invest in military technology. It is in his best interest to trick his consumers into believing that the hours and hours of labor put in by the people who bring value simply amounts to “content.”

Rachel Bearinger: I’m less phased by this than the much bigger, more evil things Daniel Ek has done, such as systematically underpaying artists, arbitrarily removing artists’ music for “artificial streaming” when songs get added to botted playlists entirely out of their control, and of course the flavor of the day that he’s now literally funding AI drone tech that will be used to murder people.

Annabelle Grace: My main goal as an artist is to have my music heard and I am realising social media has a massive role in making that happen whether it’s the way I’d like it or not - it’s the way the industry cookie crumbles!

Kate White: in my opinion, the word “content” being associated with music sucks the life out of the song and the experience. the song itself is at the forefront of everything - the content is just how you market it. music is not content, the world you build around your music is content. in this era of the music industry, everything is content based and while it helps push the song to people, it’s exhausting for the artists and takes the joy out of letting the music speak for itself.

Omlet: Yeah, the Spotify CEO sucks and new things seem to happen every week that make the platform just awful for musicians. For most, if not all, of the musicians who have stuff on Spotify, especially those who are releasing independently, music is not content. It’s just another limb or organ to tend to, it’s something we can’t live without.

In a perfect world, music industry execs would be more in tune with a musician’s relationship to their work… but our world is far from perfect! Calling a project I pour blood, sweat, and tear into mere content is a slap in the face, honestly.

Britta Joseph: Ugh, Daniel Ek defining music as “content” is both horrifying and disgusting. Like I said earlier, music is expression, and I often write after going through something emotional or challenging as a way of catharsis. To reduce one of the highest art forms to mere “content” proves that Ek has no interest in art, let alone an interest in experiencing music as it was meant to be. Though my music is currently available on Spotify, I haven’t used the platform since last year and it’s been very freeing.

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These platforms are not sustainable nor beneficial for independent artists. Captions or videos in which they share vulnerable stories about themselves have the power to be so much more.The stories that are shared through these mediums deserve to have the proper attention given to them. Use those stories to create a newsletter or be a driving force for a fan of your music to visit your website. Your website is more than just a destination to redirect your fans to your social media platforms. It should be where your most important and exciting information goes. As a condiment who has had the pleasure of interviewing independent musicians for over four years they have found a lot of interesting information on an artist website. When asked about it - the artist was surprised in the best way possible. Do not give all your power (and energy) to these platforms who seek to isolate your attention.

Last November Mustard created an independent artist directory that features independent artist that have a newsletter through Substack. You can check it out below:

Even if you feed the algorithm every day there is no guarantee it will thank you for your labor. It most likely won’t. Going viral isn’t a thank you - it is a trap. Because you are expected to create something similar each time, once again, with no guarantee it will reach the audience you seek.