The sound of passion

By Garrett Fodor

Social media platforms are changing the music industry and affecting how musicians get their content out to the public.

 

With the creation of YouTube, SoundCloud, Spotify and even iTunes there has been an increase of success stories from recent musicians.  Artists like Justin Bieber have been using these technologies to turn their passion for music into a career after getting record deal. These applications and websites have made it possible for artists to share their work and extend their following of people from around the world. It is as easy as a $100 mic and a laptop with recording software.

 

Ryan Oakes is a 20-year-old hip hop artist who is currently in school at Radford University, in Virginia. Oakes which is his stage name is currently majoring in sports medicine and minoring in marketing. He said he is making a profit off his music including his most popular song Drinking About You has more than 750,000 views across his platforms.

 

“Social media marketing is everything to me. Without it I would probably still only have a few hundred fans and followers,” said Oakes. “It is extremely important to learn how to build a following in an era where blog posts are surely dying out and self promotion and the promotion of others via social media and YouTube is coming to life very quickly.”

 

The owner and operator of Phog Lounge in Windsor said the technology for his business and the industry is a must and is changing the way everyone operates.

 

“Social media has given people the ability to reach far and wide and inform people of events. I think making people aware is a huge step to getting people to your show,” said Tom Lucier.  “It has been wildly helpful for many musicians.”

 

Phog Lounge hosts live local talent and promotes the industry. Lucier said he feels many people never go to school but they have life experiences that push them creatively.

 

One of those people who is not interested in the education route is Arizona Zervas, a 20-year-old hip hop artist from Maryland. He invests everything he has into music and does it all himself – from booking to mixing and mastering. Zervas said he is confident in his ability and feels he can continue to grow and make music independently.

 

“I never say something untruthful in a song. I’m not enrolled and I never went to school even though everyone at West Virginia thinks I go there,” said Zervas.  “After I graduated high school I knew what I wanted to do. I knew it was gonna take time. But that didn’t scare me. College is a great way to achieve goals for some people but I never wanted to do anything except make music for a living. I just knew that I would never be happy unless I chased this dream 120 per cent.”

 

Zervas and Oakes both got their start in music during middle school making parodies and joke raps which became successful. Both of them were featured on Mike Stud’s Back to You tour. Zervas recently released a new album, Never Going Home while Oakes is releasing music every two weeks on his YouTube channel.
Both Oakes and Zervas are confident in their ability to succeed on their own without a record label. That is something unheard of in the past decades.