Coming from a background in music and digital publishing, I was always told that "global distribution" was the holy grail. Get your music on Spotify, Apple, and Bandcamp, and the world will find you.

But over the years, I’ve seen a painful pattern, brilliant musicians getting thousands of streams worldwide, yet struggling to sell 30 tickets when they perform live in their own city. The algorithm gives us numbers, but it doesn't give us a community.

It feels like digital publishing has become a giant archive where our work goes to get lost, rather than a bridge to connect with people.

For the independent artists here:

How do you bridge the gap between people clicking "play" or "like" online, and actually getting them into a room to experience your work? Have you found a way to make digital distribution feel human?

Let's talk in the comments. 👇