PROMO NOTiON...

In theory, keystone of the macro-economic system in function, "to promote an artist or one of its titles is to sell it! Elementary my dear Watson!” Logical since production and distribution are commercial activities with a profit motive! Yes and no... (LOL) Yes, because if the profitability factor is inescapable of the economic equation, any company depending on the ecosystem in which it tries to exist, the profit, initially considered as a bonus, becomes then a priority! (The law of the strongest!) But (reasonably) at the same time "no" if we consider music and its production in terms of art and artists rather than in accounting terms. In this sense, it obviously depends on the structure in place, its mode of operation and its interactions in the ecosystem in question... So, would an oasis in the middle of the desert be possible? (LOL) One can dream! However, let's be clear! In concrete terms, releasing a track always costs money! The world revolves around capitalization and profitability, nothing new! At least this is the dominant model and its (too) many perverse effects... Would it be conceivable to do otherwise, when it is the "numbers" that often win in the end? However, one should not be naïve because, to do well, any production (musical or other) must aim, first of all, not at immediate profitability, but at least at return on investment. Recovering one's initial investment is already good! At least, that's what most of the "budding" or confirmed artists say to themselves. The vital minimum, which has nothing to do here with the "salary" minimum (of the artist) because it is obviously not with the digital platforms that the artists make money, it is thus to at least generate enough to pay the whole of the production expenses. And in electronic music, like other trends, it is still necessary to manage to be heard! What's more, faced with the "deafening din" of industrialization and standardization, artists of all stripes are immersed, if not drowned, in the gigantic bath of musical distribution in the 21st century, its interests, its media and propagation channels! In short, a credo: it is absolutely necessary to emerge, to go out, to differentiate oneself, to be distinguished from the mass! In this sense, the communication around the musical projects is done with great promotional reinforcements that become "hype!” And what is promotion? Selling of course! At least try to encourage interest in the "product!” It's all about productivity, attractiveness, market, investments and profits! The musical sector does not escape it, the question of the place of the art and the artist then arises, as modest as they are! Because, the act in itself is not or should not be guided by the lure of gain or by the celebrity but well by the impulse, the inspiration, the "visceral" feeling of a creative step which puts the human being and its capacities of expression in the center of the stake!

Without wishing to play the role of lesson giver or demagogue, and without launching a long dissertation on a subject as complex as it is fundamental to the questioning of culture and its practices, the NéMéSiS-303 project was built, so to speak, outside of the conventions and codes of the day, based on this observation. In concrete terms, it is a matter of conceiving musical expression as a passionate experience with a supposedly artistic value (in the noble sense of the term) like an initiating and developmental method with no other objective than to confront the craftsman and his production/work with the completed, exhibited, heard, and shared reality... And this with the idea of making the realization as a link in a "production chain" that does not target the profitability of the company in the short term, but rather the accomplishment of a creative process that nourishes the craftsman with the coherence and meaning of his action in each component and parameter involved.

In this sense, whatever the echo, even the repercussion, the possible success or the "flop" of the production, given that the simple goal is to experiment, to explore, to discover and to rediscover, to learn and to put into practice, to take pleasure in composing and arranging sounds, the action of promoting has here no other vocation than the exchange and the sharing with a greater number. However, the promotion of an artist such as it is defined in the specifications of the record companies relates to other considerations than that of the creative act in itself and all that it comprises, without speaking about the narcissistic aspect of the things... Thus goes the world! It is as for a young sportsman on whose head are placed as many hopes as astronomical amounts (and financial arrangements...) on the condition that he submits to the dictates in place... And the human being then! The young person in training, the sportsman in search of fulfillment, the individual in full development, the artist in construction... The economic first, the human after! This is the leitmotiv! We are not going to change the world! But the individual freedom to choose remains!

In short, from an ethical point of view, the choice to go off the beaten track was personally imposed. Budgetarily too, we mustn't hide it! (LOL) Nothing disturbing in itself given the conditions of feasibility at the initiative of the project. At the moment, nothing has changed since the project started: make do with little, don't pretend to anything, do your own thing in your corner, without looking for recognition, glory (to live happily, let's live hidden!) or audience shares... But then, how to proceed? How to continue the adventure despite everything? How to ensure its "musical" future? How to meet its audience, expose itself without revealing itself, display itself without playing the game of the economic-media system, without falling into the crossroads of marketing, staging...? This is the subtlety of a promotional approach that does not play the ego card, the one-upmanship, the "spectacular" or the "sensationalism" but prefers to focus communication on the authenticity and sincerity of a project conceived as a humble personal experience by betting on the gradual construction of an identity, as much artistically as philosophically or ethically coherent! In other words, an approach centered on the human adventure that is the NéMéSiS-303 project, its singularity, its realization and its development step by step. At the same time, by relying solely on oneself, by investing oneself without too much pressure or constraint, for the pleasure of it, and without pretending to do anything other than pursue a self-taught process in free electron mode, one also avoids certain hazards! The reality is of course that one must face other unforeseen events. Reactivity, inventiveness, perspicacity and lucidity are essential to survive. In order to continue to share freely with those who are interested, one must also know how to make strategic choices, establish priorities and stick to the roadmap without thinking big or rushing into things.

Philosophy and real pillar of the NeMSiS-303 project, now in full testing phase, it is a form of endurance test for the tough ones, the tenacious ones! (LOL) Because to continue, it is necessary to hold on, to hold on and to advance step by step, meter by meter... Passion, abnegation, will and sense of effort are essential to continue the road and to traverse a way which is not drawn in advance, even if the "marked out" route decreases the risks... (LOL) A path that is obviously only made by walking would say Antonio Machado, Spanish poet quoted by Edgar Morin, great thinker and cultural omnivore without equal (read). In the end, you will have understood, I just want to express myself freely, to do my own thing, in my own corner, without making waves, without raising mountains, without aiming at summits... An approach privileging the journey (no matter the destination or the duration...), because only the moment of the journey suspended in time counts, the pleasure of the hike, the walk in all freedom in the open air in autonomous and musically introspective mode... Also, determined to continue to walk the steep paths of electronic music production at my own pace, you will also have understood that my "nirvana" is to enjoy myself and to share it without bending to the rigid conventions and rules in force... This is why I also try to conceive and realize, when I have the time, my communication around a sincere and exhaustive account of the situation and the conditions of departure, the evolutions and the developments in progress in order to tend towards the expected quality of a musical "production" for which the monetization constitutes only one factor of existence and subsistence in the neoliberal ecosystem in place with which it is necessary to learn to compose!

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