Hard Work

Twice in the last two days I've seen an Instagram Reels clip claiming someone quit their job to do OnlyFans and got almost no subscribers. One was an RN, and after two months she only had twelve paying customers.

I know, I know, porn is a dicey subject, but porn always blazes the trail and it's edifying to look at the landscape.

In case you've been under a rock, individuals now rule the pornography roost. The intermediaries have gone out of business. Now you can go direct to the consumer and make 80% of the dough. That's right, OnlyFans only takes 20%, but you've got to bring in the customers.

This isn't radically different from Spotify and other streaming outlets. Which take approximately a third of revenue. They're paid for hosting your songs, but getting people to stream so you can get paid, that's YOUR job!

But seemingly too many musicians think it's somebody else's job.

Meanwhile, the traditional powers might sign you, but they don't know how to break you either. At best, they can blow up what you've already created. And why should you give them such a big cut for this? I read earlier today that Zac Brown is releasing his new album independently. I'm sure he could get a major deal, but at what cost, and what would the label do for him anyway? Now he's in business with himself. If he can get people to stream, he makes money. If not? Never mind that he owns the product.

What those not on Reels or TikTok don't realize is the successful people not only post every day, but oftentimes MULTIPLE TIMES PER DAY!

I know, I know, for years we've been hearing that you're a musician and you don't want to learn a new skill and expend the effort, but the game has changed and this is the world we now live in.

If you look at the most successful women on OnlyFans, they're not the most attractive, the most beautiful, they're the ones WHO WORK IT THE MOST!

Instagram is your primary point of contact. If you get banned, you're out of business, and this happens all the time.

And if you hook someone, it's your job to serve them such that they do not unsubscribe. This is the mentality a musical act needs today. Forget the middleman, think about the end user...how can you get them to listen to your music constantly and come to the show?

Well, you're going to have to feed them information and music constantly.

Once again, you're not trying to serve EVERYBODY, just a slice of the public, that's enough to make you rich if you do it right.

So these two women who failed at OnlyFans... They both had big boobs. BUT THAT'S NOT ENOUGH!

Being good at your craft is not enough.

Being signed to a label is not enough.

No, you have to personally go out and sell yourself. Which is why I wince when acts say they have staff do their social media. Then it's inherently flawed. It's not about raw information, it's about creating a BOND!

These women trolling for OnlyFans subscriptions... They don't only talk porn. They talk about their lives, their hopes and dreams, and sure, a good amount is fantasy, but that's the essence of music anyway, you're selling a dream to the listener!

Being good and having good material is not enough. No way. It's about how well you market yourself. And when you see something successful that started out on TikTok and you say you could do better, you're missing the point. How good is your social media, how good is your marketing?

It's more than the music, there's creativity involved, just like there was in the heyday of MTV. And sure, creativity can be visual effects, but now more than ever it's a twist on your personality, your view of the world, you can't be bland, you must have an identity such that people become hooked on you. And the music rides right alongside.

A clip of music is not enough. It doesn't engender virality. The visuals, the concepts, eclipse the music at first, the music is secondary, like it is in a film. But films are expensive to make and you can make a social media clip instantly, for free! Everybody's got a smartphone, everybody's got access to the internet.

Music is cottage industry, just like porn. It comes down to the individual, how well they sell their assets.

And you have to keep selling.

As for those OnlyFans women...truly successful people are selling phone calls that are not even them, they're provided by a farm! And you can get a personal video or a signed photo... These women are in business 24/7, they can't even go on vacation, for fear they'll be forgotten.

If it sounds like a grind, it is.

But the difference between porn and music is that in music you're selling more than your body, you're selling your mind, your talent, what you come up with, THE TUNES! And if the tunes gain traction they will sustain you. And social media is not only an incentive for streaming the song, but also coming to the show, where people can be up close and personal!

Some of the biggest acts now sit in the lobby selling merch after the gig. Not only is it a huge revenue stream, it bonds the audience to them.

So how hard are you willing to work?

Don't talk to me about talent, sure, it's necessary, at least to a degree, but if you believe the most talented people have triumphed in the music business you're sorely mistaken. It's always been the ones who've been willing to work hardest.

As for that work... Most people have no idea how hard it was. Travel, multiple radio appearances, if you saw the schedule of hit acts you'd be flabbergasted. For a long time the music alone has not been enough.

If your goal is press, if your goal is impressing the industry, you're doing it completely wrong. These OnlyFans babes are not concerned with getting stories in the newspaper or on TV, just how much money they make (although successful ones do brag that they're in the top 1% or 5%).

How do I know all this?

Because porn, women trolling for OnlyFans subscribers, floods Instagram. You can't avoid it. Less on TikTok, but it's there too.

In other words, on social media you're being exposed to a lot of stuff that may not interest you. But the algorithm is serving up stuff and...you never know what you might like that you previously thought you didn't.

Now if you're starting...

Man, I have to write a whole screed about this. The most important thing is STARTING! Don't worry if it's good enough, if it isn't no one will see it anyway! And you can only learn the skill if you participate.

Oldsters will bitch, say it's too much work, rail against substandard songs that break through, whereas the youth have already bought into the paradigm and are playing, and winning.

And you can too.

Assuming you're willing to work around the clock.

If not, you're probably not going to make it.

But if you don't play, you DEFINITELY won't make it!


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