We all want to belong

First it was baseball, then it was the Beatles and finally it was MTV. We all paid attention, we all knew what was happening, and even the barely hip caught the references.

Today you’ve got no idea what people are talking about, unless they’re a member of your cult.

We’re all people, living on the planet, but we’re all separate, lonely, and this doesn’t feel good. We’re looking to connect. We’re living to connect. So how do we handle this? We join a cult.

There’s no center anymore, nothing everyone is aware of and agrees upon. And this is disorienting. So you’re not just a fan of something, you’re a member of the cult. Like “Succession.” The numbers were anemic. But you can’t tell that to anybody who watched the show, they’ll get pissed off. They’ll tell you how great it was, how you’re missing out. And they’ll point to the “New York Times” and other newspapers’ coverage of the finale to prove their point. But the “Times” is a cult too. You’re either in it or outside of it. The right has demonized the “Times,” therefore readers double-down and testify about it. It used to just be a newspaper, now people believe in it, it’s nearly a religion.

Just like politics on the right. It doesn’t matter how many times Trump gets indicted, it’s not going to change the minds of his cult members, his believers. It’s not about right and wrong, it’s about belonging. They decided to jump in and were greeted warmly. Used to be a cult was small and its members did their best to keep you out. Today it’s just the opposite, cults are large and everybody is welcome, as long as they drink the kool-aid and become a true believer.

There was One Direction. Huge in America with only one hit. Now we’ve got BTS. Most people have never ever heard the act’s music. But those who have? There are no casual BTS fans, they’re all-in. And it’s not just listening to the music, it’s going to the show, buying merchandise, quoting the lyrics, once again, it’s belief.

Like Taylor Swift. In the scheme of things, she reaches fewer people than any superstar of the pre-internet era. But her cult is large and fearless, out to combat any naysayers. Ben Sisario pointed this out on the front page of yesterday’s “Times”: 

“The power of Swift’s fan army — and fear of crossing the star, or even appearing to — has kept nearly all of the press about the tour sunny.”: https://tinyurl.com/5n9ast7w

Cross Taylor at your peril. Say something negative and you will be canceled by her army.

As for the attendance at her shows… Talk to some of those who are going, they need to be there, it’s a rite of passage, they need to be able to talk about their experience. They know all the lyrics, they dance and sing, Taylor Swift gives them reason to live.

Like hip-hop. It’s a cult. There are few casual listeners. There are haters and defenders. But hip-hop is not a perfect example, because it burgeoned in the last century, it’ not brand new.

Like classic rock acts. Everybody knows them, there’s nowhere near the passion for them like there is for twenty first century acts. Everybody knows the music, they want to see the band one last time, but they’re not foaming at the mouth over it, they’re not talking 24/7 about it, whereas the modern acts?

That’s what you’re building, not a fan base, but a rabid cult, which is dedicated to you and not only bringing in new members, but excoriating those who don’t believe, who put the act down.

It’s not about Donald Trump, it’s about the cult. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Trump is not part of the machine. Trump is theirs. He speaks to them, they listen. Trump’s not listening to the Republican Party, he’s not even listening to the legal system. They love this, he is theirs, uncompromised, and if you say anything negative they’ll come bite you in the ass. How can you say something like that?

As for Biden… There’s no cult. Are people scared enough about the prospect of Trump being re-elected that they’ll show up for old Joe? We’ll find out. But he won’t win on his policies, because that’s not what it’s about. Bidenomics? No one cares. You can testify all day long about his achievements, it’s irrelevant. Even the Republican officials who voted against the infrastructure bill who are now praising the positive effects in their own burgs? You might think by pointing this out you’re winning, but not whatsoever. Because people aren’t listening to you. And if they are, they think you’re a hater and should be ignored.

The broad of the past?

Crickets.

Well, a little more than that, but not a whole hell of a lot more.

Network TV? No one watches because you can’t be a cult member, everything has its edges shaved off, the ads undercut the content, what’s to believe in? Nothing!

This is why Netflix’s ad-tier is a mistake. The company is not reaching guaranteed numbers, but this is not a business proposition. We can’t let everybody in, just those who pay, who are really dedicated. We don’t want the casual, we want believers, who are going to pay for Netflix and watch and testify about shows.

