The Surprising Evolution of Creativity in the Era of COVID-19

These times of social distancing are opening artists’ minds and forcing them to be more creative. There will be hardship and loss of revenue, make no mistake. But great new collaborations, sounds, conversations, and interactions will come out of this. I believe that the restrictions required to confront the COVID-19 pandemic are helping us understand the connections and engagement we need with our audiences and with our community.

With tours and gigs on hold, artists at every stage of their careers are trying things that they never would have tried before, experimenting with formats. Erykah Badu invited her audience to choose her next move in a recent live-streamed concert, changing her sound as she performed in different rooms in her house. Thao & the Get Down Stay Down’s new video, shot on zoom, is another sign of the creativity that triumphs over constraints. Every day we’re seeing online-only “festivals” spring up that might feature livestreaming acoustic guitar sets from an artist’s bedroom or live DJ sessions from the living room.

All these artists can’t just move their live shows to small screens, they have to create more intimate experiences out of necessity. They’re going live on social media with limited equipment, playing stripped-down arrangements, and sharing how they make music on lockdown with fans. But they will learn that bringing more of themselves and their creative process to live streaming and social media brings fans closer for good.

They’re learning now what attracted early adopters to live streaming, membership, and crowdfunding platforms like Twitch, Patreon, and Kickstarter: when fans see raw musical ideas take shape, they become fervent supporters. Those fans are more likely to buy merch, pre-save the finished tracks they watched being born, and buy concert tickets (when live shows return).

Music marketing paradigms will shift as a result. Releasing an “exclusive” used to mean a fully finished, totally produced track on one unique platform. From now on the truly sought-after exclusive will be an experience: being there as artists are creating, and feeling like you’re part of the creative process. We knew artists and listeners were moving in this direction, and now social isolation has accelerated that movement.

Social platforms are the most common channels artists use to connect with fans. But previous platforms for text, image, and video content put the focus on lifestyles and personas, not sounds. As a musician myself, I saw the need for a social music platform that adapts the way musicians work: recording musical ideas. With co-founder Alicia Rius, I built the social music collaboration app SoundStorming to give artists new ways of engaging with other musicians as well as the audiences. When artists record and share the beginnings of a track on SoundStorming, other musicians can build on it- adding a drum loop or a vocal track, for example, that takes the idea in a new direction. Using a musical idea (a riff, a melody, a beat) as a piece of content—equivalent to a tweet or Instagram post—opens up a conversation through collaboration. In a music-centered environment, genre barriers disappear in favor of free creativity.

Connecting and collaborating are the keys to success in the music industry. Making collaboration social opens a door to new ways for artists to connect, and for fans to discover artists and connect with their music. We’ll all welcome the return of in-person, live music-making when this pandemic passes, but I predict that artists who are exploring new ways of connecting with their fans now won’t go back to using social media merely to share announcements and photo shoots. They will find closer connection and more effective communication on social platforms that let them focus on musical ideas and the creative process, and they’ll gain creative dividends as well.

Musically and creatively, the COVID-19 pandemic will break down genres, stereotypes, and old mindsets, including how we collaborate and how artists connect with new audiences. If you’re an artist, this is the right time to try new ways to communicate, beyond promoting shows and releases. This is the right time to open up your creative process to fans and potential collaborators. This is the right time to share your ideas, bring listeners with you on your musical journey, and watch them become your strongest supporters.