All of me…

Reading an opinion recently regarding the ‘fan experience’ on Bandcamp, the gist was that it wasn’t as ‘social’ or ‘sharing’ as it could be in terms of the public engagement with the artists. A ‘mutual’ and fellow musician on Mastodon had replied in fine form, asking if perhaps we should offer our sperm and/or eggs as merch or indeed even more personal details!? It was hilarious but also very pointed and caused me once more to ponder…

Do I really want a relationship with everyone that likes my music, beyond the pleasure they get from listening to it and I get from knowing they enjoy it enough to actually shell out and buy some downloads or CDs from me? How much, if any, of myself beyond the music I create do I want to share with the world at large? I appreciate that it’s interesting to know a bit of the background and bio of an artist that resonates with you, I’m the same as most people in that way, but I have never been of the “…want to know who’s shirts you wear” (thank you David Bowie) persuasion. Even with artists of whom I became a lifelong fan and admirer, I was always 99% interested in their music and 1% their ‘whatever’.

So, I guess there may be a few (to me very odd) people out there that would like to know my favourite sandwich or whether I have any filthy habits (not telling on either example, so there!), and I know that some see all the sharing of one’s inner self as essential… but for what? More sales? Hmmm… already sounds tawdry to be honest, but for me it’s just not ‘me’. I am in life quite an outgoing person and actually do share quite a bit of myself without even thinking about it (not always a good thing! 🙄😂) but to make it a part of some kind of ‘look at me, I like xxxxx and yyyyyy sandwiches best’ sales pitch… Nope, not going to happen.