It’s almost 2016 homies! Can you believe it? Although many try to prevent it, times are definitely changing. Humans are continuing to advance technologically, as well as increasing their reliance on this new technology. These advances have led to a shift in the way music is made and shared nowadays. Everything is becoming more accessible online, especially music, but there are definitely pros and cons to the ways in which the internet has made music so accessible to listeners. I talked to a couple young artists/students about how they are using the internet to their benefit.

“The internet allows artists not to be confined by their local music scene. Your music can be shared and heard all over the world,” says Joey Bautista of the band Nancy Sin. Joey, which is a fellow KCR member (SHOUTOUT), says his band has gotten a large number of listeners in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe from posting their music on the popular website Bandcamp. Cano Espinoza from the band Guidelines explains that, “Through free music sites like Bandcamp and SoundCloud, artists are able to upload their music for free, distribute it for free, or charge money for it if they want, and that’s the beauty of it.” Local San Diego rapper Marco Flores who goes by the name Prime One adds, “You make art to show how you feel, and you share it, and you suggest it to people and you have it there all the f*%#ing time! It opens doors no one has ever opened before because they’ve never experienced your voice or music. It’s awesome, I love it.” Through these free music sharing websites including Facebook, which all the artists I spoke to also find extremely beneficial, an artists work is accessible all the time and anywhere in the world.This is definitely a shift the music industry is working on trying to adapt to because although easy accessibility may help in means of getting your name out there, it also makes it harder for artists to make money completely through their music.

Musicians are growing through a time when the internet has changed what it is to be an artist. Finding musical success is  difficult, but there are also different ways of interpreting what a successful artist is. Joey explains it as, “making the art that you want and love to make and not having to be stressed about being able to pay the bills.” Marco says its, “Someone who believes in what they’ve created,” and Cano adds that , “Many things define a successful artist, it just depends on how many ways they feel like they’ve succeeded.” These young artists all seem to agree that the ability to express oneself and being successful go hand in hand.  Their motivation continues to stem from their ability to share their creativity with others’ all across the globe, although purchasing one of their tracks may make them a little extra happy.

Music from featured artists Nancy Sin, Prime One and Guidelines down below. Check out these talented guys’ work and show them some love for letting me use their music and faces all over this post.

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