This is what Zaslav didn’t realize about HBO. It’s a cult. He dismantled it overnight. Do you know how hard it is to build a cult? Well, Zaslav and Iger are members of an elite cult themselves, that’s why they’re so tone-deaf when it comes to the WGA/SAG strike. They’re so insular, flying private, boasting about their triple-digit million compensation packages that they’ve got no idea what the other cult thinks, never mind its power. Yes, there’s a huge cult that believes it’s been screwed financially. Bernie Sanders knew this and almost gained the Democratic nomination. The Democratic party was surprised, went for Hillary, who was safe, who supposedly deserved it. And then she lost. There was no and still is no Hillary Clinton cult. Nonexistent. Nobody passionate about her, who will defend and debate you about her. And that’s why she lost. It’s a no-brainer. Vote for her and be ignored?

Yes, the cult member wants dividends. They want something for their devotion. Forget that Trump promises stuff he doesn’t deliver, that he too often defends the rich instead of the poor. Trump is the best they’ve got, so they’re sticking with him. Just like Taylor Swift. In all the accolades about the tour do you see anybody talking about the music? No. It’s not about that. The music is in service to the cult. This is not Sinéad O’Connor. Sinéad died and everybody’s testifying as to her talent, her lyrics, her beliefs, her actions. No one’s talking about dedication to her, her grosses, that’s not what Sinéad was selling. Sinéad was anti-cult. But that was a different era. During the MTV heyday everybody in the world could be aware of “Nothing Compares 2 U,” that’s an impossibility today. That’s right, impossible, no one can reach everybody, no one. And those who try are on a fool’s errand.

Like SNL. The media reports on it even though few watch it. Why? Because you no longer get the references. Used to be SNL was a club, there was a wink between the performers and the audience, they were all in it together. Now there’s a huge gulf between those on stage and off stage. You might be a fan, but you don’t think they’re going to come to your house, that you’ve got anything in common. The outside references were inside in the seventies, now they fall on deaf ears.

If you’re trying to reach everybody, you’re failing. Because if you’re reaching everybody there’s no us vs. them. Part of being in the cult is not only believing in the performer, but hating and being down on all competitors. It’s your hero and a bunch of zeros.

And you’ve got to know who your audience is. Record companies are flummoxed because now you can go direct to fan, intermediaries mean little, but it’s hard to build a cult, it takes time, one fan at a time. Even Taylor Swift had the benefit of breaking in an earlier era, in country, when Top Forty reached many more people. Those days are through.

Coachella is a cult. Doesn’t matter who is on stage, that’s not why you buy a ticket, you do to say you were there!

The festivals are much more important than the talent. Meaning if your festival doesn’t have gravitas, if there’s no core system of values, nothing extra, every year you’re starting from scratch, if you can survive at all.

It’s culture. But not culture for everybody, just a select few.

Once again, don’t be holier-than-thou, don’t be rational. You watched that documentary on NXIVM, right? Rationality was irrelevant, people liked being involved, belonging, playing volleyball, being a member of the group. Extricating someone from a cult is nearly impossible. Because the cult provides so much. As for blowback, isn’t the granddaddy here Scientology? Break with the cult, say something negative and your life will be ruined. Good luck relying on the police… The police are not prepared for this. If you’re looking to the system to protect yourself from the cult you’re dreaming.

And this is all based on the loneliness of the human being, the feeling of detachment, of floating in a wilderness of too many options, none of which reach everybody. Sure, there’s politics, but if you’re on the left and vocal about it you’ll be told you have TDS, “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” that you are the one who is delusional, you are the one who keeps harping, that you are the one who needs to shut up. This is classic cult, anybody who says anything negative is a target.

So if you’re trying to compete with a cult…

Good luck, you’ve got to become a cult yourself.

And what is the essence of a cult?

A like-minded group of people who believe they’ve got the answers and everybody else is wrong. Who are emboldened by both their leaders and the group. This is what people don’t understand about #MeToo and other sexual harassment. The action is only the end of the process. Men are talking in a special language amongst themselves, that they do not reveal to women. And if you don’t speak this language you are ostracized. And then there are people who are in the cult and don’t even know it, because it’s all they’ve ever been exposed to.

But the media keeps reporting like everything is the same. Like all the news that’s fit to print is really in the “Times.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The “Times” only scratches the surface. However, if you get an article about your irrelevant enterprise in the “Times” you’ve got a leg up, because the cult members, the readers of the “Times,” pay attention, they think the “Times” endorses it. As for the non-“Times” readers, they’re usually completely unaware of it!

