Disclaimer: Before getting into the details of this post, I just wanted to state that no ill will is wished towards the artists mentioned. I have nothing but respect for the art they create and people they have inspired. They were merely used as examples to back up the point.
Simply put, artists need to stop using the word soon.
There’s no denying that social media has become the platform for artists and content creators to get the word out about their art. Posting unique, consistent content on the likes of Twitter and Instagram has been beneficial (and almost essential) to a wide range of artists, largely due to fans being able to engage in conversation with their idols. However, social media is also used as a platform for artists to make announcements about “upcoming” releases. Notice the word upcoming in quotations; that is biggest problem that needs to be addressed.
Simply put, artists need to stop using the word soon. The word itself means in or after a short time, but time is relative, isn’t it? At 11:00am, one might state that they will have lunch soon, and you can assume that the person will have lunch in the next hour or two. The Milky Way was formed soon after the Big Bang, relatively speaking, but that still took over 500 million years. The clear lack of definition of this word is the main reason it should stop being used by artists altogether.
The word soon is being overused on social media not only to create hype, but also to give fans false hope of what is to come.
Teasers such as “New music coming soon!” and “New video coming soon!” should be replaced by one of the two following options: give fans a release date, or do not post at all. The word soon is being overused on social media not only to create hype, but also to give fans false hope of what is to come. This doesn’t only apply to producers and the music industry, and before continuing, let’s illustrate a few examples.
Michael Dapaah, creator of Big Shaq and the hilarious ‘Somewhere In London’ (#SWIL) YouTube series, has teased ‘#SWIL2 soon‘ on his Instagram since November 2017, yet it still hasn’t come. Give us a date, or do not post at all. In a now-deleted tweet, Drezo claimed his ‘Blame’ remix for Ekali and Zhu was ‘coming soon‘ sometime in March 2018. This remix has yet to see the light of day. Give us a date, or do not post at all. JOYRYDE has been teasing ‘new music soon‘ for over a year and a half now, and fans were delighted when his collaboration with Skrillex and the release date for his album were announced. In November, only three days before his debut album release, JOYRYDE announced his album had to be pushed back. We understand that clearing samples and creating videos for tracks take time, but industry veterans should know better than to set an ambitious date. Don’t lead us on just to break our hearts. Give us a date and stick to it, or do not post at all.
For people whose favourite artists continue to pull these stunts, it is the most frustrating thing in the world being let down over and over again.
The above examples are just a few of many where artists took advantage of their platform to create false hope (let’s not talk about Detox). For people whose favourite artists continue to pull these stunts, it is the most frustrating thing in the world being let down over and over again. Influencers across industries are using their social media platforms to create false hope and false hype. Again, the word soon needs to go.
Along the same lines, the only thing making these announcements worse is announcing these announcements. Staying relevant on social media can surely be challenging, but as content creators, artists can surely think of better tweets than “Big announcement tomorrow!” Are these warnings really necessary? People are following these influencers for a reason, so they’ll be reading an artist’s tweet or liking their Instagram post regardless. Announcing the announcement that something is “coming soon” is a double whammy of unnecessary content.
A handful of artists are doing it right, and perhaps the best example of this is Skrillex. Blogs love to jump on anything Skrillex says or posts, be it on his personal Instagram or on OWSLA’s story. They create the hype and incite speculation between fans, yet the legend himself never reveals much. Even following a mysterious update on his website, the legendary producer didn’t personally mention it on any socials. Although the frequency of his content is not as most would like, he stays loyal to his fans by never using the word soon. On another note, others artists such as Peekaboo simply like to poke fun at the ridiculousness of it all.
With 2018 in the books, it’s due time for artists to stop creating hype with false hope and announcing announcements. We can’t control what artists will choose to do, but we can only hope it becomes a thing of the past… soon.
