interesting thing I’m seeing here.
I’ll elaborate more on my “12% batting average” eventually, but basically 1/8 people I scouted for shows blew up to over 1m monthly streams. Number would be higher if I didn’t have to book ‘hard workers’ to fill cards instead of just dope music.
Now, majority of this crew are all in this social circle where they all hype each other’s content still. I don’t know if they’ve actually remained friends or if this is just some symbiotic relationship they have going. I’m unsure if they’re ‘actual’ friends as they had a short leash after blowing up where they still communicated with the ones “down here” before quickly abandoning all plans/collabs/communications.
//Short aside to mention that multiple of them that I booked have, after blowing up, pretended that they’re about to do their “first show”, completely erasing me from their revisionist history. This is despite me booking them on multiple shows, and helping build them into headlining their local markets, to which they got signed immediately after. I ain’t gon take credit for their blow up but I don’t doubt that helping them build to being able to sell hundreds of tickets in a market, backed by show footage of fans screaming their songs, and year long campaigns with multiple shows building to their first headline set, might have contributed. Idk, that’s just a little inkling I have. Perchance.
//Side note 2: I was working directly with Live Nation when I worked at TPG and was working on the Comethazine tour and the Blueface tour in parallel with my Evrvdav shows. Is it crazy to assume the industry was sniping prospects directly from my shows & website? Kind of schizo way of thinking, but there’s always the possibility. Perchance.
Back on topic to the abandonment. I understand why they can’t (and shouldn’t be required) to pull everyone up with them, but I don’t think TikTok followers should be a pre-requisite for communication. I know I sound salty right now, but it’s not about clout or money, it’s about dudes pretending they had love for me (& others who were also abandoned) to have the last point of communication being an IG DM saying “I’ll see you at the top” passive aggressively, or a 3am phone call about whether or not Evrvdav can rent them an RV to tour across USA in.
I could be spending my paycheques to fly to LA on the weekends and carry bags for members of the scene who got signed until i get a background gig ghostwriting or some shit, but that ain’t really my kinda thing. It worked for some of you though, kudos.
I’m curious as to if any of us were to get signed, are we magically invited back into the circle? Do I magically get 2 word all caps IG comments? Or are they truly friends with such a thin social requirement to maintain?
There is one dude who disappeared right before they all blew up but was at the top of the local scene. He’s returned to music, and that circle are blowing his shit up despite his account being brand new. I’m unsure if the leash will be short for him as well, or if he’s been nepo’d into a deal already (or is in the process of that) and that’s why they’re all sitting cross legged around him performing a resurrection ritual on his new sub 100 follower music account. Only time will tell.
However, if this dude got a nepo deal based off his back catalog, I want to be pissed that I didn’t get the chance. I realize that this circle probably never actually respected me as a musician and kind of just pretended to fw me cuz I was the only reason the scene was hot (and subsequently why the scene died when I stopped booking), but whatever.
Keep making TikToks. Ima do me.
Edit note: I do kind of feel bad going this hard on them. It’s partially that I go a little harder to make them entertaining, and it’s partially that it’s a bunch of unprocessed emotions. But also, I am pretty fucking pissed off and this does weigh on me daily.
I busted my ass for these guys and they went ghost. I think the least they can do is let me draw a silly little picture and yell about my feelings on a website that nobody knows about.
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