I want to talk today about the 'Getter problem', as I call it. You might have an idea about what I mean by this, but if you don't, then I'll explain it for you.
Basically, Getter is an artist who was very well known for making weird acidy dubstep. It was kind of trippy and he had a strong style of music that people really loved. But in 2018, Getter released an album called Visceral- an album that was very melodic, and chordal, and emotional, an album vastly different to Getter's previous discography. So called Getter 'fans' didn't like this album at all- not necessarily because they didn't like the music, but because it didn't match up with the classic Getter music. Getter really ran into issues at his Visceral tour, where he planned on touring the album. The crowds booed him because he wasn't playing his old stuff, and the hate got so strong that Getter cancelled his tour and posted on social media that he needed a break. Since then, Getter just hasn't been the same. He hasn't been releasing tracks as often and from my point of view, I feel awful for him if I'm being honest.
My Mum told me about something similar that happened at Glastonbury Festival one year. We live very close to Glastonbury so it's not far for us to go. My Mum said that she was in a crowd watching Macey Grey perform at the Pyramid stage. Macey was playing a lot of her old music. Then she said to the crowd she was going to perform some of her newer music, and as she did so the crowd started booing and shouting at her to just keep singing her old music.
Both of these situations are slightly different, but they have a similar theme- rejection of a new artistic direction. How do you avoid becoming a one hit wonder, or having a 'Golden age', or having to stick to one particular genre?
The honest truth- I have no idea. And it's one of my greatest fears as an artist.
I'm scared that some day, if by a miracle I do become successful and I make a name for myself, I'm scared that the Getter problem will happen to me. I will go a different direction and my fanbase will hate it. They will reject me. And sure, people say all the time 'oh I'm not afraid of getting rejected. I make the music I wanna make, for me.' And while that is sort of true, what do you do if your bread and butter relies on your fanbase? Because it does, for any artist. An artist with no fans isn't an artist anymore. We are all built from the fanbase, so we all need to prioritise building a healthy relationship with our fans from the very beginning. This all comes down to brand. And as I'm writing this I'm realising something- That if your brand is defined by one song, maybe that's how one hit wonders are born.
Look at Lil Nas X. In 2019, He was on top of the music industry- known, of course, for 'Old Town Road', His record smashing hit song. How did that song get so viral? I'm sure you're thinking 'Oh, it was TikTok.' And you'd be right. But thousands of new songs are on TikTok- So why THAT song? Lil Nas X isn't the best rapper. He isn't the best songwriter. He isn't really the best at anything musical.
Harsh truth- being the best musician means jack shit in the industry. I mean, Lil Pump. I don't need to say anymore than that. There are a million more talented people than Lil Pump who will never reach that level of fame. But anyway, my point is that Lil Nas X created a song that had a rodeo theme. It was enough to get people intrigued, and it grew. But then what did Lil Nas X have left to offer after that song? Not much. People never liked him, he didn't HAVE a brand. Old Town Road had a massive brand, he was just the creator. Remember PSY? Remember Gangnam Style? Similar story.
But Getter wasn't a one hit wonder. He had some bigger songs than other, sure, but he was very consistent. You might think that Getter WAS the brand. But Visceral made us ask the question, was he really?
Personally, my take on it is that Getter's brand was his unique genre of music. His fans were attached to that, not him. There are for sure artists that constantly change their style of music and their fans LOVE it, because that's sort of their brand. I'm looking to break up my style more because I don't want to be known as 'the death trap guy', because I don't want to be trapped doing that for the rest of my life. I want to experiment.
I don't know, I'd love to have another go at writing about this subject when I've learned a lot more about it, but it is a massively interesting subject and a problem so many artists run into. I think BrandMan Sean did a video or two on this, So go and check him out, he's super cool and I've learnt a lot from him. I think my original point of this blog kinda got lost but I'm really tired and it's late so I'll end it here, see y'all tomorrow