What would I do with just $500 to spend on music marketing?
Most musicians are on significantly limited budgets and typically there is very little money set aside for marketing. In this episode I field a question from listener, Jason Eli, who asked how I would spend my money if I had just $500 (approximately) to spend on music marketing.
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Want to learn more about how to successfully market your music online? Music Marketing Manifesto 4.0 is the place to start…
Seems like Spotify is paying for its artists. Some musicians using Facebook conversion ads to drive targeted traffic to their Spotify music. After that Spotify got some data and then Spotify put their songs in huge playlists according to your music genre. Which gives much more exposure to your music.
These musicians are making huge returns. Let’s say if you put $300 budget to spend on fb ads for your upcoming song. You will receive be making 10x or more of your budget. And the best part is Spotify followers keep listening to your music constantly. So streams will continue to grow and our income also. It’s a long run game but it’s definitely worth trying. John I want to your opinion about it?
Hi Vishal, while there is some evidence that running ads to aa track on Spotify can increase your plays enough to result in some algorithmic preference, I have not personally seen anyone do this to the point where it has resulted in a positive ROI. My personal belief is that this approach appears to work when your music is remarkable enough that it can catch on based on the strength music itself, and the ads help kickstart this process. But I would not personally rely on this as a strategy that has a high chance of working across the board. Long story short, I think it’s a high risk approach.
Great episode John!
I was wondering what your thoughts are about Twitter, YouTube and Google ads? Are they worth trying if I don’t have a large budget or should I stick to Facebook ads?
Hey Gadi, they are all worth trying and have their place, but if trying to generate leads, you’ll most likely find that Facebook/IG is where you’ll get the cheapest leads. YouTube video ads would be next in line, in terms of another platform that I often use for specific projects. But I don’t use YouTube for lead generation.
Are Twitter ads still a thing or not so much these days?
Hey Gadi, they are, yes. They are a tricky platform though. I think Twitter ads are best for people who already do well on the platform but would like to increase their reach.
John it all sounds good but as I see it watching 25 MMM 4.0 video’s with you watching over my shoulders is the same to me as watching a doctor perform surgery and then I’m qualified to so that same surgery? I would not be as good as the doctor is nor would I be no where near as good as you are when you perform MMM 4.0. I would rather pay you to set it up for me instead just like I would rather pay the doctor to do the surgery. I don’t mind working on it, but I am a results oriented person. So my question is what would you charge if you were to do it all instead of myself? It’s like I watch how a car is put together and they hand me all the parts and tools to assemble it and then give instructions and directions on how to do it. Then I go sell that car, would you be interested in buying it? I will paint it in your favorite color. I don’t think I would do as well as they and you, this is how I feel. What say you?
Hey De Valius,
I hear what your saying, and it’s true to an extent. But fortunately, setting up a music marketing campaign is infinitely more straight forward than performing surgery.
I do offer private consulting services and you can email john@mmmanifesto.com for a quote, but private campaign management is not really my focus. I much prefer to work with artists and help them to learn how to do this stuff themselves. Reason being, profit margins are slim with music and competition is fierce. It is not easy to find success as an artist, no matter what strategy one employs. My hope is always that anyone who enters into a business transaction with me walks away feeling that they got more than their money’s worth and I exceeded expectations. When an artist pays me thousands of dollars per month to create a manage a campaign, I end up eating up most of their profit unless their budgets are very large. And I don’t want to do that. Moreover, by doing it for someone they remain vulnerable as they don’t understand the business that they now own and if I step out of the equation everything stops.
So… while I WILL do it, my preference is to teach people HOW to do it. And I can always come in for an hour here or there to set things up, troubleshoot, or help people over hurdles. But my time is always available for anyone who needs it.
You can learn more about consulting sessions at: https://www.mmmanifesto.com/work-with-john/
I can understand how this information would be useful for people who are doing direct to fan marketing, but I have realized this path is just not for me. I’ve been putting some weekly money into growing my YouTube channel with some good results. YouTube and Insight Timer are my paths and I will stick with them no matter how long it takes. If you stick with anything long enough you’re bound to go somewhere with it. if you hate doing it you’re not going to get very far with it. I always enjoy your take on things though. I guess I have found what I enjoy and I’m sticking with it til the end of time. lol.
That’s great Weston. There are many roads leading to the same place. I have found what I believe works best and it sounds like you have as well. I’m stoked for you!
Thanks John. I always found a passive income opportunity which will get me where I need to be as well. I’ll update you as the years go on with my progress and maybe one day, I can be on a podcast episode 😉
Sounds good Weston!
Great attitude!!!
As always, helpful food for thought in deciding how & where to seek the biggest bang for the buck — thanks, John!
Glad you enjoyed the episode Michael. Thanks for listening.
Hey John, thanks for the episode! Just a heads up, the intro didn’t play as it normally does. Other than that, SOLID information as always man!
Hey Jaron, thanks for the heads up. Looks like the intro track was muted in the export. All fixed now. Cheers!
Loved this John, thanks. I have only ever spent money on things like Facebook likes or paying for streams. Which I’ll admit, I’ve never really seen a return from. This has got me thinking about the importance of a marketing plan. Keep the episodes coming.
My pleasure Erica, glad you enjoyed the episode. Good luck going forward!