Sounds Of The Future

For almost an entire year, my Spotify listeners and streams declined, but something happened in July of 2022 and things started to trend back up.    And not only did my Spotify listeners and streams start to grow, but I started to see more consistent pushes on Discover Weekly as well.    I have tested a lot of different strategies to grow on Spotify, but this year I really cracked the code.    Here is the best Spotify growth strategy I found in 2022.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

We all know it’s tough to make money on Spotify.    Streaming royalties are notoriously low across the board, and Spotify doesn’t even claim the top spot on that list.    But despite the low payouts, earning money from streaming is still a goal worth pursuing (not the only goal, mind you, but a goal nonetheless), so let’s examine three scenarios to find out what it takes to achieve financial success on Spotify.    Time for some math. 🤓  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

If you want to be a great artist, you have to be a great communicator.  To achieve this, here are three fundamental skills I believe every artist should work to perfect that will transcend genre, age, and audience.  1. Learn to write.  Everything starts with writing.  Putting ideas down on the page helps me to clarify my thinking and crystalize ideas worth sharing—tweets, captions, song lyrics—all of it moves the needle.  If you’re not writing every day, I highly recommend you start. Write poetry, keep a journal, write lyrics—write any and everything you can think of.  A strong writing habit is foundational.  2. Learn to tell a great story.  Stories are a fundamental expression of humanity. We are drawn to them.  Your music tells a story. Your lyrics tell a story. Your content tells a story. Everything you do is an opportunity to tell a compelling story about yourself, your work, or the world around you. Whatever the format, a good story will always win.  3. Get good a short-form video.  If the internet is a castle, short-form is king.  We live in a world dominated by content. Great writing leads to great storytelling, and TikToks, Reels, and Shorts are where crystal-clear writing and great storytelling converge.  Master the first two, then put them in video format.  Great art is communication that transcends time and place.  If you can cut through the noise with great writing, great storytelling, and strong short-form video skills, the sky is the limit.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