“Entertainment Tonight.” “People.” All the gossip sites of yore. They’ve got it completely wrong today. We don’t need a plethora of celebrity information, we need a smaller amount with attitude, like TMZ. Hell, if a celebrity misbehaves or dies you’re better off going to TMZ than the straight news media, TMZ has it first. TMZ is not about everything, but just certain things. Bad celebrity behavior? That’s their vertical.

And if you’re starting at the bottom don’t play to the media. Because that lessens your credibility, you appear to be playing the game, selling out. The influencers don’t do this. They build it themselves. People are fans of the influencers until they’re not. It never lasts forever. The influencers burn out, or sell out too much to their advertisers or are supplanted by someone new with an edge. This is the story of social media. The kids dropped Facebook for Instagram and then Instagram for Snapchat and then Snapchat for TikTok. TikTok fans love that the government and the fat cat bloviators abhor it. It demonstrates how ignorant these pontificators are, like they know better, they’re not on TikTok all day, if they’ve ever been there before. The bloviators are a joke to the TikTok users, who are members of a large cult.

And the only way you can understand a cult is to go undercover and become a member.

Fox News is a cult, MSNBC too. What is MSNBC for? Just to make its viewers feel good about their positions. MSNBC doesn’t change the course of history, the course of government, the course of anything at all. That’s not MSNBC’s mission. MSNBC’s mission is to be an antidote to Fox and gain and maintain viewers, that’s it. As for Fox? It’s similar, but there’s a more marked agenda. Fox hammers certain points. Ignores others. It’s a bubble. And you can’t tell a cult member otherwise!

And the cult is bigger than any individual. At least when it comes to large cults like Fox. Tucker Carlson? Gone. Irrelevant. Fox soldiers on. Its agenda intact. Carlson thought he was bigger than the cult, he learned otherwise.

Kind of like Bruce Springsteen. He put out two solo albums and his audience went berserk. Where’s the E Street Band? Bruce got the band back together, he was afraid of losing his audience.

The cult only accepts that which is on theme. Everybody today is worried about their audience. Which they should be, especially if they’re not an artist. An artist evolves, changes it up. And there are some fans of that, like the people who still go to see Bob Dylan in concert, that can be a feature of the cult, but very rarely.

This is America, this is the world today. It’s positively tribal. Like the Middle East. Like in the days of yore. All these religious wars overseas? They don’t want peace, they don’t think the opposition is entitled to their belief, their land, their religion. The opposition has got it wrong and needs to be told.

Which is why head-scratching things happen in America all the time. Most of America wants abortion rights, but those who do not are rabid, and when their leaders deliver limits they’re thrilled and bonded even closer to the cause. Once again, forget the truth. Seems like everyone in America believes taxes are bad. Credit one person, Grover Norquist, he built a large cult over time, to the point where elected Republican officials must pledge fealty. Vote for a tax raise and you’re out, you’ll be primaried.

As for Liz Cheney? How dare she. Marjorie Taylor Greene is the mouthpiece of the cult, and the number one criterion of membership is loyalty, truth doesn’t come into the equation.

So you think you can conquer the cult by pushing back. No way, that never worked. To beat the cult you’ve got to create a new cult, that’s more attractive than the old one. Man, got to give the Republicans credit, they realized they were losing again and again and they started the Federalist Society to groom right wing judges and get them appointed.

Yes, there were cults in the past. But it was nothing like this. Because today there is no center.

We all saw the same movies, the same TV shows, the same sports, and if you didn’t you were out of it. Now ESPN is on the verge of death because there are too many sports and most people don’t want to pay for those they don’t watch. ESPN was an upstart in the eighties, you could believe. Then it overcharged cable operators, who passed the fees on to subscribers, and now conventional wisdom is ESPN is a rip-off outlet that they don’t want to pay for. Bob Iger completely missed this change. He was blinded by the cash cow.

Like record labels and the CD. The fat cats couldn’t understand why anybody would steal on Napster. Never mind it was a better delivery service, people were sick of overpaying for one good track on a CD. Even if there was a single, once it became successful, the label cut it out and made people buy the album.

So there have been cults in the past, but nothing like today.

