It’s kind of interesting today that we still don’t know how many accounts are fake on social media. How many songs that are really done by computers then after that are listened to by bot that are computers listening to computers.

It shows off pretty quickly on social media that the number is not really an indication of how good you are. I got an artist with over a million followers on Tiktok and almost a million on Instagram. The music was not even close to good, new, or anything that you would listen to. I wondered a little bit why so many were following this artist must be something other than the music for sure. And yes, it was the account was more about other things than music. The music was there but just like 10% of the feed.

Then you have to ask yourself is this an influencer that just plays some music or is it an artist that has a good social media following? In this case with a thought of the quality of the music. It’s just a social media person that has music as a hobby. The problem is for an artist is to have this balancing. If you really are in doing music, you really don’t have time to run a successful social media account. If you run an account that is successful, then you need to fill this up with content that takes time off your time to create music and develop that music.

It's kind of interesting also to see that artists think that the only way to get an audience is to have these social media numbers. While in reality there is the opposite, most artists become famous, and of that their social media accounts became successful. And still, it seems like even with great success on social media platforms you are very far from the public eye anyway. I know several influencers with millions of followers that nobody knows about. Some of them have more followers and likes than a normal TV show in Sweden. Still, if you are on just a mediocre Tv show you still get much more attention and eyeballs than you get online.

The question is how many accounts are fake, but also the question of how much you really care about an influencer? Most of the posts you just scroll by, and to be honest, if any of the influencers I follow would release a song I would just like the post but never listened to the song.

I just now also see a lot of movement in the industry where you get away from social media and start to get into the real world. The numbers don’t really show if you are a good artists, it just shows how good you are to fill a channel with content. And that can be a career in itself, don’t get me wrong, there are very many people doing a great job of that. Also, it is a good way to keep in touch with your fans. The problem is that people think that just as long as they get numbers, they have an artistic career which is totally untrue.

In the end, you have to ask yourself are you an influencer or an artist. Try to be both you fail. You can be any of the two but that s going to be your full trade.

Editor’s Note: Peter Åstedt has been working in the music industry for over 35 years. He has started record labels, distribution systems, and publishing companies. Peter also runs several major showcase festivals and is an advisor for INES and co-founder of MusicHelp/Discover Sensation. He has worked with the Top Ten most streamed songs and had music on both the Olympics and Super Bowl. Peter has currently taken up the seat of Station Manager of Cashbox Radio, working with MD, PD and station owner, Sandy Graham. In 2021, he worked as the European Consultant for Heal the Earth – An Earth Day Celebration. His latest venture is a new Showcase Festival in Sweden, Future Echoes futureechoes.se/. Peter is a Managing Partner and Editor of the newly launched Record World International.