A great idea is worth sharing, and a great piece of content that communicates that idea well can pull someone into your world and create a fan for life.  But sometimes even good ideas fall flat if not seen by the right person, at the right time, in the right place.  That’s why I always use my content more than once—I repurpose it.  There are four primary types of content that people consume online: audio, video, text, and images.  I do my best to post a combination of all four, but not every idea is conveyed equally across all media, which is why it’s important to me to communicate that same message on as many platforms as I can.  And the best way I’ve found to do that is to start with one.  My content generally starts as text. I am constantly taking notes and writing down ideas in the Notes app on my phone, and since I always have my phone on me, this little system works great.  Once I’ve decided I want to share an idea online (and because text is my initial weapon of choice), I will usually go to Twitter to share that thought with my audience there, and based on the response, I will decide whether or not to pursue it further.  If a tweet gets any sort of decent engagement, I know I’ve got a concept worth exploring.  Let the repurposing begin.  A simple tweet is a great foundation for repurposing my content—it’s short, to the point, and easy to adjust for other platforms.  There are two reasons I repurpose my content:  1) I don’t know what medium or what platform is going to see that idea resonate with my audience the most, and  2) It just makes my life a whole lot easier.  By reusing the same idea on multiple platforms, I only have to come up with one thing instead of 10, 15, or 20.  By vetting an idea on platform after platform, I am able to rely on my audience for real-time feedback about what’s helpful and what’s not, thereby improving my content and the value I am able to deliver.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Establishing strong vanity metrics on Spotify is really not that difficult, especially if you don’t care how you do it.  Fake followers, massive bot-driven playlist ads, and even legitimate streams from countries that don’t serve your long-term growth as an artist can make your artist profile look quite impressive to the untrained eye.  But if you’re like me, and you want to share your music with real people who truly enjoy the work you put out into the world, you’re going to want to do your best to avoid those pitfalls.  Here are the three biggest red flags I look for:  1. Which countries are listening?  I am always watching where my traffic is coming from on Spotify, especially as a result of my ads.  These days, I am primarily advertising in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, but regardless of where my ads are being shown, whether in a select few countries or on a global scale, I am looking at the relationship between those countries on Meta’s ad platform and on Spotify for Artists.  To that end, one of the biggest red flags a look for is whether or not those countries match up to any degree.  For example, if a country is getting a lot of traffic on Meta but minimal action on Spotify, this is a clear indication to me that something is off and I need to make a change.  2. Top cities are important too.  Beyond the countries where I’m seeing love on Spotify, I am also paying strict attention to the cities where my music is being consumed as well. The primary red flags I am looking for here are cities I know have big data centers in them.  Wait, what?  That’s right. Many cities worldwide, and specifically within the United States, house massive Amazon (and other) data centers. These data centers are often used to set up bot farms to generate fake playlist plays, fake followers, and fake streams for artists.  3. And lastly, bad playlists.  As most of you likely know, I’m not a big fan of playlisting to promote my music on Spotify, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still get added to them from time to time.  When a song begins to get traction on Spotify, achieving a popularity score in the 30s or 40s, it is often the case that it will begin to appear on more popular playlists as a result, regardless of whether or not the song has been pitched to that service.  Whenever I see a song has been added to a playlist with a significant following, I immediately want to do my due diligence on it to make sure it’s legit.  It’s easy to grow on Spotify by faking the numbers, and with a small amount of money and a little bit of know-how, anyone can do it.  But I want my growth to be legitimate, and I want real people enjoying my music, even if it’s only a fraction of what the vanity numbers potentially could be.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Building a career in music is tough, but if it’s where your heart truly lies, if it’s the place where you feel called to share your gifts with the world, there are few things more rewarding than seeing your passion come to life.  As a full-time musician for nearly 15 years, here are 12 things I have learned along the way that will help you no matter where you are in your journey.  1. No one can do it for you:  I can’t tell you how many artists I see that want the “secret” or the “hack”. Do you want to know the secret? It’s this: work.  2. Small gains are the biggest wins:  Incremental progress is the name of the game, and the biggest unlock is showing up every single day for a long period of time.  3. It takes time:  Success in music doesn’t happen overnight. If you’re lucky, it will only take a few years, but for most of us, it will take much more than that.  4. When in doubt, release more music:  Music is content, and content is a volume game. More will always be better than perfect.  5. There is no “right way”:  Every one of us is on a different path. You can look to other artists and creators for inspiration and guidance, but your results will vary.  6. You can’t control the numbers:  Impatience with action, patience with results.  7. Ads are not the whole game:  Running paid ads to promote your music is a force multiplier for your output, not a replacement for doing the work altogether.  8. Your marketing budget matters:  And on the ad front, this one is probably the toughest pill to swallow: the more money you have to spend, the better your results are going to be.  9. Music is only the beginning:  Very few artists make all their money from music alone. If anything, making music serves as a springboard for building an audience and creating additional revenue streams.  10. Start by selling your time:  Producing, mixing, ghostwriting, marketing, graphic design, etc.—these are all great ways to supplement your primary source of income by doing something you love within the field of music.  11. Build assets long-term:  Selling your time is faster, but selling products is better.  12: And lastly, fame doesn’t equal success:  If you’re here for fame, you’re gonna have a bad time.  Instead of fame, focus on joy, value, and purpose. Find the thing you love to do so much that you’d do it for free and then figure out a way to make it sustain your lifestyle.  That’s success and will make you far richer than fame ever could.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

You’re only one song away from changing your life.  But sometimes that song isn’t your newest release.  Releasing music on a regular basis is an important aspect of building a body of work as an artist, but turning out single after single doesn’t mean you need to abandon the work you already have.  According to Spotify’s recent Fan Study, roughly three-quarters of all streams on the platform are now coming from an artist’s catalog, which Spotify defines as songs over 18 months old.  This means the work you released two years ago stands to earn you more streams, listeners, and revenue than the song you just put out.  Think about that for a second–the longer your music is out, the more powerful it becomes.  This sort of changes the game on new releases. Rather than thinking of a new release as an opportunity for a song to go viral, it might be better to think of it as a hook to reel in new listeners so they can discover the rest of your work.  I push new music and my catalog winners at the same time.  With every new song I put out, I build a new campaign and drop it into the marketing system I have that I know works, but this doesn’t mean I abandon what I already have working.  I am still using the same ads for “Hero” and “Lions” that I have been using for the past year and a half.  Because they work.  Those two songs are proven winners, so why would I turn them off?  Each new track is an opportunity to find a new winner, but it has to earn that right. I am constantly testing every new song against the current winners, and it is only when they clearly outpace the previous winners that they get the priority spot in my marketing campaigns.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