Nobody reaches everybody. And the power of the cults is so large that it’s perceived they reach everybody, that everybody belongs, but this is patently untrue. Call it a disinformation campaign. And if you cross the line… As Ben Sisario points out, people are afraid to cross the line, not only will they be denigrated but they will lose access. Everybody wants access. But to get it, you’ve got to fall in line.

It’s war in America today. And much is up for grabs.

But it’s all grass roots, however large the cult might be, and those playing by rules of the past believe you can change the world from the top down. You can’t.

Tune in Saturday August 5th to Faction Talk, channel 103, at 4 PM East, 1 PM West.

Phone #: 844-686-5863

Twitter: @lefsetz

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1. HONE YOUR ACT

You need to practice off the grid, offline. This advice is for pros, not amateurs. If you’re just screwing around, post on YouTube and TikTok, have fun, but if you want to make music your career… People tend to know this at a young age. And if you’re one of these people you don’t want to try and build an audience online until you are ready. Maybe post, but don’t try and draw attention, don’t dun people to watch, this will ultimately backfire, because people are overloaded and hate to be told to take time out for you and if they do and you’re substandard, it’s much harder to get them to come back.

So, learn how to play in your bedroom. Practice with your buddies in the garage. Play live anywhere that will have you. Put money last. It’s about the experience, not the cash. If you put money first you’re doing it wrong. The key is to learn how to do it, and this is a skill. To get over the stage fright, to perform adequately, to handle the audience, to build the arc of a show. This is a skill most of the overnight wonders do not have. Which is why their live shows, assuming they can play to anybody, that anybody wants to pay to see them, have to be stacked with ringers and production, it’s to cover up their greenness. You want to be ready when you get your break.

You must sacrifice. You can’t be on the team or be in clubs or go to the prom. You may be able to do all of these, but there will be times you have to choose, and you’ll have to choose music. Think of it like the swimmers and other athletes gunning for the Olympics, they cannot take their eye off the ball.

You’re going to have to start with covers. The classics are key here. Everybody knows “You Shook Me All Night Long.” Yes, the rock classics, the classics of the MTV era, they are the last universal songs. Sure, maybe know some contemporary songs, but only play them for audiences you think will know them.

Write. From day one. You get better over time, so you might as well start early. Anybody who tells you their initial songs are great is wrong. Writing is an adventure, you have to learn the basics and then how to express yourself.

Start playing some originals live. See what works.

Ultimately get enough gigs that you are making money. Such that someone who works on a percentage will be interested in working with you.

2. THE AGENT

More important than a manager at this point. Gigs are the issue, not direction. You don’t need a manager to negotiate deals, your path, because there is none. But you do need someone to get you work. An agent works on percentage, they will only work with you if they think they can make money, not only today, but tomorrow. If you want an agent to work with you don’t tell them how good you are, but how you can make them money.

3. GIG

Anywhere and everywhere, to bigger audiences. Even with an agent it pays to know the other acts, so you can trade headlining gigs in each other’s territory.

4. FAN BASE

If you’ve gotten this far, you will have fans. Know them, pay attention to them, serve them. They want to serve you. Give them access. Incentivize them to bring their friends, i.e. let them bring their friends free or at a discount, let their friends meet you. It’s about establishing a relationship. In this broad world everybody wants an identity and in many cases this is their adherence to an act.

5. ONLINE

Now is the time. You can have a website, have information online earlier, but as far as videos, now you are ready. Post on YouTube and TikTok. Your fans need to spread the word. Make them aware the videos are there, don’t dun them to spread the word, either they will or they won’t, if you’re good enough and the bond is strong enough, they will.

TikTok… Should you try and game the system? Do covers? Have innovative videos? Well, OK Go was famous for its innovative videos but no one can sing a song of theirs. Once you try and manipulate the system you’re going down a bad path. The music must be the draw, not the penumbra.

6. MANAGER

This is the time you need one. You’ll probably have one earlier, but probably one you’ll ultimately want to fire if you become successful. Because only a passionate nobody will be interested at first and ultimately you need someone with experience. Having said that, oldster managers tend not to know the new, digital landscape and the audience of young people. They’re all inured to radio and Spotify, they think big and miss the low-hanging fruit.

When you get big enough, you’ll need a real manager. And a real manager will come to you because you’re making money and they see an upside, they think they can add value, make you bigger.

