by Jnmarseille13 (January 22nd, 2025)
by Jnmarseille13 (January 22nd, 2025)
His 5 top tracks on Spotify all have more than 30K streams, but he only has 5 monthly listeners and has zero interactions with any fans on social media or in real life. Her music video hit more than 100K views, but has no likes, no comments, no traction, and all her other videos barely get to 500 views. On the other hand, this other artist's top 5 tracks range from 1K to 5K streams, her music videos range from 500 to 3K views, but she has around 300 monthly listeners on Spotify and a lot of engagement from her viewers on Youtube! So what’s the difference here?
The main difference is that the first 2 artists were looking for big stats and numbers and gained no actual fans (but only passive listeners), while the last artist focused on building a fanbase and now has a community of people who are actively seeking her craft. Among all 3 of them, the only one who could make a living is the last one, even though her numbers are much lower than the first 2. So, how do you get fans and not just lots of streams and views?
As an artist, it’s obviously very frustrating to know you have worked hard on a project only to receive a couple dozen streams with little to no attention on it. Plus, humanity has been brainwashed in a way that listeners will be more willing to listen to an artist rather than another one, simply because this artist has more streams or views, and therefore, “is probably better” (even though this has nothing to do with how good the music is). So artists find every way to increase their stats, hoping that it will help them reach new fans. There are so many services online promising specific numbers of streams for a few bucks, and they actually do deliver those streams.
But, as you probably know, these services most likely deliver bot streams, which is not only not allowed by music streaming platforms (and can get your music taken down), but also will hurt the way the algorithms perceive your music. Not only that, but you will gain no fans that way, since your listeners are mostly not humans. So, avoid this at all costs.
On the other hand, some services are legit and actually help you get your music to new listeners’ ears, and can help you get more streams (and they’re real). However, those services are not only expensive, but they also don’t work like magic. If you want to get the best out of them (and not just real streams and engagement on one song, and then nothing) and actually turn those new listeners into actual fans, you will need to add a good branding and marketing strategy.
We live in times where artists don’t have to sign to a big record label in order to develop. We have social media and marketing tools and more… The trick is to learn how to master those things first, before all. Social media is nowadays the best way to reach new fans and build yourself a community of people who dedicate their time to your content. Regularly put out content. Interact with people. Be creative, know how to tell them about your story, about your journey, about your craft (and not just your releases and links). Give them a reason to actually go listen to your music. Perform live. Make connections…
Of course, doing this takes time and dedication, and it’s challenging to do this while also producing and recording music. But that’s how the game works. That’s how you build a fanbase nowadays. That way you know that whether you buy promotion services or not, you already have an army of fans ready to support you anyways.
At some point, as an artist, you will want to make an income off your music. Remember this rule, though : if you have 1,000 people ready to buy something from you for $1 (whether it’s an exclusive live gig, merch or anything else), then that’s $1,000 going straight into your pocket. And who are the people who would be ready to buy this from you? Random listeners who just listened to one of your songs yesterday after seeing an ad, then went on to their day and forgot about you? Bots? Nope… They’re called : fans. So : reach fans, not numbers
His 5 top tracks on Spotify all have more than 30K streams, but he only has 5 monthly listeners and has zero interactions with any fans on social media or in real life. Her music video hit more than 100K views, but has no likes, no comments, no traction, and all her other videos barely get to 500 views. On the other hand, this other artist's top 5 tracks range from 1K to 5K streams, her music videos range from 500 to 3K views, but she has around 300 monthly listeners on Spotify and a lot of engagement from her viewers on Youtube! So what’s the difference here?
The main difference is that the first 2 artists were looking for big stats and numbers and gained no actual fans (but only passive listeners), while the last artist focused on building a fanbase and now has a community of people who are actively seeking her craft. Among all 3 of them, the only one who could make a living is the last one, even though her numbers are much lower than the first 2. So, how do you get fans and not just lots of streams and views?
As an artist, it’s obviously very frustrating to know you have worked hard on a project only to receive a couple dozen streams with little to no attention on it. Plus, humanity has been brainwashed in a way that listeners will be more willing to listen to an artist rather than another one, simply because this artist has more streams or views, and therefore, “is probably better” (even though this has nothing to do with how good the music is). So artists find every way to increase their stats, hoping that it will help them reach new fans. There are so many services online promising specific numbers of streams for a few bucks, and they actually do deliver those streams.
But, as you probably know, these services most likely deliver bot streams, which is not only not allowed by music streaming platforms (and can get your music taken down), but also will hurt the way the algorithms perceive your music. Not only that, but you will gain no fans that way, since your listeners are mostly not humans. So, avoid this at all costs.
On the other hand, some services are legit and actually help you get your music to new listeners’ ears, and can help you get more streams (and they’re real). However, those services are not only expensive, but they also don’t work like magic. If you want to get the best out of them (and not just real streams and engagement on one song, and then nothing) and actually turn those new listeners into actual fans, you will need to add a good branding and marketing strategy.
We live in times where artists don’t have to sign to a big record label in order to develop. We have social media and marketing tools and more… The trick is to learn how to master those things first, before all. Social media is nowadays the best way to reach new fans and build yourself a community of people who dedicate their time to your content. Regularly put out content. Interact with people. Be creative, know how to tell them about your story, about your journey, about your craft (and not just your releases and links). Give them a reason to actually go listen to your music. Perform live. Make connections…
Of course, doing this takes time and dedication, and it’s challenging to do this while also producing and recording music. But that’s how the game works. That’s how you build a fanbase nowadays. That way you know that whether you buy promotion services or not, you already have an army of fans ready to support you anyways.
At some point, as an artist, you will want to make an income off your music. Remember this rule, though : if you have 1,000 people ready to buy something from you for $1 (whether it’s an exclusive live gig, merch or anything else), then that’s $1,000 going straight into your pocket. And who are the people who would be ready to buy this from you? Random listeners who just listened to one of your songs yesterday after seeing an ad, then went on to their day and forgot about you? Bots? Nope… They’re called : fans. So : reach fans, not numbers