Monday, January 3, 2022

FREE is the new four letter word

 Artists have never had it harder marketing their work in this age of free trials and free giveaways. Granted, it's never been easy in any age to get noticed or to make a Return on Investment for musicians but things now are in the realm of the absurd. Copyrights work for the bigger platforms who can pursue violations but the little guy is left in the lurch and his hard efforts at making melody are often passed around like a bag of popcorn on movie night. So what do to? There are just a few ways to tackle this problem that's not going away anytime soon as far as I can see it. We have crossed the Rubicon with our insistence to share and share freely. Nobody is immune to this firmly established plague and, to my chagrin, independent artists are the toughest nuts to crack. Here are just a few observations that I have made based on my experiences in promoting indie writers and musicians.

Is it really FREE?


1. Everyone is your Christian brother and sister until you ask them to spend a dollar to help you out. I don't know what world these people live in where Facebook likes and high fives are substituted for chump change. Honestly. Some folks spend hundreds of dollars or maybe more on equipment for instruments and home studios but when it comes to promotion (if they want to be heard outside of church) then the crickets start singing loudly. Dream on.

2. Is it really about praising God or getting people to like you and your music? If you're honest, you'll examine yourself on this one. The meek shall inherit the earth. It's awful hard to be humble and generate a stir in the music world at the same time. But as Christ said, "All things are possible with God." (Matt 19:26)

3. Envy is like high blood pressure. It's a silent killer. Scripture clearly warns us against it. Here are 10 Bible verses that condemn jealousy. I'm not talking about ambition placed on honest scales. That is a characteristic I believe God puts in our hearts to drive the economy to get food on the table and supplies for our families. 

4. Even with limited success, the opportunists will come knocking at your door. I'm not saying I'm a god, but I like one of His attributes of not sharing His glory with mankind. Why would He ever consider such a thing? It is to be admired and praised but never given away freely like some cheap bimbo on 2nd Avenue as the song says. My talent and my human glory are all mine, given to me by God through the Holy Spirit to be used as He sees fit and that is a contract between me and my Maker and nobody else.

So immediately as I'm writing this today, I get this card in the mail from a health insurance company that wants me to claim my FREE gift for participating (see picture above). This four letter word has now become a trigger for me since as a teenager I have mostly worked for every dollar I got. But worse, because the only thing in the universe FREE worth having is God's gift of salvation through His only begotten son, Jesus Christ and everything else in this world has strings attached for selfish or Satanic purposes. (Romans 6:23) Let the gift receiver beware.


Good message about what's truly free by The Five Man Electrical Band


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