If you get a manager earlier, do not sign a contract with them, no way, odds are it will come back to haunt you. Pay them their percentage, but ultimately you will probably want to fire them, and you don’t want to have to continue to pay them.

7. GIG MORE

The key is to be big enough that you can get slots at festivals. So more people can see you. The key is not to be able to say you were on the festival, but to kill at the festival. People know if you’re great, if you’ve got something, and they never forget. I saw Hooray for the Riff Raff at the Rose Bowl/Arroyo Seco playing in a tent with fewer than a hundred people and they slayed me, I’ve paid attention to them ever since. This is what you’re looking for.

Make merch when it’s not a hobby, when someone likes your show so much they need a souvenir. Handmade stuff for the hard core only is a bad look.

8. OPPORTUNITIES

If you’ve jumped the above hurdles, you will start to have opportunities. This is why you need a manager, to negotiate, to handle these opportunities. The smaller you are, the more you say yes, the less you weigh the pros and cons. It’s just the reverse when you get bigger.

9. RECORD DEAL

You probably won’t need one. It’s no longer the badge of honor it once was. Only sign a deal with a major if it signs, promotes and makes hits in the genre you operate in, otherwise you’re giving up too much for too little. Sure, you might be so successful that the advance is huge and the recordings revert to you in a short period of time, but this is rare.

You need to do it yourself. You need to do everything yourself. At first keep your day job. If you or your friends and family can’t finance your operation you’re doing it wrong. Don’t borrow money from a bank or anyone who charges interest, don’t even borrow money from someone who expects to get it back. This is a long shot venture and you don’t want to be beholden to anybody. If you can’t make it work financially from the get-go, you’re doing it wrong, you just don’t want it bad enough.

When it comes to recordings… Sans hits, which are rare, recordings generate little income, why not take the lion’s share? Which you can do if you own and distribute yourself, via a third party like CD Baby, TuneCore, etc. Don’t be enticed to sign with an indie label. What the indie label says it will do it rarely does. The indie doesn’t have much cash, doesn’t want to spend it and doesn’t have enough personnel and wherewithal to hammer something again and again. Meanwhile, the indie will take most of the money that comes in and may even own the copyright.

Today’s markers of success are not the ones of the past. Record deals? You’re better off with a sold out gig.

10. DUES

You’re always paying them. Through your whole career. And now, if you get off the hamster wheel, you’re quickly forgotten. You’ve got to stay in the game, delivering all the while, making the most of new opportunities.

You can try and flush out new opportunities, but this is like writing and producing movies, they rarely come to fruition. This is the job of the manager, let the manager dedicate their time to this.

11. CAREER

This is the ultimate goal. To not have to work a day job and be able to continue to play music until you die. If you’re in it to become a brand and to extend that brand into other areas, there are much easier ways to do this than music. Some don’t even require any talent, nor do they require a whole hell of a lot of dues. Look at the Kardashians, look at the influencers. And even actors. Music is the hardest way to make it. And people know this and treasure music in a way they do not treasure the purveyors of other art forms. The key is to touch people’s souls, and if you do this you’re on your way, and ultimately there will be enough money to provide. And you may not be a billionaire, but you have more sway over your audience than the billionaires. That’s the power of music. Focus on the music, that’s where your strength lies.

That’s the only way to really establish a career today.

The TikTok paradigm…that’s a long shot. And even the singles the majors push up the charts don’t draw an audience live. The key is to cement your bond with fans on stage. And that goes against everything we’ve been told for the last twenty years.

Don’t talk to me about streaming royalties. That’s missing the point. If there’s any money to be made in recordings today, it comes last. Of course there are unicorns, tracks that speed up the Spotify Top 50 and end up with a billion streams, but you’d be surprised how many of those acts can’t follow it up, never mind draw anybody to a show.

So…

Learn how to play.

I know, that sounds like anathema. You’ve been told for twenty years to hone your marketing chops. Participate online. Sell yourself. But now there’s just too much in the pipeline, and too much is phony. By demonstrating you can play your instrument, you instantly put yourself above the rest. (And an instrument can be a record, EDM/electronic music still draws many fans live, despite not dominating the hit parade.)

However, being able to play is not enough, you need to know how to write.

Yes, we’re back in the early sixties, the Beatles paradigm.

