We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Susan Fredericks. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Susan below.

Alright, Susan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

The name MuseArte Media is just a simple reference to the fact that my videos are interdisciplinary in nature. I love working collaboratively with other musicians, visual artists, poets, filmmakers and other creatives to complete each video. Finding compelling works and capturing that inspiration in a musical composition and a video is what MuseArte is all about.

I like to think of these works as Tone Poems, paying homage to artists and musicians of the past at a time when musicians developed close links with writers, poets and painters. Because of their camaraderie, great masterworks were realized.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

Being a pianist and an indie recording artist is at the core of my work. I’m always interested in the sounds, rhythms and harmonies that compel me to learn from the past to create the future. Improvisational music is incredibly exciting and for me it is the only way to say (play) what’s in my heart.

With MuseArte Media my goal is to connect people with videos that exist to celebrate the creativity of each collaborator. And by hearing the music, seeing the visual art and connecting to the writings, people can experience each video as a unique integrated work.

Another hope with MuseArte Media is to bring great music and art into the hands of people every day. Since technology has made for an increasingly screen-focused society, the opportunity exists for us to have artistic experiences at hand, in the moment, without having to leave home. It is not meant to be a concert or a museum experience but a fun, daily reminder of the wonders of art that can lift our spirits.

This is the one thing I hope my fans and followers appreciate and enjoy.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My presence on social media started like many other people with a Facebook page of my friends and family. Let’s face it, your circle of friends and family are probably more interested in what you are doing than anyone else on the planet so I think it’s a good place to start.

Of course not all of the people on your page will be interested in your products or services so it’s an easy transition to create your business page. Mine is called MuseArte Media. There I post stories, insights and articles that pertain to my interests that are more specific to my business. I also post a teaser whenever I drop a new single, album or video and for those I boost them out to a targeted audience on Facebook and Instagram that I created. Also with Messenger, I might send a quick line out about new releases because it’s easy and sometimes your friends/followers don’t even see your posts anymore because of the algorithms. Another plus is to find many like-minded people by joining groups. I have joined many piano groups, jazz groups, musician groups, visual art groups, film groups, etc. that help to build your following on your own pages.

Unfortunately, Facebook and Instagram are limited. To show a video it is restrictive and the quality of the audio and the video is subpar. So for me, I needed a higher quality for the audio and better resolution for the visual in my work. My first instinct was to go to Vimeo since it does satisfy these two requirements but I ultimately found it to be the wrong platform for me. In my mind it’s the “Linked In” of video platforms. Most people use it to showcase their videos as a resume for future marketing work which is fine but it’s not the community I needed to be in. So I recently set up shop at Bandcamp. My site is called museartemedia.com It really is great in terms of quality of sound and good resolution and offers artists like me the ability to download/stream, sell CDs, sell DVDs and sell any other merch I may want to supply. In terms of the community it’s mostly indie artists of all genres including some highly recognizable names. Also, when someone buys your work, you get the lion’s share of the rewards.

I use Distrokid for setting up my music on streaming services. It is very low cost and they will make sure your work gets to Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc. And cost is key since these streaming platforms pay next to nothing to artists.

One last word. Don’t underestimate a timely newsletter sent out to all of your email recipients. This I’m told has shown to be one of the best ways to connect with your community. Who knew?

These are just the platforms that I use based on my particular needs. Depending on your business, I think there are two key ingredients to social media success: 1.) More is not necessarily better 2.) Are you talking to your tribe?

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I guess life is all about pivoting, isn’t it? Not only can life throw you a curveball but your own personal stage in life is a catalyst for huge shifts in your priorities. For example, there was a enormous change in technology in the mid 80s that impacted the way the music industry functioned. Live music went missing in action it seemed overnight being replaced by DJs and synthesizers taking over for horn and string sections at events as well as in the recording studios.

At this point in my life I was ready to move on so I went back to school, earned an MBA and starting working in non-profit management. You might say, “How could you leave your passion for music behind?” Well, I had to pivot! And guess what?

It enhanced my music in the long run. When the time came to come back to being a musician, I had a much higher pursuit to strive for. Rather than being a music-for-hire freelance musician, I was now in a position to compose my own music, study more sophisticated music in more depth and feel so much more fulfilled by it. Additionally, the knowledge about business put me in a position of confidence to form a company where I could branch out with other creatives and conceive MuseArte Media. I’m grateful for the journey.

An artist will always find a way to create no matter how they are earning a living. The creativity is on the inside.

Contact Info:

• Website: museartemedia.com
• Instagram: musearte_media
• Facebook: @museartemedia
• Linkedin: Susan Fredericks
• Youtube: MuseArte Media
• Other: My email account is [email protected]

Image Credits
Susan Fredericks is a pianist, composer and founder of MuseArte Media. Tone Poems CD/DVD – Collaborators: Susan Fredericks, pianist and composer, Diane Sanborn, visual artist, Steve Hashimoto, Bassist, Isidro Perez, Drummer, Steve Fredericks, Film Editor Big Betty Single – Collaborators: Susan Fredericks, pianist and composer, Carole d’Inverno, visual artist, Sue D. Burton, poet, Ben Dillinger, Bassist, Mark Walker, Drummer, Monica Jane Frisell, Photographer, Carmen Shragal, Film Editor