The format is not your enemy, it’s free to break the rules but know why.

Many artists follow all the rules and advice that are given to them at conferences, online or in workshops, etc. One rule seems though hard for them to understand, format.

Format is how the general audience listens and is presented to music. You have every artistic right and freedom to not follow these format rules. You need to be aware that you are excluding yourself from a lot of listeners. No, you cannot change people. Either you change for them or you accept a smaller range of audiences. Either way is the right way for you, it's your choice. Right now however I have too many people that have chosen to leave formats and then doing PR and efforts that are in a format world, and then complaining that they don’t get the same chance as other artists and that the world is to shallow.

What are the format rules? It varies, but I can take an example. I got in a demo from an artist. Every song was over six minutes long and an album of ten songs. Me working on the radio know that you need to make a really good exemption to play songs over 4:30 minutes. Why this rule? Studies have shown that the audience starts to change the channel if there is a song playing for too long that they don’t like. Of course, there are exemptions like Don Mcleans, American Pie that is eight minutes long. But then they usually fade it in the middle. And if you look at online radio, fading is not that easy to do, so you rather stay in the format of three minutes to four minutes. This is that the audience hangs on. Playing long songs is risky for me as a radio producer. If you then do songs that don’t fit that it’s my artistic freedom to choose to not play them. It’s your artistic freedom to release longer songs because they should be that way. You take a bigger chance though by leaving the format that I will play it.

Same rule that you should release it on a Friday. Friday is the official release day of music in the world. Many blogs, magazines, and stations has built up their release systems around that. Their working schedule is put that way. Many algorithms are programmed that way. You can release on a Tuesday you have to full right to do that. Don’t expect that all these people should change their schedules just because you don’t want to stay in the format. You can release it on a Tuesday but take a chance that you are not picked since it won't fit the editor's schedule.

A lot of complaining I seen the past weeks has just been around this. Either the artist didn’t know or understand that they broke a format rule, or they just wanted to be cool and different and think that would help them to reach an audience. The choice is simple. You lock your self inside the format and try to be creative inside that. Or be totally outside the rules. Whatever you do don't try to do it halfway that just gonna make people take things off.

If the things you release is mediocre, well then it doesn’t matter if you follow the format or not. It won’t fly. It’s only if it’s great and you follow the rules you might have a bigger chance if you also follow the format.

It’s no rules, it’s a choice but don’t complain about the system or if people mark it out.

The problem with updating on DIY.

The biggest problem with DIY is that you are always very late to get the latest news and smart things to do. Things that go around in the industry actually comes down to the artist level it's almost one year old. Even with an artist signed to labels we still see that the info of what is going on is not that updated.

I can just compare when I got Spotify in 2010. I got the Beta version and could try it out. I was excited and told all my artist back then around of this new system. they really never cared, the only thing in their head back then was Itunes, in the worst cases, they were still into My Space. It took at least four years before the artist was up to date with what Spotify is and they started to be interested in the new thing. That is four years too late, by then Spotify was already divided and DIY was not in the priority.

Just got a message from one of my friends in the industry explaining to one of our bands that the first hours on Youtube is the most critical one. So hide a video and then do it visible is not that good for the algorithms.
Things like this are the stuff that DIY need to know to be able to make a good release. I guess when this info reaches them it's already out of date. and this one is very small we are talking about hundreds of tricks like this to make things happen.

Many think this info is accessible online. Yes, it is but it's also drowned in thousands of posts of other DIY people with the most strange ideas which are not correct. Finding what is good and not good here is impossible.

I have said it before that DIY is dead. Right now I feel it's more dead then ever. The industry is moving so far ahead that it makes it impossible to do it DIY as an artist and reach any bigger level. Even starting up a new record label and try to fit in the information stream has become really hard. It's all down to the team nowadays.

Stop being a information junkie

When yes is yes and no is no and doubt you never hear.

A kind of free translation of one of the most famous songs in Sweden "Öppna landskap".

Nike has the slogan "Just do it" and I guess they would be proud of how many times a day I think that seeing how people have doubts and are choosing between the most absurd things. Sometimes it's such stupid things like, you have to choose to get a fork in your eye or get a birthcake. And they actually start thinking about what to choose! Even worse when they start haggling. What kind of birthday cake is it, you know I'm allergic to chocolate so no Swartzvald!

In many cases, the offer is just the offer it is. It can't be switched or changed and if you start doing that you get this proverb: The one who gaps after much often loses the whole piece.

In many cases, it's too much thinking and they need too much information. With the new information society, so many are addicts on information, like Red Hot Pepper sings, A teenage bride with a baby inside getting high on information. Unimportant information is the new drug.

Start be a bit daring and say yes to the cake instead of the fork in the eye.