I’d like to launch a thought project today that I’m calling Buyday. On Friday’s—I don’t want to shackle myself to “every,” but I will damn-well try and do it as often as possible—I will purchase an independent artist’s (I feel like “independent” has become another artistic buzz word, so, when I say independent, I’m referring to any artist that is, at the point in their journey, hustling their craft solely or almost solely on their own) work/merch, go to one of their shows, etc. Basically, I will monetarily and mentally support someone doing or making something cool and then post about it here and on other social media, add a short review/synopsis, and then link to further info.
As an “independent” artist in stand-up comedy, I’ve really enjoyed creating and distributing my own material. What I’ve enjoyed less is having it seemingly fall on deaf ears and, to a less important (but let’s not pretend NOT important), deaf wallets. And, it hurts when I see other truly talented people fall into the same quagmire. It seems to happen more times than not—and if you listened/read/watched the material being passed upon, you’d realize what a real goddamn shame it is.
So, as you should with anything you see as a problem, I decided to, at minimum, no longer be a part of it.
First, one of the reasons I’m doing this is because I’m hoping other artists decide to hop on the train and do it too. We are each other’s front line. I feel it’s a little disingenuous to bitch about no one buying your album when you’ve never bought anyone else’s. If you think indie-whatever is worth a few bucks, put your money where complain-hole is. You know, be the change, and all that shit. Obviously, I’m skewering myself just as much as any third party. As I’ve admitted, part of the reason I want to launch this project is because I’ve been slacking on what said project will entail until now. We, especially artists in the same medium, all know each other. It’s easy to say, “Oh, I’ve heard their shit, I don’t need the album,” or sneak in the back door of their show, or whatever. It’s easy to be there and not fully support. Which doesn’t mean you’re a bad person/friend/co-worker, it just means, let’s all try and just be a little bit better. Put down $5 on the album your buddy is really excited about. Sneak into their show, but toss a few bucks to the door guy every 3 times or on a night that they got a light turnout. I get it. We’re all poor. But if everyone pays it forward, at minimum, we’ll all break even. Which is a plus in this game. And, hopefully, it will lead to going into the actual black with the second symptom I hope this fosters.
Second, don’t just buy, share! I’m buying people’s stuff and posting about it because I want people to know about it, not just give a cool dude/dudette $5. We all hit our social media circles with our swag ad nauseum. And that’s fine. That’s what you have to do. And I’m not saying to abandon your own dreams to be anyone else’s street team. I’m just saying, after a month of spamming, all the friends and family that are gonna buy your shit have bought your shit. Now you gotta hawk your goods on the road like everyone else. But even if everyone in your circles has bought (or not bought :( ) your stuff, you still have their attention. Break through the static by pumping something that’s not yours. Anyone who thinks you’re talented would probably love to have that talented eye recommend them an arterial product to add to their collection or queue. If everyone did this, we could all grow our reach and stop thumping the same dead horse with Facebook invites and bandcamp links. Indie art needs a bigger audience. We live in cities where everyone wants their produce local; make those same people realize that they should sometimes shop for life aesthetics in their immediate perimeter as well.
Anyways, I think that’s it. I’d love any feedback, but, more importantly, I’d love you to buy your talented friend’s shit. Take care and be dope to each other.
