Widening the audience or narrowing the niche.
Posted by scottfrein on September 29, 2008
I started this blog because I thought I had something to say. I thought others might be interested in it. I wasn’t sure who would be interested but surely there is someone out there that will read this. The question is, who?
The Internet is wide reaching and defies physical, political, and social boundaries. The information found on the web is accessible to all people. So does that mean that my posts, rants, and ramblings will reach a more diverse audience? I don’t know. I dare say if your reading this right now you are probably a musician, someone who gigs, probably a guitar player, and somewhat interested in the things that interest and sometimes plague musicians. So does someone who is not a musician find anything in this blog that is interesting.
I started thinking about this while listening to a tech podcast that was completely full of inside baseball. Name dropping galore. Names I had never heard of but they were apparently significant to the panel on the podcast. I didn’t feel like this group was reaching out to the masses but rather playing to the clique that surrounds them. It just seemed to be an attempt at being a big fish in a small pond.
I realize that mainstream media is aimed at wider audiences but the Internet does offer anybody the chance to say what is on their mind. So if the Internet creates niche communities of like minded people is that bad. I think exposure to lots of different things is a very eye opening experience. I guess it’s up to the individual to seek out new things or stay in their comfort zone.
Scott
| Share this post : |  |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
theandysan said
It’s all about balance.
You don’t want to narrow down what you’re talking about to where a beginning musician has no idea what or who you’re talking about.
Also, you don’t want to be too general in what you talk about because people won’t be able to connect with you.
TheAndySan
http://www.theandysan.com
dblacker1 said
It all does seem to be going more and more niche and which seems to be in part a reaction to the sheer glut of information and content out there. But on the other hand, since starting my blog, I’ve really been discovering cool little niche guitar communities, forums, blogs (like this one), etc…and the one thing that has not changed is that having something to say, and saying it well, makes the content engaging, unique and almost universal – but then again maybe I just love the gtr!
Great blog.
Dave – The Gear Mall