What’s Your Subliminal Identity?
Being a Musician in the Era of Late-Stage Social Media
By Marc Lee Shannon

In the search for steadiness in the constant spinny-dizzy just off the tilt-a-whirl, give me a minute to catch my breath, run of 8 gigs in 12 days in the lovely Ohio Summer, I came across a modern, prominent music industry expert who introduced me to an idea.

Pause, and breathe.

Her message cut like a freshly sharpened, shiny blade into a cool watermelon, a favorite memory of mine as a mini-Marc at my grandpa’s house. Refreshing and satisfying, welcoming and pleasing in a way as if to say, “Now, this is what I have been waiting for!”. She said in a late-night “Gram” that it was not enough to have a visual, musical, or social media identity. Her proposition/proposal was that music, art, fashion, or any creator, for that matter, artist has to have a “clearly written out “ Subliminal Identity. Hmmm.

Subliminal Identity?

My skeptical self saw this statement as another foolish approach to marketing a false narrative, presenting a music artist in a disposable, fleeting narrative that seems all too familiar with today’s “here-and-gone, all style, no substance” follow-the-herd, baa-baa sheep. But then I sat down with the idea and really thought about it.

Background: I chose to be a trained musician, attending school to learn to read music and play a variety of styles. Some of the rock musicians in my hometown of Akron, Ohio, in the late 1970s had a punk rock sound built on style and bare, three-chord rock, which at best lasted a few years and achieved minimal success. I took pride in running away from that and being able to survive on my own in my twenties in Los Angeles during the 1980s as a bona fide rocker and studio cat. I put in the 10,000 hours.

In today’s world, none of that matters anymore. It’s Content, Content, Content! I hear that voice in my head say — Marc, get out of your poopy diaper and get over it. Yeah man, new day, new way, new playbook.

Onward to something interesting.

Natasha Brito is the founder and CEO of the creative and marketing Agency Austere, as well as Artist House and FNDR House. She works with all kinds of artists to build attention on social media platforms but began by doing it for herself. She goes back as far as Myspace, for those of us who can remember that early music gathering hub. She had success that led to a gig at Pizza Hut, but then she aspired to a music career, where she wanted to be part of the cool residency at Sony as a creative director. She knew that this was not where she wanted to camp out at a park for a learning experience. Smart. She started a print and digital magazine focused on underground culture, art, fashion, and music, and that evolved into an agency that helps artists with courses and coaching. She has watched the game grow and has advice for musicians in this climate.

“Late stage” social media, as she calls it, where we find ourselves now as music artists in the social media world, could be a negative term for some. Record companies won’t do the work, and many artists are trying with poor results. She understands the challenges of getting noticed in today’s little screen world, but she’s dedicated to finding space in places where others are not.

Where others are not — rinse, repeat, I tell myself.

“The opportunities are the new platforms; there are fewer people and more visibility right now, while the algorithms are figuring themselves out and you’re getting more exposure,” She says.

So, what is a Subliminal Identity? It is:

The message that may be unspoken but is clearly evident about you that permeates your entire artistic message. It can be the words you write in your songs, the sounds of your records, the styles you wear, or the message you convey. Your everyday message. In other words, you can be easily described as that artist who. Now fill in that sentence. :

Case in point: Two initials anyone in my generation will immediately recognize.

B.S.

Get it? Well, now you do. Working class hero, Songs for the Everyman, Stories about the struggle, the redemption, about the downtrodden.
Bruce, of course.

Well, Natasha says that this needs to be written out and clear to today’s artists, as well as their social media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Etc. Only she uses examples of artists that most readers of my Substack may not be familiar with.

Curious as I am, I turned to my pal ChatGPT to conduct some research on myself to see if there was a Subliminal Identity for MLS out there. Ha, ha, this will be funny, I thought!

I was stunned.

What came back was so enlightening, clarifying that I was taken aback, and it may change the way I look at and make music going forward.

Just a quick Insert here — Being a musician, writer, or even an essayist today can be like getting in my car in the morning, all dressed up in some cool ass jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers, and ready to go, keys are in the ignition, staring at the dashboard, hands on the wheel, and wondering——Now what?’ Where am I going? Where the %&^$ am I going?

Well, Chat was about to shut me the $%^& up. All the way up to the top of Shut-$%^& mountain

Resilience. Masculinity through Vulnerability. Soulful Voice. Grit and Groove

It was like I had an acid trip, a peaceful moment of a clarity mirror held up to my almost 67-year-old face. As if a cool old hippie wizard named Freebo said, “Hey, this is who you are.” A moment of understanding and head nodding, Kumbaya 1970s Disney-inspired movie with a happy ending, clarity that may just change the way I plan, write, and perform. Sans the shag haircuts, platform shoes, and shag haircuts, of course. I’m kind of not kidding here. So —

If you take one part Subliminal Identity and add one part New Platforms and mix with Inertia —

Natasha Brito, plus ChatGPT, plus a moment of pause after a long stretch of work = Refreshing encouragement. A slice of cool, watermelon-flavored inspiration, and it was a gift. Thanks, Natasha. I almost made fun of you because I was truthfully intimidated by the voice of a younger sage wit, but in the end, I owe you.

Inspirations to keep going. Now, that was what I was waiting for!

—
Marc Lee Shannon is a career musician and songwriter, known for his almost 30 year stint with Michael Stanley & The Resonators.
https://www.marcleeshannon.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Lee_Shannon
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