What I Wish Someone Told Me 10 Years Ago

Short version: email's the answer. Everyone you can pull off the algorithm and onto your email list is a big win, and the time to start is right now, even if you have 50 fans.

How has music promotion changed?

About four years ago, I realized it had been a long time since I'd released a jazz album, and I had a bunch of songs. I take my time with my albums. I spent probably a year and a half on my last EP, and I really wanted to release it correctly and do everything I could to make it a successful release.

I have a degree in Music Business Management from Berklee, but that was in 2004. The business has changed a lot. So I decided to update what I knew and learn how to promote music independently again.

I've promoted songs on FM and satellite radio before. Coming from the jazz world, I have relationships with radio promoters. I have those pipelines and I know what they cost, so I could save money and budget for that. That's one way. And honestly, I think it's unavoidable that it costs money to promote. There are a lot of ways to do it organically, sure. But promoting music online was something I needed to update my skill set for.

So I searched online and found some courses. One taught email marketing. Another taught running ads on YouTube and Meta platforms to drive plays to Spotify and to the music video on YouTube.

Do you have to release music every month?

Then there was this whole idea of waterfall releases: putting out a song every month. It just didn't make sense for how I operate and how much care I put into my music. For me, that would equal something like 10 years of work, all stacked up into releases.

What I realized is that the pressure to constantly release music puts pressure on ad spend. Sure, you might get followers on Instagram or TikTok. You might hit that lottery win of virality with a really amazing song people want to share, and that's great. But most people have to put in a ton of work making content constantly, or running ads to point people at Spotify, or both.

Then there's the playlisting ecosystem, where you pay to submit songs to popular playlists to get your numbers up. There's DistroKid. There's Mailchimp. There's Printify and all the merch. You're essentially running a small business. And as soon as you wrap your head around treating it that way, you realize you really need to put together a budget to promote your music.

Is paid music marketing worth it?

I've paid for marketing services in the past that promised a certain thing: don't worry, the return on this marketing plan is going to get you enough streams to pay for it all. I know the math. So I was expecting a certain number of streams to pay for the investment, and it just didn't pan out that way. You live and you learn with these things.

As far as the time I put in, I don't feel like I wasted it. Anything you do as an artist to promote your music adds up: making content for it, spending the extra time mixing, collaborating with other people, building relationships with marketers, learning a new skill. It's all worth it, because it all adds up to your career in the end.

Why should musicians build an email list?

Email's the answer. Everyone you can pull off the algorithm and onto your email list is a big win. Honing that direct connection between you and your fans is the key to success, especially at the indie level.

I wish that 10 years ago I'd been better about collecting emails.

In today's landscape, if I had been diligent about collecting every email and where each fan was from, and stayed in touch with those fans even in between music, the next release would be that much more impactful. The next show would have more people there. The next t-shirt drop would have more sales.

I wish there had been some voice in my head, or a person around me 10 years ago, who said: hey dude, get your email list together. And let me show you how to talk to them.

What should you email fans when you have nothing to announce?

Say you've got 50 fans on your email list. You don't have a show coming up. You don't have a song coming out.

I think that's a time to send an email about what's going on. What you're thinking about. How life has been. Something personal.

These are 50 people who signed up to hear from you. They deserve an inside look. Maybe you've got a demo, or a voice memo of something you're working on. Put it somewhere on your website they can click on from their phone, and let them listen to the song you're working on.

You might get some feedback: hey, I love it, can't wait to hear how this comes out. Or maybe you don't get a response at all. Either way, that tells you a couple of important things about that new idea.

If they love it, maybe your song is sounding like a home run. Once in a while, in between everything else, you're kind of pitching songs to your audience. Maybe that's something you want to do, maybe it isn't, and both sides of that are totally understandable. But you have this really invested focus group if you want to use it.

And silence can be deafening. Maybe that's a note to dig into that song. Maybe it's a note to move on to something else. That's for you to decide.

If you're not sure where to start, in Dispatch you can pull up the Newsletter template and make some quick edits. It's an easy way to get started on staying connected to your fans in between releases and shows.

When should you start an email list?

The time to start connecting with your fans is right now. Even if you have 50. Even if you have 10, and they're friends and family, that's great. Send them emails and get feedback on how they're connecting.

The most invested people are going to be the first ones on your list. So use that, and learn this new skill while the negative impact is super low, with people you trust.

More from the blog: Why Every Independent Musician Needs an Email List and Mailchimp Cut Its Free Plan in Half.