Before I started actively reading and writing online, I felt blogs were just a place to keep an online journal. They were some form of diary (short for “web log”) that let insecure people feel they were not alone in the world. Why else would I want to broadcast all my inner most thoughts and emotions to strangers but than to feel like others can help and relate? I personally like keeping my thoughts and problems to myself. I barely want my friends to know certain things about me. So what would be my incentive to writing a blog?

Well after 4 years of hiding from blogs and thinking they were just the next trendy thing to do, I learned very quickly that blogs didn’t have to be a log of my life. They didn’t have fit the form of a traditional diary. No offense to the people who do use it that way, but I find that the most interesting blogs do a variety of things outside of logging what went on through your day. They instead:

• Provide you valued content: I’m a big fan of conscious hip hop, and I’m always looking for a stream of good information related to that genre. Not so much of an outsider’s point of view, but more of somebody on the inside that’s actually living it. The iLL-Literacy crew does a great job profiling conscious artists, providing live feeds of events, talking about what’s going on in the community, and much much more. 
• Educate: I’ve recently become a wine connoisseur after having been brought into the whole wine world from a client of mine. Not only do I find so much valuable information from Gary Vaynerchuk’s Wine Library, but I also get a ton of information from Maynard Keenan. Yup, the same Maynard Keenan from Tool also actively writes about wine making. He actually knows a lot about the subject and goes pretty extensively into it. Though I probably won’t ever make wine or go vineyard hopping anytime soon, I find his content really fascinating and educational.
• Talk about passions: I love design whether its in relation to clothes, architecture, or jewelry. So I frequent Kanye West’s blog a lot just to see really well designed goods. He’s always posting pictures from live events or things he comes across on his travels. 
• Entertain: They provide a stream of content on a daily basis that just makes you laugh, smile, or feel good. One of my favorite posts to read and that I found absolutely hysterical was when George Watsky called out Michael Cera. 

As you can see, a blog can be lots of things. But regardless of what it’s about, they all serve one purpose and that’s to form a relationship between an artist and his/her fans. Fans want an outlet that they can feel personally connected with you, the creators of the music they love so very much. Your music is simply not enough. Perhaps music could do it all alone in the past (like in the 1980s and earlier), but your music is really not enough to maintain a relationship with your fan base all by itself. Your fans need something more sustainable that can keep their attention and keep them engaged. 

If you’re a solo artist or band/crew in the music world today, you should seriously consider creating a blog. There is no smarter and simpler way to market yourself in today’s music world. It doesn’t matter if you’re blog is about music or not. It just has to be interesting. Once you got it up, make it your web site’s (assuming you have one) homepage and/or link to it directly from the homepage. There are tons of free blogging solutions you can download and/or join. It’s dead simple to use and you can get up and running in less than an hour.

As long as you can distinguish that a blog is no longer an online journal/diary, I think you  will like me start enjoying having a blog of your own. You then have the opportunity to create something of value and that others will enjoy as well without having to tell your deepest darkest secrets!

Do you read any blogs right now that are created by musicians/artists? What do they talk about on their blogs and why do you find it interesting?