Ask F&G: How does a musician make it in the age of Spotify?

How does a musician make it in the age of Spotify?

Musician Luke St James - part of the Fear & Greed team - joins Michael Thompson to talk about launching new music in the digital age.

Luke's new single Summer Son is out now on Spotify, or wherever you get your music.

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Find out more: https://fearandgreed.com.au/

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Ask Fear and Greed, where we answer questions
about business, investing, economics, politics and more. I'm Michael Thompson
and got something a little bit different today. Our colleague
here at Fear and Greed is a fellow by the
name of Luke Saint James who just happens to be
a very talented musician. And you have heard his work before,
even if you don't realize it, because every day when

(00:25):
you listen to Fear and Greed in the intro music
that is an original piece of work by Luke Saint James. Luke,
welcome to the studio.

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Thank you, Michael.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
So you have a new piece of music out. Your
new single dropped on Did I use the lingo correctly?

Speaker 2 (00:41):
You did?

Speaker 1 (00:42):
Okay? Your new single dropped on Friday, and so I
wanted to ask you today because this is Ask Fear
and Greed, where we answer questions. I want to know
how does a musician make it in the age of Spotify,
because things are vastly different now right to how they
used to be.

Speaker 2 (00:58):
Oh, they definitely are. It used to be that, you know,
record labels had all the power, which I guess was
its own kind of challenge really for the most part,
it was the record label's decision on whether you made
it or not.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
So in a way, then, I suppose the rise of
Spotify and the rise of social media platforms where you
can get your music out there has probably made it
more accessible and given more avenues for an indie artist
to kind of get out there. But it's still competing
for visibility, aren't you against a whole lot of other people.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah, I mean, like you say, it's on the one hand,
it's been democratized a little bit more, where you know,
you can actually reach people a lot more through social
media than you could before, But there's also a lot
more noise, and there's thousands of other artists, you know,
releasing dropping music on the same day as you, so

(01:55):
it's hard to make your voice sort of heard above
all the others.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
And so is it a process then of you you've
gone through the creative process, But I'll talk to you
about it in a mote where you're writing and you
are recording and producing over a long period of time,
and then you are putting it out there, and then
it's not just a matter of kind of cross your
fingers and hope that people are going to hear it
is that you are actively trying to get it into
playlists out there in the in the world of Spotify,

(02:21):
so that you can just get it into people's ears.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Exactly, yes, and that and that is you know, one
of the main ways to go is to sort of
pitch your music to you know, curators of playlists Spotify itself,
but also you know there are independent people who make
playlists that if you get your music onto one of
these bigger playlists and that can obviously, you know, get
your music heard by a lot more people. So that's

(02:46):
a big way, you know, promoting it on TikTok obviously
and Instagram and all those things. It is a lot
of it's a lot of work, and it's you know,
it's a skill that you need to learn and and
it's probably not something that a lot of musicians are.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Not necessarily natural exactly natural marketers, I suppose, And that
in a way it makes it harder that you're not
relying on the record company to do this anymore. That
I suppose, and this was before your time that you
could rely on the record company would get it out
into shops and but would also be promoting it as well.
You're able to get your music out there yourself, but

(03:25):
the promotion side of it falls to you as well,
and it is a it is a tough, tough market
to be doing that in. And it's also hard from
a kind of almost an emotional side as well, because
you're putting something quite personal out there, aren't you.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yes, yes, you absolutely are. You know. It's your often
your innermost thoughts that you're spilling out onto the page
and also singing and playing, and that's sort of a
very raw feeling to have other people listening to that.

Speaker 1 (03:59):
In this case, this particular song, Summer Sun, Where did
that come from?

Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah? Well, I mean, like most of my other songs,
I start with a melody, so I start playing around
with a guitar and until I get something that I
think sounds good, and then I start sort of putting
words to it. And often it's sort of feelings that
I've had been feeling at the time, and so this

(04:25):
song Summer Son, it's sort of about, you know, I'm
thirty two now and I'm at that stage in life where,
you know a lot of my friends and family are
starting to have families of their own, you know, and
it's sort of a little bit about that feeling of
not wanting to be left out, wanting that for yourself,

(04:45):
being happy for the people that are you know, having
kids and all of that, but also wishing that for yourself.

Speaker 1 (04:51):
It is a beautiful song and I want people to
hear it. So what's the best way for people to
be able to hear this, to connect with it? Is
it to jump onto Spotify and to search for Lukes
and James and search for Summer Sun s O N
and just and follow you and share it. What's the
what what would you like to see happen? Now?

Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yes, on Spotify Lukes and James, you will see the
song there. You can follow me on Instagram. I promote
it on there as well. But yeah, I just you know,
I want I want people to listen to the song.
That's why I put it out in the first place.
It's not to try and make it go vile or
anything like that. I would I would love that, but.

Speaker 1 (05:31):
Yeah, yeah, if we can cross our fingers exactly, that
would be nice.

Speaker 2 (05:34):
But I put it out because I think it's worthwhile
for the world to see and so yeah, give it
a listen. I mean, it's it's a song that's a
sort of I would say it's a slow build, so
give it a chance. Maybe just listen to the second
half if you're short on time. But it's a song
that I'm very proud of, so I hope people listen
to it.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
Yeah, you should be. Congratulations, Thank you and thank you
for talking to us today.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
Thank you, Michael.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
That was Luke's James what about colleagues? Here at Fear
and Greed and his new song Summer Sun is available
now on Spotify and all platforms, and follow him on
social media as well. I'm Michael Thompson and this is
as Fear and Greed