Now while I might be on the verge of committing career suicide before I even have a career, this is an ever concerning issue that I feel like I should address. I have been reading a lot of commentary on this lately so I wanted to chime in and say how I feel. I think one of the biggest problems with the music industry today is not so much the lack of talent, but the consumer itself. Yes, I’m talking about the people who hate mainstream music but will never help or support other artists so record labels are forced to continue to create the same models for the only demographic that will actually buy music. Now before you assume this is just another article advocating paying for music I digress it is not and I would hope you are still with me, ready to hear me out. I know we are living in a different time now and the music business has forever changed. While I am not clinging on to old archaic formulas for profit such as major labels there are many other ways music listeners are continuing to hurt and extinguish the artistic music community. I believe in free music for the most part and I give all my music away that I am not obligated by contract to do otherwise. So now that we live in an age where making money from buying songs is rapidly declining to the verge of non-existence, what then is our next option? I believe, as an unsigned artist and often signed artist to smaller independent labels, social media is essentially our greatest tool to get music out to people. We are gifted with amazing vehicles to distribute our music to the masses, but why does this still feel like an impossible task? Like it or not, we are validated by our Like/Followers on twitter and facebook, our soundcloud play count and activity online. So here is where the shitty thing starts to happen. As an undiscovered artist making zero profit from any work it’s a good idea to first build an audience and this allows us to get more attention from clubs and promoters to play shows where I think the majority of the musicians money comes from nowadays. How do we build an audience? By making music of course, and sending that music into the vast reaches of the Internet, to fight for attention alongside the cluttered noise and bedroom producers. The problem is music listeners have become so apathetic these days that something as simple as a Like to Download or Tweet/Share for download have become even too much to ask. This self-centered idea that all music should just exist and be there at our disposal whenever we conveniently feel like it is hurting more than just the major labels. A perfect example of this is people who click Like to download a song you give away for free then immediately after click unlike and carry on as if the artists effort meant nothing. This is what I am trying to stress. We expect artists to make free music and remain underground but then we keep them there and hide them, holding onto their music, disregarding their follow/share requests and ultimately suffocating them. I think as music listeners it’s our duty to give these artists the small satisfaction of a like and follow in exchange for their free works and help them grow so they can continue to do what they love. I just don’t understand how I can have a song reach 14,000 plays in a month, which is no easy task, and gain only 25 new followers from this with over 100+ downloads of the track. I make it a point to follow to every single artist I download a track from. Bottom line is music listeners need to realize the gravity of their actions and help out the artist where they need it most. If we want to let our music community thrive on the web we need supporters to hold it, share it, tweet it, promote it. This is the new age of music and it’s still evolving, so my only plea to the music listener out there is just consider what the artist is doing to put his material out for free and that the small exchange in return of support is so necessary for him to succeed. And to all the blogs, music sharers, and friends who do this already, especially for my tunes, I thank you graciously and apologize for this lengthy rant but I hope you agree with my position and encourage others to do the same as you.