Normally around this time of year bars and clubs would be booking local music talent to perform live shows. But with COVID-19 restrictions making that impossible Waterloo region’s local musicians have had to find new ways to promote their music.
Ethan Kreller, known to his fans as Eazzie K, has over 15,000 streams on soundcloud, and is considered to be among Kitchener/Waterloo’s up and coming hip-hop musicians.
“COVID-19 has made it harder to promote,” Kreller says. “I can’t do things publicly to gain more publicity.”
Kreller says the problems for local musicians during these tough times doesn’t stop there. “During lockdown it’s even harder to record a song, and because you need to self-isolate, the studio is normally shut down when you need it.”
With Ontario being recently placed in a province wide shutdown, Waterloo’s diverse options for live music have had to close their doors.
As Instagram live shows have been growing in popularity since the start of COVID-19’s outbreak, many musicians in the KW Region have taken this approach to promoting their music. Kreller doesn’t exactly think this is a very effective method to getting your name out there.
“In my personal opinion, Instagram live shows aren’t as effective because people need to feel the vibe of your music,” Kreller explains. “It’s harder to feel the vibe when you’re not in the same room as the artist and performing or listening with a bunch of people.”
Although Kreller has felt the disadvantages of COVID-19’s effect on the local music industry, he has still found ways to grow his fanbase.
“I have found that online promoting can be really useful right now because everyone is stuck at home during lockdown,” Kreller adds. “So people are stuck on their phones scrolling through social media so you need to use those platforms to promote now because more people will see it than ever before.”
