How to respond to haters on social media & turn them into fans

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Negative naysayers and haters are something that the vast majority of producers have to deal with at some point in their artistic career. With people saying that your music isn’t great, or refusing to upload your song onto YouTube channels & Spotify playlists, it can be extremely off-putting when trying to develop a full-time artistic career for yourself. But before you give up in anger and frustration, take a moment to sit back, relax & enjoy this article. As we’re going to be discussing how you can respond to haters, and use them as positive energy to fulfil your ambitions within the electronic music industry.

Just a decade or so ago, anybody wishing to be successful would have had to have their music signed by a record label or to be featured on a big TV show in order to have an extremely successful career. But with the internet gaining mass consumption, people have had the opportunity to develop a prosperous income solely from platforms such as Soundcloud, iTunes, Apple Music & Spotify. But along with this, the criticism from masses is often a natural part of becoming successful. After all, you can’t please absolutely everyone who listens to your music. The truth is that people who like different genres will listen to your tracks, and thus may simply dislike what you are making – causing you to have a negative experience. Likewise, somebody may simply be having a bad day and decides that since they aren’t loving your new track (for whatever reason), they want to vent their anger out in the YouTube or Facebook comments section. Here are some tips on how you can respond to people who are negative when talking about your music:

Identify the difference between haters and people who critique your music

If you see a negative comment in your comment section or direct messages, it can be very easy to draw conclusions and call them a hater. It’s very easy to think that they hate everything about your music, and want to sabotage your artistic career. When in reality, they may simply disagree with what you think about the track. A good example is when Martin Garrix went from big room music to a mainstream vibe. Although the vast majority of people weren’t hating on him, there was initially a group of people that wanted him to remain in the traditional EDM scene – and were thus disagreeing with his career choice. 

There are people out there who will disagree with you simply because they are negative people. However, there are also people who may disagree with your point of view, and thus should be paid attention to in order to understand what your audience is thinking. 

Try not to take any criticism personally

When people write a YouTube comment, they are not sending a message directly to you. Instead, they are simply writing a message in the comment thread of a YouTube or social media video that appeared within their news feed. It is admittedly very easy to forget the fact that if they have just come across you, it’s very easy to form a judgmental opinion before knowing more about the artist. This disconnect of the barrier between them and the computer allows people to say what they may not want to say in person directly to your face. But in addition, words can completely lose meaning & context when written in the comment section. This could include general banter and sarcasm. By understanding that the negative comments would most likely not exist if you were having a direct conversation, it becomes much easier not to take each comment very personally. If you feel the need to respond, simply say “thank you for the feedback”.

Use negativity to improve yourself

If somebody critiques you, it’s always better to learn from it than to take it personally and end up in a spiralling circle of depression. If somebody disagrees with you, try and talk to them to understand their perspective. Although you may both disagree with each others opinion, understanding how they are feeling can lead you to improve your own content, and ultimately receive less negative feedback in the long-term. 

Show haters that you are human

Although so-called “haters” may be negative towards you, showing your humanity in a public setting can be extremely beneficial towards you. Instead of deleting negative comments, or calling them out as hating on your music, show that you are a human – and not just a name on a computer screen. Record a video message as a public response in the comments, tell them that you understand & respect their point of view, or simply send them a direct message to have a conversation about it. You’ll be surprised how quickly “haters” perspective can occasionally change once they are challenged about their opinion from the person in which they are criticizing. What you’ll realize is that the majority of people hating on your music are simply normal people that are saying random stuff for the fun of it due to the safety & security of supposed anonymity on the internet.

As a producer, it is very easy to focus on the negative once online hate is written in your comment section. And although it may be a natural response to think that they hate you, or want to destroy every single thing you’ve ever worked for, the vast majority are simply people wanting to say their opinion in anonymity – despite not having the courage or confidence to say it directly to your face. Online haters may be tough to deal with on occasion. However, by adopting a positive mindset and trying to empathize with them, they will simply move on with their day and stop criticizing you.