Rania Chrysostomou

What A Composer Does

Recent discussions have highlighted the ongoing tension between relying solely on musical talent and proactive promotion. Some ((classically &/or academically trained) musicians believe pure skill and relentless practice will speak for itself, attracting audiences through word-of-mouth. While word-of-mouth is undeniably powerful, and you should practise your craft, others advocate for actively marketing and promoting their music to build an audience-base.

(do some genres have fans and others have audiences???)

It took me many years to come to terms with this and still explore what works for me 

but…

Don’t let the way the past worked for older generations dictate how your present works for your future.

Someone recently asked me: 

Does a composer lose their credibility if they are actively promoting their work on social media platforms? 

I understand that this question goes beyond posting about one single event sporadically but being somewhat consistent with sharing as much of your work as possible. 

Always talking from personal experience

in some way or another someone

needs to speak up about your work 

considering you actually want an audience to find your work — live or online. 

                        This someone may as well 

Be You 

       — because no one* else is going to do it for you.

And when I say “no-one”  

I mean be mindful that people even if they are your 
friends, teachers, mentors, parents that have your best interest at heart, 

have their own stuff going on so relying
on them or some kind of universe magic to communicate your excellence is,
at least in today’s standards, 

somewhat unrealistic.

(as my personal experience has shown me)

Unless of course…

you are a big-well-known-established artist and others are doing the marketing for you (I think).

I could very happily go on about how

absurd

I find this belief that in today’s world marketing and promoting our own events is somehow 

degrading, demoralising, or you lose credibility as artists 

but I’ll refocus this discussion to the subject at hand:

What a composer does
is marketing
and promoting
their work

I have come to the realisation it’s quite vital for my 

progression as a business person

AND as an artist 

to do the best I can — learn and explore — to promote and market my projects. 

Because:

It benefits me as a business person

There isn’t another way, apart from pure luck, people are going to find out that 

our micro-opera “On Being Vocal” 

is part of the Wandsworth Arts Fringe Festival 2024

 and a new and bigger version of the show will be performed

at The Living Room Place
on 16th of June 
at 7:00pm 
tickets 

unless I say it on all social media platforms, send emails and messages to the people I think will be interested and in general, put the word out there regularly until the show. 

Please feel free to 
Share this with your friends

It benefits me as an artist

Always, talking through MY experience

When you think about how to market and promote your event, 

you gain a deeper understanding of it. 

Yes, you may have created it but 
through this process you are answering a different set of questions, 

asking for a different type and quality of answers. 

Same things but from 

another 

perspective

Who are you making art for?

And as cheesy and annoying 
(I get angry when someone asks me this question)

but why did you make it? 

Do you want others to watch it? 

Can / Will your art offer something to
other people that may not be familiar with your music? 

Or the people that are familiar with your music, 

will they find another reason to connect with you? 

Do you want this spiritual connection with the audience?

Understanding key points of what is needed to promote and market your project 
And putting them in place

helps putting a concrete purpose on your projects.

I take inspiration from pop artists on this

And what stood out to me is
their dedication and speaking their
truth to their fans –
acknowledge that without them
they wouldn’t be able to do what they love.

But alas…

until I’m at the stage where people will know that
tickets for the next performance of my project are available for purchase

through hearing it from their cousin’s ex-neighbour’s friend and

immediately go online and

book their tickets,

I will be humbly grateful to
the 40 people coming to see
“On Being Vocal” this June in Wandsworth — tickets here!