November 05, 2023

By Afzal

One way to build an audience is to steal from those who have one.

Stealing Audience? What are we talking about here? Let me explain, any beginner artist or craftsman struggles to get recognized, and establish an audience, I share the same struggle although I’m not a beginner it’s been years yet I have failed to build my audience so think of this as an insight which my failures taught me and not as a how-to.

You can steal an existing audience by remixing or creating derivatives. What is a remix or derivative? A remix or a derivative would be a fusion of your craft and an existing craft with an audience, this can be a win-win for both, a win for you as you are getting noticed and a win for the one with an audience as their craft is getting proliferated. But this strategy doesn’t work every time or with everyone for example imagine a huge corporate brand that is very aggressive with its IP and strikes everyone who infringes on it, so if you remix with its IP and create stuff they might get you in legal trouble, but whereas remixing with a brand that is CC0 or Public IP will be a win-win.

An original audience remains just that, and you can't constantly rely on remixing. Nevertheless, it serves as a viable strategy for those struggling to establish their audience, helping them gain visibility and momentum.

Thank you!

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