LOS ANGELES, CA- Social media platforms really took off during the pandemic. Whether the local governments forced you to “stay in” or whether you were just a bit too nervous to venture out into the real world, people all around the world took to social media platforms to find a distraction from the goings-on in real life. Some platform’s growth rates, like TikTok, were a staggering 85.3 percent during lockdowns!
One social media platform caught my attention: Clubhouse. What started with only 1500 beta testers in April 2020, the user numbers exceeded 600K by December 2020, and that was before the application was open to the general public (all invite-only). By February 2021, Clubhouse had hit 10 million downloads, and the app continues to bring in new users every day.
Clubhouse is an audio-based social media platform and users can listen in on and participate in different conversations on different topics—sometimes with celebrities. But some of the most valuable rooms are those rooms with focused topics and stimulating, and informational, conversation.
One of the first rooms I discovered on the app was a room titled “Indie Artist Connect”. It was a room founded, organized, and vetted by music industry vet Marvyn Mack (former Sr. Vice President of TVT Records (2004-2007), Vice President Hollywood Records (1998-2003), Vice President Geffen Records (1994-1998)) and gives artists (songwriters, recording artists, producers, etc.) of any stature the opportunity to ask questions to, and learn from, “certified music executives, managers, producers, influencers, lawyers and songwriters” about anything that’s on their mind. How to market records. How to budget projects. How to protect your copyrights. The room exists to help guide artists in the right direction, whatever the path they are taking. After sitting in and on a few discussions, I joined the conversations with my own thoughts on certain topics and was eventually given a “moderator” status, which I thought was pretty cool.
With performance venues starting to open up, Marv decided to take the Clubhouse forum out of the digital, and into reality. After securing a venue in Long Beach, California, Boomers, he offered aspiring artists the opportunity to share their talents on a real stage in front of real people. On August 25, 2021, the first-ever Independent Artist Connect showcase was held.
The event was hosted by the evervescent J Tap, who also performed a couple of her own tracks, and went off without a hitch. 7 acts were able to step up to the stage and give a solid 15-20 minutes worth of entertainment. A variety of genres were represented on stage, from hip hop to R&B, dancehall to alternative pop, the talent was overflowing. The playlist above only represents some of the artists that performed on this night. Some artists are so “new” that their music isn’t even available on Spotify yet.
I think the greatest takeaway from this showcase was the excitement that the artists exhibited before and after they took the stage. Clearly, the pandemic stole a little life from every musician’s soul. Performing in front of a crowd of people, strangers or not, is an integral part of the artist experience. Performers feed their souls with the adrenaline that courses through their veins when they perform live. For the acts that performed on this night, this was their release.
I think it’s rather admirable that Marv and his associates have spent the time and energy to organize an event like this, and I find it doubly admirable that he intends to keep this outlet running on a monthly basis for as long as he can sustain it. There are so few opportunities these days for burgeoning artists to get their feet wet in the music industry, especially with so many venues limiting resources or even shutting down. Events like these, which are at no cost to the artist, are a blessing. Independent Artist Connect is a blessing.
If you are interested in participating in a future Independent Artist Connect showcase, CLICK ON THIS LINK.
Follow Independent Artist Connect on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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