Strategy
This page was last updated on 9/14/2024.
Looking for free exposure for your music? Getting on a Spotify editorial playlist could be a good way to get one of your songs out to a new audience. Editorial playlists are curated by Spotify’s team.
In late 2018, Spotify has allowed artists the ability to submit a song to be considered in their editorial playlists. It’s completely free! Although there are no guarantees you’ll get added, there’s no harm in trying. Read More
It seems like every year, there’s a story of some young artist who blows up because of a song going viral. This year, it is the college dropout, turned rapper Lil Nas X (Montero Lamar Hill), who took over the world with a country trap song called “Old Town Road” at the age of 19.
As of this writing, the remix of the song has been streamed 400+ million times on Spotify alone and has stayed on Billboard’s Top 100 for 17 weeks straight. This officially beats the Billboard record for the longest a song has been at number 1.
The Atlanta artist ended up signing a record deal with Columbia Records and has released an EP so far through the label. He has become a music star, posting photos on his Instagram hanging out with the biggest names in music and culture.
He also claimed to have intentionally created “Old Town Road” so that it would go viral. Did this rapper, who only started rapping since May 2018, in fact, figure out the secret to going viral? Read More
Last updated on 12/17/22
The music industry can be overwhelming. Just like running your own business (because that’s what it is!), there are a lot of things to think when it comes to managing your enterprise. When you’re working solo and can’t afford to build a team yet, it helps to have a solid overview or plan on how you should go about making a living from your music.
As an independent artist, you have 4 general business models you can adopt to mold and build your music career around. These aren’t “official” models, but it should provide some clarity about which approach is best for you.
Although I will talk about them distinctly in their purest form, their characteristics aren’t mutually exclusive. This means you can technically incorporate different aspects of all four models at once. Certain characteristics will overlap so there’s not a black and white distinction between each model. In time, more business models for music will certainly emerge as the industry and technology are constantly evolving. For example, the rise of blockchain technology and NFTs in Web3 will certain reshape how the music industry operates in the near future. Read More
Thanks to Butterscotch, I had the privilege of going on the Blue Note Japan tour at the end of December of 2018 for 2 weeks with the legendary jazz musician Marcus Miller. Butterscotch was invited as a special guest for his tour and I tagged along to capture content.
During this trip, I had the chance to consult and create content with Marcus Miller alongside his wife and manager, Brenda Miller. One of the things we created was a video of Marcus eating ramen at Ippudo, a popular ramen chain from Japan known for their Tonkotsu ramen. We were in Fukuoka, where Ippudo was founded in 1985, and ate at the very first location.
Here’s the video I made that got 190k+ views: Read More
For this month, I wanted to share the story of Russ for aspiring artists because I believe he really epitomizes the marketing strategy and DIY mindset needed to make it in the music industry, or at least improve your chances.
I had the opportunity to attend the 2018 Forbes Under 30 Summit in Boston where he performed and did a 20 minute talk to entrepreneurs on the factors that contributed to his success. I managed to record the entire thing so this was perfect to share.
Success in the music industry is often a team effort. Even as an independent artist, you need support from those around you. This includes people who help you directly on day-to-day tasks or on certain projects, a network of industry relationships and community support.
As the saying goes, “your network is your net worth.” Your value and potential for growth are largely tied to the people you choose to surround yourself with. As emerging artists, it’s important you put yourself out there and start building these relationships. Read More
With all the events that have recently transpired for this young artist, the name of his latest album, “The Rise of Hobo Johnson,” couldn’t be more appropriate.
In the last 3 months, Hobo Johnson has:
In the world of virality and mainstream artists, this is relatively impressive. But to the average independent artist, this is an astronomical feat for a 20 something-year-old adult from Sacramento.
How did he do it? Read More
There are two people that ultimately inspired me to start D4 Music Marketing. Gary Vaynerchuk (or Gary Vee) is one of them.
For those who don’t know, Gary Vaynerchuk is a successful American entrepreneur, marketing expert and online personality. When it comes to entrepreneurship and the current climate of attention, Gary’s rhetoric and outlook are spot on.
As a music marketer, my core approach to my blog content and developing my personal brand is heavily influenced by Gary Vee. Although his marketing strategies and approach to business are not unique to him, Gary does an excellent job of communicating it in such a clear and practical way that I believe all artists should listen to what he has to say if they want a good chance at making it in the music business.
In a way, this post is a tribute to him and acknowledgment of his role in the creation of my blog, but also to convince artists like yourself why you should listen to what he says.
Read More
Since 2008, there’s been a popular hypothesis floating around the internet about how artists can make a sustainable living if they are able to earn roughly 1,000 super fans.
Unfortunately with so much competition for attention now, that number may be more. However, the idea behind this is to help dispel this notion that you need thousands or millions of fans to make it as an independent and that living off music is more attainable than it seems. Read More
If you want to grow your fan base effectively, you need to think about funnels. Of course, I am not talking about an actual physical funnel, but metaphorically speaking.
In business, a sales funnel (or similarly a buyer’s journey) is a process that consists of different stages or touchpoints that potential customers pass through as they become more interested in your products and services until they reach the desired action or sales transaction at the end.
As artists and musicians, your customers (or fans) go through different stages as well to take the ideal action at the end of the funnel, which is typically to buy your music and pay to see your show. However, instead of sales funnels, I like to think of it as a fan or relationship funnel when talking about music. Read More
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D4 Music Marketing is an online resource that focuses on music marketing, artist development and business education to empower aspiring and emerging artists who want to make a living off music as an independent.
The aim of this blog is to help guide DIY musicians in a highly competitive industry with strategies and tactics to effectively promote music and attract life-long fans. By emphasizing the importance a strong foundation, you will be better equipped to navigate and adapt to the ever-changing music landscape with a clearer direction towards independent success.
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