When it comes to music marketing, more money generally equals more opportunity, but that doesn’t mean you can’t win if you don’t have a load of spare cash lying around.  Even though spending more money to market your music can drastically improve the outcome of your campaigns, there are alternative ways to extend your reach as an artist.  If I only had $100 to spend on a new release, here’s what I would do:  First, I would run a conversion campaign and target a global list of countries, likely prioritizing Brazil, Mexico, and Chile because I know there are tons of engaged music fans in these countries that I can access for a much lower rate than I can in, say, the US or the UK.  Next, I would keep my targeting open, all the way down to age 13 to capitalize on a lower CPM for my ads right out of the gate.  After that, I would create an artist playlist, something like “This Is Tom DuPree III” and place my new track right at the top of it.  Because I’m operating on a limited budget, I want to make sure there is some way to retain the listeners I find each time I spend money, and because I can’t automatically place my new track at the top of my artist profile, a playlist like this is the best option.  From there, I’d run my campaign at a set rate for a window of time, something like $10 per day for 10 days, and then set it to expire once it’s done.  In addition to spending money on a limited ad campaign, if I were operating on a limited release budget, I would plan to make as much content about my song as is humanly possible.  Now, ideally, we should all be doing this anyway, but if you don’t have the capital, then spending time on organic content becomes even more important.  I’d create three short-form videos per day about my track and post them to Reels, TikTok, Shorts, and even Snapchat.  Do this for an entire 28-day window while your track is eligible for Release Radar, and you’ve got 336 opportunities to showcase your work to a new audience.   If each video gets 1,000 impressions, that’s 336,000 opportunities to find new fans.  Having a sizable marketing budget can certainly make life easier when it comes to promoting your music, but spending a lot of money on ads isn’t the only way to spread the word about your work.  If you don’t have a lot to spend, get creative, put in the time, save your money for the future, and you’ll watch your results continue to improve as you release song after song.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Every social media platform plays by the same set of rules.  Sure, the algorithms are all a bit different and they each have their own “thing”, but by and large, they are all relatively the same.  The main idea is this: what you put in is what you get out.  And while success on any given platform may vary depending on the style of content that’s prioritized, if you truly want to grow on your social media platform of choice, there are three main ideas you’ll want to remember:  Quality, consistency, and engagement.  Step one: quality.  People don’t care about what you can do. They only care about what you can do for them.  As a creator, it is your job to figure out what kind of value you can deliver to others on the platform(s) of your choice.  When people get value from your content, they are more inclined to stick around for more content in the future because they believe it will bring them value as well, thus creating a positive feedback loop.  And since every social media platform is built around a mathematical algorithm that auto-suggests content, a positive feedback loop is exactly what we want.  Step two: consistency.  Social media is really nothing more than a numbers game.  The more you create and share, the more opportunities you have to succeed.  And interestingly enough, this output of content is also how you up the quality of what you do.  If you keep showing up, you will naturally improve, so will your results, and so will the algorithm’s understanding of what you do.  Step three: engage.  Connecting with your audience is the great social media unlock.  Reply to every comment, answer every DM, and seek to establish relationships with the people who invest their time into you and what you do.  Not only will this naturally boost your growth on the platform, but you will learn even more about what your audience wants more of, thus creating an even greater positive feedback loop.  And as you already know, positive feedback loops are the name of the algorithmic game.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Most artists struggle to grow on Instagram.  Organic content on the platform is free to post, but it is difficult to do it effectively and consistently, which is why many artists struggle to see the gains they want.  While not a replacement for a strong organic content strategy, paid advertising can help you to increase your rate of follower growth while you work to unlock the organic content system that performs best for you.  To boost my audience growth on Instagram, I like to use what I like to refer to as an Instagram Growth Campaign.  This simple ad recycles content I already know works to drive more traffic to my Instagram profile.  