Have you checked if your music got pulled from Deezer!? Because they just removed…  [WAIT FOR IT]  … twenty-six… …MILLION… …tracks! I repeat: 26 million tracks were just removed from Deezer in an attempt to “declutter” its catalog. That’s roughly 13% of ALL the music on their platform. What music was removed from Deezer? “Useless” tracks. That’s according to Deezer’s outgoing CEO, Jeronimo Folgueira.  In practice, this meant the removal of 26 million tracks that were either: Noise tracks Mono-track albums Music by “fake” artists Or streamed ZERO times in the last 12 months I j ..read more

Are you sick of making “content” when you’re supposed to be sharing songs?  Tired of chasing social trends when you should be mining inspiration?  Have you almost forgotten you’re a songwriter, because the world keeps insisting you need to be a “creator” first?   Well I have some good news for you: Songwriter Katie Dahl’s two best-performing posts defy most of the conventional wisdom around social media and music marketing. She saw the highest engagement when she decided to simply… be herself! Vulnerability as a superpower in songwriting AND music marketing As a marketer, I ..read more

I watched hours of trending singer-songwriter content on Reels and TikTok and here’s what I found: What seems to works best for singer-songwriters in 2024? Performance videos! But that’s just one of the commonalities I noticed. In the post below you’ll see a highlight reel of a dozen videos by singer-songwriters that: Were recommended to me algorithmically Instantly caught my eye Which made me turn up the volume to hear that they… Sounded good They all had some impressive engagement happening as well (likes, shares, comments), which served as a kind of social proof enticing me to check out w ..read more

You work hard on your music. Once it’s released into the world, you want people to know it exists, find it easily online, press that play button, and love what they hear so much they’ll listen again.  That can happen, of course. It happens all the time.  But with endless amounts of new music being released, and with endless amounts of social content designed to keep us viewing and scrolling, it usually doesn’t happen all on its own. To gain traction with your music, you need to: Actively communicate Make people curious about your music Entice them to take a chance on you And make it ..read more

Viral music success today is achieved through ACTIVE release strategies.  An active music release lets people make something NEW from your music. Or allows them to easily add your track to something THEY are already doing online. Both active and static releases are important for modern music launches. Active releases are great for growing your audience and creating a sense of participatory excitement. Static releases serve your true fans because they are the truest form of your artistry. Let’s explore each kind of release strategy a little deeper. What’s the difference between active & ..read more

Spotify’s annual report on music economics is now out, and the latest Loud & Clear claims the music industry is growing at a healthy pace. But it’s always worth reading these things with some skepticism. What’s good for “the music industry” can be very different from what’s good for individual artists. So let’s look at Spotify’s headline numbers and ask ourselves what they mean, if anything, for our own music. The top findings from Spotify’s recent report: Spotify paid $9b to rights-holders in 2023 This set the record for the highest payment to the music industry from any single retailer ..read more

As a touring musician, you want to pick the perfect price for your concert tickets or door charge.  Not so high that it becomes prohibitive for fans and you can’t fill the venue. But not so cheap that you sell out instantly and leave potential profits on the table.  So are your shows too cheap? Or too expensive?  Well, the answer may be… BOTH!  Here’s why.  The most successful artists offer a range of ticket prices If a superstar like Olivia Rodrigo or SZA performs in a city near you, do they charge one price? Most often not. There’s a whole range of ticketing options ..read more

How you appear on Spotify impacts the way people hear your music. It’s just one of those weird things about human psychology. Are your tracks supposed to sound cool, funny, serious, brave, genius, virtuosic, haunted, or carefree? Well, the more your profile LOOKS like it, the better your songs will sound. Especially to new listeners who’ve just discovered you. Spotify provides quite a few tools for you to customize your visual vibe and professionalize your profile. Despite how easy these tools are to use though, it’s also easy to let our profiles grow stale. Or we only remember to make up ..read more

Do your music videos go viral on platforms like TikTok and Instagram?  If not, there may be three fairly simple adjustments you can make moving forward to get more eyeballs on your music video content.  Of course, I can’t promise your videos will go “viral.”  There are a lot of variables for virality: Quality, talent, trends, timing, algorithms. But I CAN say lots of the music content that’s surfaced in my own social feeds throughout the past year has shared three common qualities. 1. You should post “live” performance videos Throughout 2023 and 2024, most of the music-related v ..read more

Think of how much money you spend every month on Mailchimp, or Drip, or ConvertKit. Do you send enough email to justify that continual cost? Are you actually USING all those fancy features you pay so much for? After coughing up $30 or $75 or $150 per month, do you say, “that was money well spent?” If the answer to all three questions is yes, let me congratulate you; you’re obviously nurturing your list and turning fans into repeat customers on a regular basis. In other words, email is a pillar of your profitability.  If you’re NOT one of those artists yet, I have some bad news and some go ..read more