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If you’ve ever tried to promote your music, your brand, or your services online, you’ve met them. They show up fast. They sound moral. They speak in absolutes. And they are always furious that you dared to be visible.
“Let the music speak for itself.”
“Real art doesn’t need marketing.”
“If it’s good, the algorithm will find it.”
They exist in every producer community. Reddit. Facebook groups. Discords. LinkedIn. Comment sections. They swarm anyone who posts a win, a release, a placement, a product, or even a simple announcement. And they do real damage—especially to younger or less confident producers who are still figuring out how this industry actually works.
This article is not about selling harder. It’s about psychological immunity. It’s about understanding who these people are, why they behave this way, and why their worldview is almost perfectly engineered to keep them invisible forever.
There Should Be a Name for Them
Let’s call them what they are:
Algorithm Purists.
They worship a fantasy version of meritocracy. In their world, attention is supposed to arrive organically, silently, and without effort—as long as the work is “pure” enough. They believe promotion contaminates art. Visibility cheapens meaning. Asking for attention is a moral failure.
But here’s the contradiction they never resolve:
They desperately want attention. They just want it without risk.
They want the outcome of marketing without the exposure. The validation of success without the vulnerability of being seen trying. So instead of promoting themselves, they police others.
This is not integrity. It’s fear wearing a philosophy costume.
Forgotify Is Full of Them
There’s a reason platforms like Forgotify exist—sites that highlight music with zero plays. On the surface, it looks poetic. Undiscovered genius. Hidden brilliance. A quiet rebellion against popularity.
But spend enough time around these conversations and you’ll notice something darker underneath.
Most of these artists don’t just happen to be undiscovered. They are actively structured to remain that way.
They don’t release consistently. They don’t communicate clearly. They don’t position their work. They don’t build relationships. They don’t tell anyone what they do or why it matters.
And yet they are furious that no one is listening.
So when they see someone else doing the unthinkable—posting, sharing, promoting, explaining—they feel exposed. Your visibility highlights their inaction. Your effort reframes their “purity” as avoidance.
And avoidance hates being named.
The Psychology: Ego + Scarcity
This behavior is not random. It follows a predictable psychological pattern.
Ego Protection
If success is framed as “luck,” “algorithms,” or “selling out,” then failure becomes noble. If marketing is immoral, then obscurity becomes proof of depth.
This belief system protects the ego. It ensures they never have to test themselves publicly. Never have to risk rejection. Never have to confront the possibility that the work might need improvement—or positioning—or repetition.
Scarcity Mindset
They believe attention is finite. That someone else’s visibility steals oxygen from them. That promotion is a zero-sum game.
So instead of expanding the pie, they try to shame people for eating.
This is classic scarcity thinking. And it shows up everywhere humans compete without self-trust.
The “Nice Guy” Parallel
There’s an uncomfortable but accurate analogy here.
Algorithm purists behave a lot like the guys who say, “I just want to be friends with girls.”
On the surface, it sounds respectful. Underneath, it’s passive manipulation.
They don’t take direct action. They don’t state intent. They hover. They “add value.” They wait.
And when someone else is confident, visible, or direct, they lash out. Not because the action is wrong—but because it reveals their strategy for what it is.
In producer groups, this looks like:
- Never posting their own work directly
- Criticizing anyone who does
- Dropping links only after “helpful” comments
- Claiming they’re misunderstood or ahead of their time
This is not subtle. It’s just rarely named.
The Cuttlefish Strategy
Cuttlefish camouflage. They don’t confront. They blend. They wait.
Algorithm purists do the same thing in communities. They avoid overt self-promotion. They try to become “known” without ever standing out. They hope someone will notice their intelligence, their restraint, their taste—and crown them quietly.
But communities don’t work that way. Audiences don’t work that way. Careers don’t work that way.
Visibility is not a reward. It’s a skill.
And refusing to practice it doesn’t make you noble. It makes you invisible.
Why This Is Dangerous for New Producers
The real harm isn’t that these people stay obscure. It’s that they try to drag others down with them.
A new producer sees the backlash. They see the dogpiling. They internalize the message:
“Trying is embarrassing.”
“Promotion is cringe.”
“Success will make people hate you.”
So they shrink. They wait. They tell themselves they’re “focusing on the craft.” And years pass.
Talent without visibility does not age well. It rusts.
The Truth They Can’t Accept
Marketing does not replace quality. It reveals it.
If your music can’t survive being seen, the problem isn’t marketing. It’s alignment.
Every successful producer you admire learned how to communicate what they do. Not perfectly. Not instantly. But deliberately.
The algorithm doesn’t discover you. People do. And algorithms follow people.
How to Spot an Algorithm Purist Instantly
- They moralize marketing instead of analyzing it
- They talk about “art” but never about outcomes
- They criticize visibility more than bad music
- They claim uniqueness while avoiding differentiation
- They explain failure philosophically instead of practically
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. And once you see it, their power evaporates.
What Producers Should Actually Do
You don’t need to fight these people. You don’t need to convince them. You don’t need their permission.
You need clarity.
Promotion is not begging. It is context. It tells people what you do, why it exists, and who it’s for. That is not ego. That is communication.
If someone is threatened by that, it tells you everything you need to know.
Laugh, Then Move Forward
Once you understand the psychology, the attacks stop stinging. They become predictable. Almost boring.
You realize they’re not gatekeepers. They’re mirrors—reflecting a version of the future you don’t want.
So laugh. Post anyway. Build anyway. Release anyway.
Obscurity is not purity. It’s just obscurity.