This can include:  - Reels  - Feed posts  - And even ads I’ve run for growth on Spotify  Additionally, I’ll be sure to have a link to my music in my Instagram bio, so my new followers can go deeper and listen to my music if they like what they find on my profile.  Paid advertising is not a replacement for a solid organic content strategy on Instagram, but it can certainly serve as a boost, especially while you’re still figuring out what kind of content works best for your audience.  In an ideal world, this ad system will supplement the creation of high-quality content on a regular basis that serves your fanbase, both new and old alike.  And as you continue to create better organic content, you will have more, higher-quality ad creative to choose from that you have the benefit of knowing already resonates with your audience. If you want to learn more about marketing and how to build your audience, sign up for the Monday Marketer, a newsletter to help you start your week the right way with one actionable marketing tip every Monday morning.  Join the Monday Marketer 👉🏻 https://tomdupreeiii.com.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Building your artist ecosystem is a way of systematizing your output so you can record music, create content, and build and monetize it in a relatively automated fashion.  But it can be overwhelming.  With all of the tools available–websites, email, social media, link-generators–how can you know which one to choose?  Well, I’ve done a lot of testing (as I’m one to do) and have found an easy and relatively inexpensive tech stack that works wonders for me.  For my artist ecosystem, I prioritize four things:  - A website  - A landing page generator  - A single social media platform of choice  - My email list  For my website, I use Carrd. Carrd allowed me to get my website up and running so much faster than every other option I tried.  And, as a musician, you really don’t need much more than a single landing page anyway.  For my landing page generator, I use ToneDen.  Not only does ToneDen seamlessly create music-centric landing pages, but it also gives me the option to use my own custom domain and has multiple other link options like redirects, podcast links, and more.  All for free.  For social media, I prioritize YouTube above all else (shocking, I know).  I like YouTube because it gives me an outlet for every content format I like to use, all under one roof (this is also why I lean into Instagram over TikTok).  Long-form video, community posts (i.e. tweets and IG photos), Shorts (i.e. Reels & TikToks), and even live streams (Twitch)–I can do it all in one place, and I can easily recycle that content for Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and more if I want to.  And on top of that, YouTube’s monetization options give a lot of incentive to push hard and build something of substance.  After all, it’s a lot easier to justify the time spent on social media when you’re actually getting paid!  And for email, I use ConvertKit.  ConvertKit has all sorts of cool features, but the most impressive thing is the automations. I can set up all sorts of neat tricks with ConvertKit that allow me to communicate with my audience on autopilot.  My biggest job with email is to build the list.  Building an effective artist ecosystem takes time. And work.  Actually, a lot of work.  But with these digital tools working on my behalf 24/7, I am increasingly more free to spend my time doing what I love, like making music.  Time to build your ecosystem.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Have you ever built an ad campaign for a new release only to have it launch with skyrocketing costs and underwhelming results?  I certainly have.  It’s heartbreaking.  You’ve spent all this time on your song, you’ve saved your money, you’ve done your research, and you’ve set up your ads precisely as they should be, only to be met with disaster on release day.  Few things are more frustrating than watching your hard-earned money trickle away without knowing the cause of it, and while it can seem impossible to troubleshoot a floundering release, the performance of an ad campaign really comes down to three factors:  Targeting, visual creative, and your song.  Targeting is the first point of impact for your campaign. If you get this wrong, you can bottleneck your reach and destroy what might have otherwise been a successful campaign.  When in doubt, go wider and let Facebook’s platform figure it out for you.  Next, visual creative.  In short, have a great album cover, something that grabs the attention of the viewer.  And make sure you have a clear call to action. A simple Spotify logo is enough to make the user understand what it is you want them to do.  And lastly (and most importantly) have great music.  This may seem obvious, but it’s the part that most often causes campaigns to fail–the music just isn’t good enough.  There are thousands upon thousands of songs released every day. If you want to grab someone’s attention, you need to give them a reason to listen.  If you’re not seeing the results you want (and you feel good about your targeting and your ad creative) it might be time to move on to a new song.  Sometimes, that can make all the difference.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

