If you think exposure is tough now, you should have been around before Internet. Exposure meant: playing live gigs, recording full songs with analog gear, selling CDs or tapes at the gig or out of your trunk, putting up posters, creating demos with jewel cases and printed artwork, sending those demos blindly to record labels and radio stations... it got expensive in both time and money, and you still weren't guaranteed a damn thing.
I think the challenge today is actually translating any "online" success into real success. I feel like people are sitting home making music, and expecting someone to be an actual fan of that. No style, no charisma, no flesh & blood. To me, everyone looks the same online - so you have a wacky haircut.. welcome to 2015. Seen it! You're still a small little picture with a @______ next to it, promoting music the same as everyone else. Unless you put out a killer undeniable hit song, I think the best exposure is still in large masses in the real world - a club or festival or something. Whether you can play a gig, or get a DJ to play your song during primetime.
For every track I actually listen to on my social networks, there are at least 10 I frankly skip right over. Been burned too many times by "check out this heat", and it's been just.. not my thing.
I want to see that you're real. Not just a computer. Coz right now, your image, your sound, your philosophy, your interaction with fans... it's all via computer. Someone could write a program that could literally be you, if they had the time and know-how. People using automatic Twitter posting services... man.. the platform is fake enough, now your content is too?
And trust me.. I'm as guilty as any of this stuff. You gotta keep up with the Jones's. But I've been pushing back against it lately, and going to weekly open mic nights with my bass to jam with some people. Getting my name out there and shaking hands with people who work in music for a living. Back to handing out business cards, and letting people know what I can do while I confidently look them in the eye. No huge results yet, but it sure feels a lot more real to me, which has given me renewed energy and hope.