15 Years of Music Marketing Taught Me This

Oct 6

Every campaign, artist, and goal is unique. Therefore, every marketing strategy should reflect that simple fact. That's why most music marketing services out there are empty carbs.

They aren't unique or customized. They're too often generic and sketchy systems that don't build what an artist needs most...a fan base that engages with the artist's work and wants to explore more of it.

That's because these bs systems don't focus on relationship building between fan and artist. They focus on inflated stream numbers and follows that don't translate to long-term engagement.

It takes time to build strong and deep relationships with people and the same is true for loyal music fans.

Anyone selling a strategy that gets fans or streams fast or only costs a few hundred dollars is probably cutting corners and not worth an artist's time/money.

Their sketchy system or "proprietary audience" is also going to hurt an artist’s algorithmic scores on social media and digital streaming platforms. Their AI algorithms know the difference between legit fan engagement and inflation tactics.

I see a ton of artists wasting their shoestring budgets on “plug and chug” methods like "follow for follow" and "stream for stream" schemes, third-party playlist placements, and simple ads/boosts.

They're too generic to work and likely to do more harm than good.

Artists don’t need a simple hack or “get streams/followers quick” scheme. They need a real long term strategy and the system that both grows and and nurtures their existing audience.

Quality marketing is customized, consistent, and moves specific listeners in a unique, meaningful way, so they become excited fans.

Commercial success is achieved from building relationships with fans and industry professionals over time—using many pieces/forms of content.

An artist must build a rapport with a listener before the listener actually cares enough to become a fan or the connection that unlocks an artists career.

This is precisely why quality is always more important than quantity. Artists, agents, and managers have to think less about scale and more about deepening connection.

Unfortunately, social media isn’t very generous with organic reach, even to people already following. So artists need to learn how to use paid ads to retarget people engaging to get seen.
Playlists are nice when they’re reputable, but it's often hard to get on the good ones. While they might increase streams, they have very low fan conversion rates.
PR isn’t relevant for indies the way it was 10 years ago. It’s really expensive and hardly ever worth the time and cost anymore. Most fans discover new indie music on social media and streaming platforms, not blogs and magazines.
Online courses are most often teaching an oversimplified hack that doesn’t work for most artists. Some can be useful, but it can be hard to decipher.
Touring is a ton of work and energy, but a great way to connect with listeners and sell merch. Performing cities a few times a year can go a long way with deepening relationships and artists success.
By far the most beneficial and cost effective way to market music is with solid content, targeted conversion ads, and a keen eye for data analytics.

Live performance, frequent organic posts to socials, and an effective ads system can go a long way.

The average artist isn’t going to be able to hop on a stage and wow an audience after taking an online course and the same goes for marketing their music.

An effective music marketing campaign is as sophisticated as any piece of well produced music. So thinking an artists can “pick it up” quickly is compete bs.

For artists looking to work with an ads expert, BEWARE of services that don't include a 1-on-1 consultation with a person and run ads on their own Meta or Google ad account, rather than the artist’s.

Far too often, ad managers or agencies that don’t set up the ads on the artist's account are intentionally harvesting the artist’s ads data for their own gain, concealing sketchy practices, and overcharging because the artist doesn’t know better.

Owning your own data and demanding transparency is paramount. It’s your business and they’re contractors. Keep your own data in-house.

At the end of the day, difference between commercially successful artists and everyone else almost always comes down to their branding, marketing, and how they interact with existing fans.

Three out of the four primary streams of income for an indie artist require engaged, loyal fans: