This is another one I see a lot on Facebook and Reddit. The questions usually go like this:

“My first song. What do you guys think?”

“Brand new track. How does it sound?”

“Back in the studio. Am I going in the right direction?”

This is a tough one, because I do think it’s important to get advice and feedback from more experienced musicians, especially if you’re new to your genre, or new to music in general, and you don’t have your sea legs yet.

On the other hand, music is an art form, and art is subjective. You’ll get a dozen different answers that might form a kind of consensus, but you might not.

So what are you supposed to do?

There are a few things to keep in mind when soliciting feedback on your music. One, talk to DJs. Two, engage playlist curators. Three, decide whether to take the advice you receive. Finally, prepare yourself for some hard truths.

Talk to DJs

If you want honest and accurate criticism on your specific genre — as accurate as it’s possible to be in the subjective world of music — talk to DJs. They definitely know your genre better than you do. They know what plays well on their YouTube channel or on the dance floor, and they can give you feedback that actually helps, as opposed to a chorus of conflicting (and frankly useless) hot takes from other amateur artists.

At this point in your career, imitation is the best path forward. DJs can give you good examples of songs that do very well in your genre. Write these down and take a stab at imitating them. How close can you get? What kinds of gear might they be using? Who produced the music? Where was it recorded? You can even google things like, How do I make my bass sound like this song? How do I get the vocals to sound like that? What kinds of synths are they using? And so on.

After several months of recording new songs, your own voice will make itself known. It might resonate with listeners and it might not. But, if your goal is high streams, at least you’ll be aiming in the right direction.

Engage Playlist Curators

If you have the budget, you can submit your songs to playlist curators like SubmitHub and Groover. Even if your song doesn’t get playlisted, you’ll get honest feedback on your music from people who have lots of experience working with artists in your genre. This feedback can be extremely valuable as you head back into the studio and think about your project’s vision and direction.

Ultimately, It’s Up to You

This is probably the most important part: in the end, you’ll have to be the one to change (or not change) your music based on the feedback you receive. Maybe you disagree with the advice others give you! Maybe you have your own vision of how your music should sound! Maybe you’re on the verge of creating a new genre! (This is rare, of course, but it happens. And it wouldn’t happen if young artists like you didn’t make bold decisions.)

No one else can make the kind of music you do. Remember this. There will only ever be one you.

It all comes down to your goals. What do you hope to accomplish? Do you want to break into an established genre? Or maybe you’re more interested in forging your own path. Really meditate on this. It’s not hard to see that finding a path forward is next to impossible if you have no idea where you’re trying to go. If you don’t give a flying duck about blending in with an existing genre, and you don’t care about streams or attention, then absolutely just do your own thing!

The Hard Truth

The hard truth is that works created by new musicians are all but guaranteed to be lost in the shuffle. There’s just too much noise out there, now that almost everyone has access to professional production tools and self-publishing platforms. Making matters worse, young musicians tend to think carpet bombing social media platforms with brain dead links to their new release is all they need to get their work out there. This is called shouting into the void.

New musicians and recording artists should expect to shout into the void for a while. Maybe for a long while. And guess what: the void doesn’t shout back. Are you ready for that?

In a way this forced anonymity works to your advantage. I’m sure this hurts to hear, and you may vehemently disagree, but unless you’re a one-in-a-million talent, your first few works just aren’t going to sound that great. You’re going to be unfamiliar with concepts like dynamics, mixing, mastering, and any other number of common best practices in a professional recording studio environment.

You might think your music sounds good. You should! This is the audacity of youth. Otherwise why do it? But the hard truth is that the world will not fall at your feet the day your masterpiece hits the streaming platforms. Again, unless you’re a rare talent with extremely good luck (and even better connections), you will find yourself stuck in the single-digit ghetto, and it will drive you absolutely crazy.

Making matters worse, you’ll get better the more songs you produce, and you’ll wince in pain when listening to your first few releases. You’ll be glad no one paid any attention to them!

This is as it should be. We all have to go through this. So strap on a helmet and some shoulder pads and get back in that studio. It can take years to hone your talent and find your sound. Are you willing to invest that time? We’re talking years here, not weeks or months. If that sounds daunting, you might want to get out now while you’re ahead. This lack of attention will threaten to suck the soul right out of your body.

Hence the need for feedback. It’s such a human thing to do! Am I going in the right direction? What am I doing wrong? Does this even sound good? Should I keep going?

Here’s the answer, and it’s not the one you want to hear: release your work and keep going. Ignore the lack of streams. Engage other artists, fans, and DJs in your community. Celebrate musicians that you love, especially new ones like yourself. Really listen to the music that you love and hope to make some day. Finish your song, release it, shout about it into the void, and then get back in the studio.