BEFORE FACEBOOK MUSIC MARKETING
Like a lot of musicians I was so hesitant to spend any money on actually promoting my music. It all probably stems from growing up without this thing called social media. Before Facebook, before Myspace, before the internet really. I was born in 1987 so like a lot of you I had tapes, then CDs, I even went through a minidisk phase! Now I hardly own any music. All I do is pay Spotify a tiny amount monthly to have all the music that has ever been released anytime anywhere. This blog post isn’t about the way we consume music. This post is about musicians and how we as a group are still stuck in the previous century when it comes to ‘making it’ (whatever that means) despite the industry moving on a long time ago.
THE OLD WAYS OF MUSIC MARKETING
We grew up with these myths of sending demo tapes to major record labels and thinking that some executive is going to listen to it. Then they call us and say ‘YES! Let’s invest millions into this singer and make them a star!’ That was me! I was making my demo CDs with the name of the album and artist name written with a green sharpie on the CD. I was printing out album covers (in black and white!) and then cutting them out with scissors, buying CD cases and putting them haphazardly all together. It looked entirely amateur and I would be surprised if anyone ever listened to one of those CDs at any record label.
Even at that time in 2008-2010 the music industry had changed while I, along with most other musicians, refused to accept it. I remember going to Sony Music website to try and find the mailing info for their A&R department. The website said something like ‘Do not send us CDs! Go over here, create an account, upload your song put in your Bio etc’. I was so upset by that because all of this mystique, all the legends and fairy tales about how some one was ‘discovered’ really did a number on all of us. I seriously thought that if I just sent my terribly made CD to a major record label I wouldn’t even need to graduate from my University degree in Commercial Music. That was literally the plan! So what is a 21 year old self recorded and produced, singer-songwriter to do?
HOW I DISCOVERED FACEBOOK MUSIC MARKETING
Fast forward to 2020, oh what a year that was! I was staying at home like a good boy during the pandemic. I was focusing on my music because well, what am I going to do, get a job? After years and years of trying to build a music career and failing miserably, believe me I tried everything… I started a band, we recorded an album, I emailed everyone on the planet, we played live shows, I moved to Los Angeles, I discovered CD Baby, I built a website, I started all kinds of social media accounts for my music from Myspace all the way to Tik-Tok, I paid for ‘organic spotify growth’ on Fiverr.com. I submitted to thousands of playlists. Only managed to get a record of 300 streams per week on my Spotify page.
It was during this time of great turmoil in the world when I reached out to one playlist curator (I messaged hundred with very few responses). He nudged me in the direction of Indepreneur where they teach Facebook Music Marketing. I didn’t know it then but that curator has pretty much changed my life. Hopefully I can help you to change yours. Or at least help you avoid 15 years of retail jobs, pain, self-loathing. Pain when your parents asking you ‘maybe it’s time you tried to be an adult’ and all the ups and downs that come with trying to make it as a music artist. You can basically stop doing everything else with regards to your music. Just keep making the best music that you can make. Then releasing it and then marketing it with Facebook Ads.
FACEBOOK TO SPOTIFY CONVERSION CAMPAIGNS
Above is the lifetime graph of my followers on Spotify. A few things, see those spikes? Yeah, don’t do that! Not only is it a waste of money but can actually get you kicked off Spotify. Do you see the slow, gradual growth at the end? That was at the start of 2021 only a few months ago when I started running a $5 per day Facebook ad campaign to direct listeners to my Spotify. That’s what a business looks like at the beginning! This time last year I’m pretty sure I had under 20 fans. Now I wake up every morning to a few new followers and a steadily growing number of streams.
What I’m trying to say is this – no one is going to discover you tomorrow. You’re not going to suddenly explode on to the music world. You need to invest advertising money into your own independent music business. You need to get your songs before new ears. This is a slow process and it will take time. You need to spend your time and money wisely or you’re going to burn out. Do something to help your career everyday, no matter how small and get your music out there!