Why Music Promotion Isn't Working For You

INTRODUCTION

Chances are... If you're reading this, music promotion is not working for you.

Perhaps that shiny Spotify Promotion you were hyped about fell flat, or didn't match your expectations.

What if I told you that it might not be the music promotion that's to blame... 

Quickly though, we'd recommend that you tell how to spot fake Spotify promotion. It will greatly help you make better decisions!

Okay, let's get into why music promotion isn't working for you right now!

The Music Success Pipeline (You're not Building it Correctly)

Picture yourself as the CEO of a pipeline company.

You're in charge of laying a successful pipeline from one side to the other.

Now let's say there are 3 massive pipes. Each pipe needs to be built and then laid out.

Here are those pipes:

1. Great Music (That's Marketable)

2. Great Visuals & Aesthetics (How Unique Are You)

3. Music Promotion (A Way To Reach New Listeners)

If you don't lay down all 3 of these pipes, and build them up strong, your results will probably not be very great...

If you only laid down 1 pipe, you're going to have a leak!!!

For example: If you only had good promotion, but not very good music and aesthetics...

Your results are going to be satisfactory.

Makes a lot of sense right?

Blaming the music promotion (if it's from a solid company), is most of the time unfair and a poisonous mindset.

We advise artists to not dwell on laying blame...

Your music is not pro (The Ugly Truth)

This is tough to hear for a lot of artists...

It's never fun to have to face reality.

But, if you can take a step back and look at your music objectively, you can open the door towards improvement.

Let's face it... even your favourite artists have some not so great music.

Imagine how many songs they had to make (that you haven't even heard) before they got a song that their label deemed worthy of putting out.

How To Test Your Music Quality

Here are 2 easy methods of testing your music quality.

Method 1: 

Take your song, and put it in between 2 pro tracks in a playlist. Listen to the first song fully, and then hear your song come on afterwards.

Listen to it, and then listen to the next professional song come on.

Does your song hold it's own in between 2 professional tracks?

Hmm...

Method 2: 

Repeat method 1 above, but get a friend to listen to all 3 songs, and then get them to let you know what they think.

Ask them to be honest. Trust me... it's best if your friend is not biased.

Do not underestimate the opinions of non artists / average listeners. They have insight you wouldn't have thought about!

Building quality songs is a pipeline in itself:

• Quality Production
• Catchy Verses & Hooks
• Unique Elements
• Properly Mixed in Vocals
• Hitting vocal notes and runs
• Great lyrics

etc...

You Lack Great Visuals & Aesthetics 

Big artists have access to the best photographers, videographers and graphic (GFX) artists.

It seems like it'd be super hard to compete right?

Well... yea that's true.

But!

Luckily there are tons of affordable resources out there to help you build your visuals pipe!

For example, Boost Collective has EXTREMELY affordable options for custom cover art creation, a Spotify canvas maker, music video maker and more!

Kanye West is a perfect example of pushing wild aesthetics. 

Now we're not saying to go out and buy a spikey margiela bear jacket to promote your new album, unless you want to...

But hey, there's disputing the fact that polarizing aesthetics have helped Kanye stay hyper relevant in music and pop culture over the last two decades

When you're an artist that's on your own, you need all the help you can get to get inspired for your visuals.

Step Up Your Music Video Game

If you're not putting out something on YouTube, you're missing a big part of your music visuals pipe.

Here's an article we made on how to make a music video by yourself! 

To go along with that, here are 8 creative music video ideas you have to check out!

Killer music video content can make the difference between a few hundred views and thousands to even millions!

So is The Promotion Really The Problem?

If you've read up to this point, congrats!

You're probably inspired to learn and improve in your music journey. That's what will get you far.

Here's a look at healthy stream data from an artist currently using our Organic Spotify Promotion.

And if you're looking for free music promotion, use the Boost Collective platform!

With an account, you can get free Spotify playlist placements, free music distribution, and much more:

The Current Problem with Music Promotion in 2023

What's funny is that artists don't understand that Music Promotion is coming from genuine people...

Actual people that can think for themselves (mind blown).

Okay okay... what am I getting at here...

With so many artists buying fake promotion from data centres... It's easy to fall for overblown expectations.

STREAM NUMBERS TO BUDGET RATIOS

The truth is...

Getting even 1000 streams on Spotify for $50 isn't always possible with todays ad platforms getting more and more expensive.

So if most artists are expecting 10,000+ streams for these low budgets, the disappointment is going to set in.

Which isn't very ideal.

Remember, this is a long term game.

Overnight success doesn't happen. When it seems like it does, it's happening to the hyper 0.1% of artists.

Most of the time those artists are also backed by a large label (warner music, sony music, universal music group)...

KEEP THIS IN MIND

Here's what you need to keep in mind...

If you have all the pipes laid out, all you need is to double down on all of them. Build them thicker.

Ready for the kicker???

BUILD A CATALOG OF MUSIC!

So you have this pipeline all laid out.

You have great music. It competes beside top tracks in it's genre.

You have a unique aesthetic with solid cover art, music videos, promotional material, and you have solid music promotion that's organic and not promising you astronomical nonsensical numbers.