shameless self promotion

[exactly/\\nothing]

in a community driven by DIY ethics, do you feel as though shameless self promotion is acceptable and/or necessary to sustain and increase one's fanbase within the screamo scene? i would define shameless self promotion as 'whoring' one's band by constantly posting on forums/blogs saying "hey check out my band: myspace.com/xxxx" in an immodest and self-serving manner. to me, shameless self promoting is narcissistic. one of my favorite things about screamo is stumbling across an undiscovered, amazing band who is humbled merely by knowing that people appreciate their music. bands who become popular via word of mouth seem to be those bands whom people are genuinely enthusiastic about, as opposed to the self-promoting band who may get lots of plays but give off this 'forcing music down one's throat' feeling. i am not saying that all self promotion is wrong, although when it gets to the point to where one is unapologetically posting their band in hopes of higher play counts/hits is when DIY and screamo loses its integrity. recently i have been overwhelmed by the amount of shameless self promoting, not only on this forum, but on other internet mediums as well.

what do you guys think? is shameless self promotion perpetuated by the internet? or does shameless self promotion exist outside the boundaries of the internet? i suppose my main question is: where is the line drawn between selfless, modest promotion and unapologetic, self-interested promotion?

[disposable]

it's an argument of substance vs. convenience in the modern age. reminds me of how blogs have taken over and no one takes the time to even write zines anymore.

[BROOTALPOODLE]

i'm down with self promotion, its a easy way to tell people about your band and what not

[disposable]

how do you draw the line between creating meaningful art for yourself or creating art for other people (which seems to me to be much more ego-centric attitude to me)? there is so much to be said on all this.

[Gnarlin Gnartree]

As long as its just "Hey check out my band" I think its fine. I hate when bands have some 3 paragraph long description about themselves that makes them seem like the best thing since sliced bread.

[loveinathens]

I think it's enough for me to let people know that I'm in a band. It's up to them if they want to check us out since we don't make any money or get any tang from this shit anyway. Not really a big deal. I'd spend more time promoting shows.

[nonationalismplz]

when you and your friends are a participants in a community that is generally considered a sub-culture and is riddled with obscurity and access to this community within a day-to-day life is limited; information about your band is difficult to disseminate to other people. fortunately, messageboards, especially ones that have a basis within "screamo" or any other punk music, exist. why wouldn't i take advantage of this website that literally is about the kind of music i make and not let people know about something they may be interested in?

in this modern age of technology, diy has been consistently been put to the test. one can sit and display and argue for days all of the bullshit and negativity that myspace and the internetization of punk and diy has done to the "scene" (and ill be the first to agree with you), but i have some experiences that make me re-think these presupposed rejections of the internet in punk.

when i was on tour this summer with one of my bands, we unfortunately weren't able to book a "bigger" band in certain places. however in a lot of cases people ended up coming to the show. how without the internet and the self-promotion involved would people have come/found out about my band and come without playing with a "bigger" band with an established fanbase?

i can honestly say that the internet has helped my small diy band tour successfully throughout the united states. without it, the tour would have been very different. is this a good thing? i don't know. but it happened.

[disposable]

yes i think it's okay to talk about your band.

[nonationalismplz]

one could almost argue that the internet is more "DIY." instead of having some label or some other band carry you on their shoulders (or resting in obscurity, which if you want i can understand, but i don't necessarily want that), i personally am typing and sending this information out. just sayin.

[disposable]

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