There was no Beatles before the Beatles. No world domination, no changing the culture around the world. And to establish themselves the Beatles played live, ad infinitum, and then wrote. First simply, and then more creatively.

Also, I don’t want to hear any 10,000 hours hogwash. If you’re busy adding up your hours, trying to quantify your experience, you’re missing the point. Yes, it is about paying dues, mostly when no one is paying attention, but if you study the science of the 10,000 hours paradigm, you’ll learn that it’s 10,000 hours of HARD PRACTICE! Which means sitting alone in your room with your guitar. Or playing gigs for no pay to nobody. Now, more than ever, if you’re not in it for the long haul, you’re not really in it at all.

Doesn’t matter how you look. Your age doesn’t even matter. It’s how good you give live. Do people pay attention, do they stop talking, do they dance? The goal is to infect people so they tell others, so your attendance goes up. This is where the rubber meets the road. If you’re doing the same damn thing over and over and you’re not building an audience, the problem is you. No one wants to hear that, everybody believes they deserve success. But either you’re not talented enough, not working hard enough, or barking up the wrong tree. If you’re in it forever and you’re not making it, you need to change. The type of music you’re making or… Or, you can not change at all and continue to be obscure, but you must own that and be happy with that.

So if you play live…

When you’re starting out no one wants to see you dance, no one wants to see production, they don’t expect it. The music is everything. Sure, Lou Pearlman broke the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC doing just the opposite, but that was twenty five years ago. And Pearlman put his boys with the best songwriters. If you’re nowhere, you’re not going to get to work with Max Martin. You’ve got to become Max Martin. Talk about paying your dues… This guy labored in obscurity in Sweden for years. But also Max has evolved with the times, ensuring his own longevity.

So, you’ve got to learn how to write.

Now it’s easier to be a rapper. But the problem is even if you have a hit, you probably don’t have a career, you can’t draw an audience continuously, if at all. Used to be different, the culture would support you. But now hip-hop culture has fractured and its market share is declining. Meaning, there is room for the absolute best rappers, but other than that…have fun, but don’t quit your day job.

So you’ve got to learn how to play. Go to the School of Rock. Hone your chops. And then write.

Writing is easy. Focus on the classic hits of yore. To the songs, not the records. A great song doesn’t need an arrangement, doesn’t need extra instruments, doesn’t even need a great voice, it stands on its own. Use the Beatles formula, with choruses and bridges… One chord pop hits don’t work live.

So you’ve got to form a band. Of course you can start solo, but live a band works better. But no one has been been forming bands because there’s not enough money in it, everybody wants to be a solo artist, the days of vying for world domination a la U2 are long in the rearview mirror.

So you can’t be in it to live the private jet lifestyle, that’s nearly impossible. Not only must you play live, you must love to play live. You must love the long hours, the travel, the drink and the hang. That’s the essence of music today, people want to feel the grittiness, the humanity, and it’s your job to deliver it.

Forget Pink and the rest of those touring with big productions to large audiences. They broke in a different era. People saw the videos and they will pay to see the videos performed live. Then again, if your show is static, if it’s the same every night, the odds of people coming back are low. You’ve got to produce, you’ve got to shake it up, you’ve got to evolve.

In other words, everything you’ve been told for forty years, since the advent of MTV, is wrong. It’s been about aligning with money, the major label, for the push. But the dirty little secret is even the major labels can’t break a star these days. Furthermore, the audience is sensitive to the push, the hype. Once they think something is being foisted upon them, they’re out. They want honesty and credibility in a world that has little, that’s the job of a musician.

You don’t want to hear this. Nobody wants to hear this. Not only are the odds almost nil that you’ll make it, you have to pay your dues for years and you still might not break through.

In other words, you’re a musician, not a star. Get that straight. This is a calling, this is the alternative, this is the road less taken. And there are no shortcuts. It’s a slog.

But the upside is the public is hungry for honest, credible, soul-fulfilling and catchy music. Catchy means you hear it once and remember it, not that it needs to fit in the aforementioned Spotify Top 50. You are the antidote. To this incomprehensible world.

As for social media, etc…

If you’re boasting online, you’re doing it wrong. If you’re complaining online, you’re doing it wrong. You are the other. Sure, make yourself available, but even more establish a community. You want your fans to know each other, to feel like they belong. Superserve your addicts, those are the ones who will break you, not the machine.