Journal 011: When Knowledge Becomes a Sales Funnel

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Are we actually sharing knowledge anymore, or are we selling people a reason to distrust everyone else?

There’s something about the way knowledge is being shared in music production now that really bothers me.

And I don’t mean people sharing knowledge.

I fucking love that.

I’ve built a huge part of my own career around it.

I’ve spent years teaching people mixing, mastering, production, sound design, music technology and everything else I’ve learned along the way.

I’ll happily tell someone how I do something.

I’ll explain why I do it.

I’ll show them what I’ve learned.

I’ll tell them when I think something works.

And I’ll tell them when I think something doesn’t.

But there’s a difference between sharing knowledge and selling yourself as the person who has the knowledge.

And I think social media has blurred that line massively.

Especially Instagram.

And YouTube?

Fucking hell.

Sometimes YouTube feels like a completely different sport.

The “Don’t Listen To Them” Approach

You see it everywhere.

Someone makes a video about a production technique.

Someone else disagrees with it.

Fair enough.

That’s music.

That’s production.

That’s engineering.

We all have different approaches.

But instead of saying:

“I don’t personally work that way.”

It becomes:

“Don’t do this.”

Or:

“If you’re doing this, you’re doing it wrong.”

Or:

“This is why you’ve been getting bad mixes.”

Or, even worse:

“This person doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”

And suddenly the content isn’t really about the technique anymore.

It’s about positioning yourself against somebody else.

And that’s where I think it starts getting toxic.

Because now you’re not simply teaching.

You’re creating an enemy.

And once you’ve created an enemy, you’ve created a reason for someone to need you.

The Sales Funnel Hiding Underneath It

And this is the bit that interests me.

Because sometimes you can see the whole thing unfold.

First:

“This is wrong.”

Then:

“Most producers don’t understand this.”

Then:

“You’ve probably been doing this wrong for years.”

Then:

“Here’s what you should actually be doing.”

And finally:

“If you want me to show you exactly how, join my Patreon / course / community / membership / whatever.”

And suddenly you’ve gone from watching a piece of educational content to being funnelled towards a product.

Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with selling education.

Let’s get that straight.

I’ve got absolutely no problem with somebody charging money for their knowledge.

Knowledge has value.

Experience has value.

Mentoring has value.

Education has value.

I’ve built businesses around exactly that.

The problem isn’t selling knowledge.

The problem is when the knowledge itself is being shaped by the sale.

That’s a very different thing.

If I genuinely believe something works, I’ll tell you.

If I genuinely believe something doesn’t work, I’ll tell you that too.

But I don’t need to convince you that everybody else is an idiot before you’ll listen to me.

And I think that’s where we’ve got ourselves into a strange place.

Because the algorithm rewards certainty.

It rewards conflict.

It rewards people stopping mid-scroll.

And what’s going to make you stop scrolling?

“Here’s something I’ve discovered about compression.”

Probably not.

But:

“YOU’VE BEEN USING COMPRESSION WRONG YOUR ENTIRE LIFE.”

Yeah.

That’s going to get some fucking attention.

And once you’ve got the attention, you’ve got the audience.

Once you’ve got the audience, you’ve got the opportunity to sell something.

And suddenly the incentive isn’t necessarily to provide the most useful information.

The incentive becomes to provide the most clickable information.

And those aren’t always the same thing.

I’m Not Saying These People Don’t Know Their Stuff

This is important.

Because I don’t want this article to become another version of exactly what I’m criticising.

There are people online who know their shit.

There are producers, engineers, educators and creators who have decades of experience and an enormous amount of knowledge to offer.

Some of them are brilliant teachers.

Some of them have genuinely helped thousands of people.

I’m not questioning that.

I’m questioning what happens when the pressure to create content, generate engagement, grow an audience and sell something starts influencing how that knowledge is communicated.

Because that’s where it gets dangerous.

You can know your stuff and still package it badly.

You can be an incredible engineer and still make a terrible educator.

And you can be completely correct about something while communicating it in a way that makes everybody who disagrees with you look stupid.

Those are different things.

We Need To Get Better At Saying “This Is How I Do It”

This is probably the biggest thing I’ve learned over the years.

I’m still learning.

After nearly 30 years in music, I’m still learning.

And I don’t think that should ever stop.

So when I explain something, I’m much more comfortable saying:

“This is how I do it.”

Rather than:

“This is how it should be done.”

There are obviously exceptions.

There are fundamentals.

There are technical principles that are simply technical principles.

But even within those boundaries, there are usually different ways of approaching the problem.

Different workflows.

Different tastes.

Different genres.

Different equipment.

Different ears.

Different rooms.

Different objectives.

Different fucking people.

And that’s the beauty of it.

If someone tells me:

“I don’t agree with the way you approach that.”

My response isn’t:

“You’re wrong.”

My response is:

“Interesting. Why?”

Show me.

Explain it.

Challenge me.

