If you work hard at honing your skills and making incredible music won’t it just be heard? Won’t the world just build a golden path to your door because you are so good? And if they don't, doesn't that just mean that you’re not good enough?
Nope, that’s not the case. Sorry to burst your bubble, but just making awesome music is not the full story. There’s a whole iceberg underneath that you’ll never see.
Once upon a time, FM radio used to be the only game in town to get music out to the masses. It was so strongly guarded by monolithic corporate gatekeepers that getting on the radio was epicly difficult, but also could be life changing. Things today are much more diversified. There’s satellite radio, streaming on demand, internet radio, and YouTube; a hundred different platforms and people hear music everywhere. There is also an enormous amount of creation that’s launched into the world every single day. So getting the music out there isn’t hard, but cutting through all the noise, getting to where people really listen is a different story. So how do you do that? And by the way, do it without a marketing budget? God knows our pockets aren’t as deep as the major labels and corporations.
In case you didn’t know, we have had a huge amount of streaming success for absolutely zero dollars! In fact, this is the most amount of online success I’ve ever experienced with any project, so for me personally, seeing this growth has been exhilarating! Well, we have to give credit where it’s due - JaredAsher, our indomitable drummer, has been the driving force behind all of it. Over the past year Jared has worked tirelessly getting our music added to playlists, radio shows, posting on social media, and finding people to connect with our music online. The result has been over 150,000 streams worldwide, thousands of fans, and the incredible ISSA Award for Band of the Year.
Thank you, Jared!!!!
Yes, I know he would say that he has to have good material and that it’s a group effort, but let’s face it - he’s been the one doing all the leg work.
But wait, what is this mythical magic he’s been doing exactly?
As soon as we released the album Jared went to work reaching out to contacts that he’d made from previous projects. He immediately got us on some great indie radio stations to get the ball rolling. Then he went to work adding us to artist support playlists across all the different streaming platforms. All the artists on the playlist commit to listen, stream, and share the playlist, promoting each other's material. We are currently on over 20 different playlists. Jared is constantly streaming indie music, and promoting other indie artists.
So I asked him, “Aren’t some of these playlists different from us? Why would we want to be associated with that material?” He says, “There’s no such thing as a bad playlist. Getting our music in front of anyone is always a good thing. You never know who is listening and where it may take us. Artists who discount getting the music out there are left in the dark. You have to get other people to care about it as well. Otherwise you’re just playing to your family for the rest of your life. Ego needs to get out of the way.”
Jared is also continuously on social media, commenting on posts, sharing other artists' great news, their music with our crowd, and just generally spreading good vibes across the community.
His screen time is seriously off the hook, I’m pretty sure it’s upwards of 12 hours a day. But it’s had a massive effect on our growth. Because, as he began supporting other artists they were also supporting us. We were included on playlists that we’d never submitted to. Their fans became our fans. Our following grew across the board, and our streams went up exponentially.
Jared explains that everything happens in the X (Twitter) universe. In his opinion, X (Twitter) is currently the biggest supporter of Indie music out of all the platforms. People ask for new music daily. And you can send them music directly. Some stations or people are more elaborate in their process, and others want you to just send them a link. The ones that want you to pay them to play your music are no good. They typically use bots and get kicked off the platforms. Over time he’s learned what’s BS and what’s not. There’s a lot of scammers out there wanting to take your money.
So for those of you out there wondering why your music isn’t exploding then I would suggest finding yourself a Jared or becoming one. The key to marketing with zero dollars is to be on your social media 12 hours a day to talk with and support other artists all the time. No magic fairy dust or button to push. The required effort is intense, but when you believe in something it’s worth it.
Cheers!
