Sharing Other People's Art
What DāM-FunK and Austin Kleon can teach us about this important practice.
In March of 2014, author Austin Kleon published Show Your Work!: 10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered. The book discusses the value of sharing the artistic process as a way of connecting with and inspiring your audience.
The chapter “Shut Up and Listen” is particularly insightful. Kleon underscores the dangers of becoming “human spam” - a person who doesn’t take the time to share or engage with other people’s projects on social media and only promotes their own. He stresses the importance of being a good community member and someone who takes a genuine interest in the pursuits of others.
My favorite passage reads, “If you want fans, you have to be a fan first. If you want to be accepted by a community, you have to be a good citizen of that community. If you’re only pointing to your own stuff online, you’re doing it wrong. You have to be a connector.”
This passage makes me think of DāM-Funk. A talented DJ, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and vocalist, his resume boasts a deep discography of solo and collaborative works and recordings with the likes of Steve Arrington, Tyler, The Creator, Snoop Dogg, Mac Miller, Q-Tip, Todd Rundgren, and many others.
In addition to his impressive list of accomplishments as a professional musician, DāM-FunK is a tireless champion of other people’s music - perhaps more so than any other artist I’ve seen. He has long used his Twitter account to celebrate others as much as he promotes his own work. This is especially true of funk artists from previous eras with less visibility.
His tweets are usually short and sweet: an album cover and a song recommendation with a link to the song provided. Tweets are sometimes accompanied by interesting bits of background info about the featured artist and project. DāM-FunK sends out these types of tweets all the time. I’ve gone down many incredible music rabbit holes thanks to his recommendations and the way he maintains his Twitter account inspired the general social media philosophy of Micro-Chop in a major way.
Tweeting out someone else’s music may look like a rather simple gesture. But seemingly small acts of kindness go a long way. By sharing someone else’s art with your community, you increase the likelihood of the shared artist finding a wider audience. You also show people that your love of music goes beyond your own work.
In addition to his Twitter account, DāM-FunK also uses his Apple Music show Glydezone Radio to showcase old and new songs from a variety of genres. At 59 episodes and counting it seems the show is doing quite well. However many listeners are drawn in per episode, he is no doubt exposing many of them to songs they would likely never discover on their own.
DāM-FunK also has a clever way of using Apple Music and Twitter in tandem to promote his show. He makes a thread with a link to the featured episode that includes all of the individual songs from the episode. This is an effective way to spread the selected music beyond Apple Music subscribers and the show’s core listeners. It’s another demonstration of his passion and commitment to music preservation.
Modern creators are already tasked with too much. People expect them to market their work, engage their fanbase, and be vulnerable and available on social media - all while constantly making new art. Asking them to put time and energy into sharing other people’s work might feel like a lot.
That said, DāM-FunK’s use of social media is a good case study in the benefits of being a fan first. After shining a light on others, giving their work a better chance of discovery, and enriching the experience of his fans for many years, he now has a successful show on Apple Music - a streaming service that clocked in at 98 million users in 2021.
But DāM-FunK has long demonstrated that he will always highlight the musicians he admires, even if there is no personal benefit. Celebrating, curating, and studying the work of others seems to be a way of life for him.
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