I used to struggle with creating content on the internet. No matter how hard I tried, I could never quite get on top of it.  On a daily basis it seems, I would inevitably hit that moment of panic where I would think, “oh no, I haven’t posted anything today,” and I would have to scramble to come up with something.  For years, I watched other creators turn out videos, pictures, tweets, and more with regularity, wondering how they did it without missing a beat while I consistently struggled to keep up.  But everything changed when I figured out how to create content systems that allowed me to get ahead of the curve and stay there.  Instead of constantly playing catchup, I began approaching content creation like a part-time job, a side hustle that only required a few hours per week to execute.  I would set aside time for myself to build out my content on a regular basis, focusing on one main idea and then building everything else out of that.  Additionally, I took advantage of scheduling in advance, and, in doing so, freed myself up to come up with even more ideas with my newly found free time.  Now my content system runs largely on autopilot.  I have a standing appointment with myself to create content every Friday morning. I build out what I need to, schedule it to publish over the next several weeks, and am free to spend my time serving my clients and building my business.  Here are 5 tips to help you start creating social media content on autopilot. ✈️

When I started sharing my ideas online, no one paid attention to what I was doing.  If you’ve ever posted a single thing on the internet, you know exactly what I’m talking about.  For me, it took about 18 months of consistently posting to YouTube before people finally started listening to what I had to say.  For what felt like forever, I would post video after video, only to be met with a handful of views on each.  I burned out several times and considered giving up altogether, but one day, seemingly out of nowhere, people began to watch.  And that’s when the magic really happened.  Not only did they watch, but they began to ask questions.  Once I had gained the attention of a few, I began to pay attention to what they wanted and simply did my best to deliver.  Three years ago, I never would have considered a career in marketing, but the people asked, and I listened. Now I run a full-fledged marketing business with solutions for my audience at every level.  From here, it’s just a matter of scale.  But it all started with showing up every day when no one was paying attention.  TL;DR  If you have the grit to keep showing up, you will win.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Making money from a career in music is tough, no matter how you slice it, but it gets much easier when you create a system of diversified, music-based revenue streams.  From selling streaming to sample packs, live streaming to live shows, there are a lot of different ways to earn a living while doing what you love–creating music.  Here are 15 ways to make money from music.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel. Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought!

No matter how good your music is, if no one knows about it, no one will ever listen. You have to tell people about your songs. You have to market your music.  While there are many music marketing methods available, three stand atop the rest: posting organic content, paid advertising, and email.  These are the 3 music marketing methods every artist should be using.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

There are three primary metrics that we want to track on Spotify–streams, listeners, and followers–and growth in each category is not identical to the others.  If we want our streams to increase, we have to prioritize that. Same for followers. Same for listeners.  But how do we go about getting more streams on Spotify? How do we get more followers on Spotify? Or more listeners on Spotify?  Here are 3 proven tactics to help you grow your streams, your listeners, and your followers on Spotify.  And if done correctly, these three strategies will help you grow FAST!  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Your website is the cornerstone of your online presence as an artist. It is the place where your fans know they can come to connect with you, register for updates, or even make a purchase from your online store.  Every artist should have a website. If you don't have one, now is the time to make that happen.  One of my favorite platforms for easily building a slick and effective website is Carrd. Carrd allows you to get up and running with a full website in a matter of minutes.  But sometimes, the stock templates just aren't enough. The good news is that, with just a few lines of CSS code, we can customize our Carrd website to look precisely how we want it to.  This is how to create a floating header (and a floating footer) with Carrd, so you can have an effective, professional website in no time.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Have you ever wondered how to gain Spotify listeners in specific cities around the world? Say, the top cities where your favorite artists are getting listened to?  Me too, so I set out to find out if I could grow my fanbase in the cities around the globe where I really wanted Spotify followers and Spotify streams. What began as an experiment to find the similarities across the top artists on Spotify ended with a system to grow my fanbase precisely where I wanted to. This is how I hacked my top 5 cities on Spotify.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

In early 2022, I switched from Facebook conversion ads to traffic ads as a tool to grow my fanbase on Spotify. After months of success with traffic ads for Spotify, I decided to begin testing conversion ads once again.  Over the past 30 days or so, I have tested several different ad sets, all inside a new Spotify conversion campaign using Facebook ads.  So let's take a look inside my new Facebook conversion ads for Spotify to see how I've set them up and how they are performing.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Instagram (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought!