Downtime Is
a Fine Time to
SHARPEN YOUR
SOCIAL MEDIA GAME
By Ori Dagan
O
ne of the greatest challenges
of being a musician in the 21 st
century is the multitude of mul-
titasking. Balancing our art with
tasks far more mundane and
monotonous is an art in itself.
If you are driven, one of the
toughest realities in the internet world is that one
can NEVER be done. If the possibilities are infi nite,
when do you stop?
Enter COVID-19 and the cancellations of every-
body’s gigs. All of a sudden, social media became
that much more crucial. My personal experience is
a continuing learning curve: I played my fi rst gig via
the Zoom app, launched an account on Patreon,
and embarked on a weekly Facebook Live concert
series. There is always a silver lining to be found,
and in this context, I have found that audiences
need music more than ever, and are eager to con-
nect with musicians more than ever, too.
Forced downtime gives us all an opportunity to
play catch up, maybe even develop some good new
habits. Let’s break it down to some important online
tools that are essential for the indie musician – not
only to launch, but most importantly, to maintain.
To start, let us delve into the world of social
media, which is crucial in this industry, whether
you intend on merely surviving or full-on thriving.
Turning to a great authority in this fi eld: a man with,
as of this typing, nearly 700,000 twitter followers
and counting.
THAT ERIC ALPER…
Music runs deep in the blood of Eric Alper, whose
grandfather opened Toronto blues institution
Grossman’s Tavern in 1943. The venue is still going
strong at 379 Spadina Avenue in Toronto, and so
is Alper, who resides in Richmond Hill and is one of
Canada’s premier music publicists, a host on Sirius
XM, and self-proclaimed shameless idealist.
Let me state the obvious, not only to the
musicians reading this but also to all music lovers:
follow @ThatEricAlper on all platforms. Here’s
why: his carefully concocted cocktail of tweets will
entertain you, inspire you, inform you, and some-
times move you.
The ingredients: music news; pop culture
throwbacks; celebrity photos past and present;
rock and roll history; the occasional live stream
from a festival; pics that make you melt; quotes
that make you smile; jokes that make you laugh;
posts that will surprise you; his inspiring daughter,
blogger and infl uencer @ThatHannahAlper; and
always: questions!
Pretty much every day on his channels, Alper
asks his followers at least one question. Whether or
not to answer is up to you, of course, but one thing
is undeniable: the resulting collection of replies
creates a social web, which is how Eric engages,
grows, and challenges his fanbase. He literally gets
people talking this way, making social media more
social each and every day.
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