{"id":5614,"date":"2025-10-01T18:44:06","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T18:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/social-media-built-the-stage-for-artists-but-now-its-pulling-the-plug\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T18:44:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T18:44:06","slug":"social-media-built-the-stage-for-artists-but-now-its-pulling-the-plug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/social-media-built-the-stage-for-artists-but-now-its-pulling-the-plug\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Media Built the Stage For Artists, but Now It\u2019s Pulling the Plug"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/07\/GettyImages-2211712823.jpg\" width=\"\" height=\"\" alt=\"Katy Perry performs onstage in 2025. (Credit: Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for Katy Perry)\"><\/figure>\n<p>Today\u2019s live music industry is at an inflection point. Global acts that once sold out stadiums in mere seconds, like <a href=\"https:\/\/consequence.net\/2025\/04\/beyonce-cowboy-carter-tour-unsold-tickets\/\" target=\"_blank\">Beyonc\u00e9<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-sun.com\/entertainment\/13580453\/katy-perry-low-ticket-sales-lifetimes-tour\/\" target=\"_blank\">Katy Perry<\/a>, seem to be facing unexpected <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the-independent.com\/arts-entertainment\/music\/news\/beyonce-tickets-cowboy-carter-tour-b2740902.html\" target=\"_blank\">ticket sales challenges<\/a>, such as sluggish demand. Beloved bands like <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/all-american-rejects-house-party-tour-tiktok-clips\" target=\"_blank\">the All-American Rejects<\/a> are opting to play backyard gigs in the heart of their communities rather than traditional venues.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>These artists are most definitely not in decline, as they\u2019re all cultural icons with both global recognition and massive online audiences. So how is it that in an era of constant visibility, even the biggest names in music are finding it harder than ever to fill seats?<\/p>\n<p>More from Spin:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/10\/finn-wolfhard-replacements-film\/\">Finn Wolfhard Turning Replacements Bio Into Film<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/10\/nine-inch-nails-2026-tour\/\">Nine Inch Nails Extend \u2018Peel It Back\u2019 Tour Into 2026<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2025\/10\/mike-frazier-traces-epilepsy-and-brain-surgery-journey-with-the-belly-is-in-the-brain\/\">Mike Frazier Traces Epilepsy and Brain Surgery Journey with \u2018The Belly Is In the Brain\u2019<\/a>\n\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The disconnect has nothing to do with demand. It\u2019s about how artists reach their fans and how the platforms they rely on have quietly reshaped the artist-fan relationship. Visibility has never been higher, but connection has never felt thinner.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s musicians are relying on borrowed platforms that weren\u2019t designed for them. The result is a system that strips them of control, weakens fan relationships, and leaves potential revenue on the table. It\u2019s time to rethink the artist-fan relationship, and not as a content stream but as a community. And it should be one that acts can truly own.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Broken Feedback Loop of Social Media<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Social media was sold as the great equalizer. Post the right thing and you could blow up overnight. In practice, it\u2019s created a race to the bottom where the loudest win and the most original often burn out.<\/p>\n<p>These platforms reward trend-chasing over creativity and consistency. Even the biggest creators have no access to their own fan data. They can\u2019t email them, text them, or reach them on demand. And when something actually matters, like selling a tour or moving merchandise, there\u2019s no guarantee the algorithm will come through and surface your posts.<\/p>\n<p>For the artists, this is beyond frustrating. It proves it\u2019s a broken system. Social media has turned fans into followers and followers into passive metrics. Now compare that to the early internet with fan clubs, forums, and mailing lists\u2014genuine communities where fans felt seen and where artists built loyalty that lasted longer than any feed refresh..<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2197323734.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-474171\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2197323734.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2197323734-340x227.jpg 340w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2197323734-240x160.jpg 240w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2197323734-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/static.spin.com\/files\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2197323734-498x332.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Beyonc\u00e9 accepts the Best Country Album award for <em>Cowboy Carter<\/em> onstage during the 67th Grammy Awards. (Credit: JC Olivera\/WireImage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Rented Land, Vanishing Control<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Artists are running their careers on infrastructure they don\u2019t own. This means artists have surrendered control of their most valuable asset\u2014their fan relationships. Fan data is split across ticketing platforms, streaming services, merch shops, and many more channels, none of which are shared or connected. That would be like a restaurant chain where each location uses a different system and none of them know if the same customer has visited before.<\/p>\n<p>No successful direct-to-consumer brand would do that. So why would an artist?<\/p>\n<p>Some artists are already making the shift. From Latin America to the U.S., they\u2019re using new tools, like the one we\u2019re building at Sesh and platforms like Discord that let them communicate directly with fans. No app download. No algorithm interference. Just a real channel they control. Social media will never go away, but it will stop being the foundation. It becomes the flyer, not the venue.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Superfan Economy Is Already Here<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Goldman Sachs estimates the superfan economy will be worth more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/emerging-markets-superfans-and-price-rises-7-takeaways-from-goldman-sachs-new-music-in-the-air-report\/\" target=\"_blank\">$4.3 billion<\/a> in the next few years. These are the fans who want more than the music. They want access. They want to participate. And they\u2019re willing to pay for it.<\/p>\n<p>Musicians who know who their top fans are and know how to actually reach them will win in the long run. Those who don\u2019t will be left shouting into the void. Direct-to-fan tools are no longer optional. They\u2019re the difference between surviving and thriving. Artists using these platforms are already building vibrant communities with nothing more than a phone number and a clear vision.<\/p>\n<p>The real value isn\u2019t just financial\u2014it\u2019s creative autonomy. When you\u2019re not dependent on algorithms, you can create what matters to you instead of chasing whatever the platform rewards this month. You can experiment and know your fans will show up regardless.<\/p>\n<p>The message is simple: Stop renting your fans. True freedom means owning your audience.<\/p>\n<p>The acts that will thrive in this next decade won\u2019t be the ones with the most followers. They\u2019ll be the ones who build the deepest, strongest fan relationships.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The tools are here. The shift is already happening. It\u2019s just a matter of choosing to own it.<\/p>\n<p><em>Pepe del R\u00edo is co-founder and CEO of Sesh.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spin.com\/2021\/07\/the-greatest-rock-stars-of-all-time\/?utm_source=yahoo&amp;utm_medium=bottomlink&amp;utm_campaign=yahoolink\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today\u2019s live music industry is at an inflection point. Global acts that once sold out stadiums in mere seconds, like Beyonc\u00e9 and Katy Perry, seem to be facing unexpected ticket&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[131,3977,1879,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-beyonce","category-katy-perry","category-opinion","category-pushly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}