The world and our place in it has changed so dramatically within my own lifetime. It seems that George Orwell's predictions in his formidable book 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' have not only come to be, but we now seem to desire them to be so. We share our personal information and photos with the world. We happily share what we are doing, who we are with, our birth dates and other such personal information with the entire planet. We become more and more visible and more and more transparent. I'm also reminded of Andy Warhol's comment about each of us having '15 minutes of fame'. Of course this changes the way we see ourselves also. 'Selfies' have become common place, it seems narcissism is being celebrated as a cultural value. But what does this all mean to the creative industries and how can creatives use these social media platforms to help promote their art? These are great questions and with album sales diminished due to peer to peer sharing, as a song writer I am forced to consider these options more seriously if i hope to sustain my life as a creative artist. Monetizing my YouTube channel seems to be one avenue, but I am thinking also about having a subscription website and an online store for merchandise. Through building up a strong and engaging social media presence I already have the grass roots of my market and through reflecting on what I share I begin to get a sense of myself as a product and what it actually is that I am marketing to the world.
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