Maybe I’ll learn something.

Maybe you’ll learn something.

Maybe neither of us changes our mind.

That’s completely fine.

You Don’t Have To Destroy Somebody Else’s Credibility To Establish Your Own

That’s probably the sentence I’d put right in the middle of this whole piece.

Because I think that’s what we’re seeing more and more.

If you’re genuinely good at what you do, why does somebody else need to be shit?

Why does another producer need to be wrong?

Why does another engineer need to be discredited?

Why does another educator need to be turned into the villain?

You should be able to stand on your own experience.

“This is what I’ve done.”

“This is what I’ve learned.”

“This is what works for me.”

“This is why I believe it works.”

That’s enough.

And if someone disagrees?

Brilliant.

Let’s fucking talk about it.

There’s Another Problem: Certainty Can Become Misinformation

And this is where I think it gets particularly interesting for people who are learning.

Imagine you’re a 19-year-old producer.

You’ve been making music for a couple of years.

You’re trying to understand compression.

You watch five videos.

The first person tells you:

“Never compress your master bus.”

The second tells you:

“You absolutely should compress your master bus.”

The third tells you:

“If you’re using more than 2dB of gain reduction, you’ve fucked your mix.”

The fourth tells you:

“Those rules are bullshit.”

The fifth tells you:

“Here’s my secret mastering chain.”

And you’re sitting there thinking:

“What the fuck am I actually supposed to do?”

That’s the problem.

Education shouldn’t leave people frightened to experiment.

It should give them enough understanding to make their own decisions.

Teach People To Think, Not Just What To Think

That’s what I believe education should be.

If I show somebody how I approach a mix, I’d much rather they understand why I’m doing something than simply copy the exact chain of plugins I’ve used.

Because if they understand the principle, they can apply it to something completely different.

That’s education.

That’s useful.

That’s transferable.

And it doesn’t require me to pretend that my way is the only way.

And Maybe That’s The Biggest Thing We’ve Lost

We’re living in a time where everybody is trying to build a personal brand.

I understand why.

I’ve got one.

You’re trying to get attention.

You’re trying to grow.

You’re trying to build an audience.

You’re trying to sell your services.

You’re trying to make a living.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of that.

But I think we need to be careful that the business model doesn’t start corrupting the information.

Because once your income depends on people believing that you have the answer…

there’s an obvious temptation to make sure they believe everybody else doesn’t.

And that’s where knowledge becomes a sales funnel.

Not:

“Here’s something I’ve learned.”

But:

“Here’s something I’ve learned, here’s why everyone else is wrong, and here’s where you can pay me to fix you.”

And honestly?

I fucking hate that.

Share Knowledge. Share Experience. Share Perspective.

Tell people what you think.

Tell them what you’ve learned.

Tell them what has worked for you.

Tell them what hasn’t.

Show them the mistakes you’ve made.

Show them the things you’ve changed your mind about.

Challenge conventional wisdom.

Challenge other people’s ideas.

Have fucking conversations.

But leave some room for uncertainty.

Leave some room for another perspective.

And, most importantly, leave some room for the possibility that you might be wrong.

Because that’s what learning actually is.

I’ve changed my approach to music production more times than I can remember.

I’ve changed the way I mix.

I’ve changed the way I master.

I’ve changed the way I monitor.

I’ve changed the way I work.

I’ve changed the way I teach.

And I’ll probably change all of it again.

Because I’m still learning.

And I don’t think that makes me less knowledgeable.

I think it makes me more honest.

We’re All Still Students

That’s the bit I’d like people to remember.

You don’t need to be the person who has all the answers.

You don’t need to have the loudest opinion.

You don’t need the thumbnail with somebody else’s face circled in red.

You don’t need to tell everyone that another producer is talking bollocks.

You don’t need to create an enemy.

And you certainly don’t need to convince somebody that they need you by first convincing them that everybody else is wrong.

Just fucking share what you know.

Explain why you believe it.

Give people the tools to make their own decisions.

And if somebody wants to pay you for deeper knowledge, experience or mentoring afterwards?

Brilliant.

That’s a legitimate business.

But the education itself should still be education.

Not manipulation.

Because music already has enough noise.

We don’t need to turn knowledge into another fucking battleground.

There is room for disagreement.

There is room for different techniques.

There is room for different philosophies.

There is room for people who work completely differently from one another.

And there is absolutely room for people to say:

“This is how I do it.”

Without having to follow it with:

“And everyone else is wrong.”

That’s how knowledge grows.

Not by tearing somebody else down.

By adding something to the conversation.

And after nearly 30 years of doing this, that’s the kind of music education I still want to be part of.

Share the knowledge.

Share the experience.

Challenge each other.

Stay open.

Keep learning.

And if you’re going to sell something…

sell the value of what you know.

You shouldn’t have to manufacture somebody else’s failure to prove your own worth.

⸻

Raff Di Renzo

Founder, Eleven One One Audio