11 Crazy Reasons to Avoid Marketing Amazing Music
Good art finds its own audience. If it’s truly special, you just need to put it up on iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, etc. and people will catch on. They’ll find it without marketing.
I’m sure this is what will happen with the project that you’re currently working on because it’s incredible. You’re bound to blow up just because the music is great!
Make a video for the first song. Put that brilliant conceptualization of your music up on YouTube and people will immediately respond making it go viral!
Look, I believe you’re an astonishing artist. Your music is so compelling that once a few people hear it they’ll have to share it. They’ll tell two friends then they’ll tell two friends, and so on, and so on, and so on. That’s how it works, right?
You don’t need to spend one ounce of energy thinking about marketing. You certainly don’t need a marketing budget when your music is as good as it is.
If you believe in your talent, then your music will market itself; like drugs. Therefore, there is no need for marketing.
If they don’t get you for your art, so be it. It’ll be the same as a vegan who doesn’t understand the world’s best hamburger.
Here are 11 other artists I’m sure you’ve heard of. Their music literally changed our lives.
This will prove you never need to worry about marketing. So, there is no need to change what you’re currently doing. When you’re this good the music will find its own audience.
Let the music do the talkin’, right?
- Beatles – You can’t argue with 600 million records sold! FYI, the bottom rung of “superstar status†begins around 20 million records. So, it’s safe to say they’re at the top of that food chain. The Beatles music was so amazing the word-of-mouth spread like wildfire. Yes, Brian Epstein (their manager) cleaned up their look, created the image and taught them to bow after every song (adorable!). Epstein sent girls out, in the beginning, to purchase Beatles records at record stores that reported sales so the Beatles would chart. The charting changed the perception of the radio Program Directors and the DJ’s. Because the singles seemed more legit, the PD’s started spinning them more. “Yesterday†has the third most performances ever on American radio and TV with over 7 million spins. Let’s not forget that 73 million people watched the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. But they didn’t need the exposure from radio or TV, they were the Beatles. They would’ve sold 600 million no matter what, right?
- Rolling Stones – One of the most recognizable brands on the planet. Incredible live show. It’s not surprising that the Stones manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, was Brian Epstein’s former assistant. Oldham changed the image of his band making them the “anti-Beatlesâ€. That meant their image was dangerous as opposed to boys you could take home to mom. He created a new “lane†in the market. Then Oldham implemented the same chart strategy that was effective in legitimizing the Beatles. The Rolling Stones were exposed to millions of people via radio and The Ed Sullivan Show alone. But we all know how good The Rolling Stones are. They didn’t need any of that promotion. The music would’ve found its own audience just like yours will.
- Def Leppard – Over 100 million records sold. Love them or hate them, you can’t argue the superstar status with this act. Their sophomore release, High & Dry, got the ball rolling in America. “Bringing on the Heartbreak†became a high rotation video on the relatively new MTV. This spurred a massive increase in radio spins as well. All that love only sold 250,000 copies but set the stage for their third release. This groundbreaking Mutt Lange production spawned 4 radio singles. Polygram easily spent millions promoting this record with the videos and radio promo, but all this exposure really didn’t matter. Pyromania was awesome, consumers were going to tell everybody about it anyway. The art was so good, Phil Lynott, leader of Thin Lizzy, broke up his band. He told Joe Elliott, the lead singer of Def Leppard, he couldn’t compete with Pyromania. That’s how good it was, so they really didn’t need to be the darlings of MTV with 5 videos. They really didn’t need the exposure from the radio spins.
- Guns & Roses – Everybody knows who GNR is. Their first release, Appetite for Destruction, has sold 30 million copies. It became the best-selling debut ever and the 11th best-selling record in the United States. Appetite had 5 singles and 5 MTV videos to support the singles. But the record was released July 21, 1987, and didn’t break for a full year later in August of 1988. How’s that? This record was so good nobody cared about it for the first year? I’m sure the phone call from label head David Geffen to MTV applying pressure to finally play the “Welcome to the Jungle†video didn’t matter. It would’ve broke no matter what, right? It was just a matter of time.
- Michael Jackson – Michael Jackson was an international superstar in the Jackson 5 with over 50 million records sold. Every record the Jackson 5 released went multi-platinum. Side-note: It’s interesting that when they left Motown for Epic Records, they had to change their name to The Jacksons as Motown owned the name Jackson 5. It’s even more interesting that these famous household names only managed to sell 500,000 copies each on the first 2 releases following the moniker alteration. You could argue that the market didn’t know The Jacksons were the Jackson 5. But they were famous and the music was great, so the consumers would figure it out. Michael was also signed to a solo deal. His first solo release for Epic was Off the Wall and it sold more than 20 million copies worldwide. Then, of course, Thriller was released which sold more than 110 million copies worldwide. To this day, Thriller remains the best-selling album of all time. They released 7 singles. I’m quite sure that the tens of millions of dollars they spent promoting the radio singles and the unforgettable videos wouldn’t have mattered. The music is so good it would have sold no matter what.
- Wham!/George Michael – Wham! was a huge act worldwide. Millions of records were sold in Europe but nobody knew who they were in America. Why was that? Clearly, they were amazing! You could argue they wasted millions on videos and a tour in Communist China to break into America because clearly, the art would break through eventually. It was that good, right? Then George went solo and his first record entitled Faith sold 20 million. He was famous so of course, it did, right? When his second solo release dropped his label CBS Records was purchased by Sony and George wasn’t happy with the situation. He rebelled and new Sony America President, Tommy Mattola, sat on the record in retaliation. By this time, George Michaels was a superstar with almost 50 million records sold. Listen Without Prejudice Volume 1 failed miserably in sales compared to Faith. Critics and fans hailed George’s 2nd solo effort as his artistic masterpiece. But it must’ve been the music, right? The music must have been of a lesser quality to the fans because they all knew about the record, right? How else would you explain the decline in sales when it’s all about the music? He didn’t need to market either. George was a superstar.
- Kiss – I’m not sure which brand is more universally recognizable on the planet, Kiss or Coca-Cola. The band released their first three records for Casablanca Records within one year and nothing took off. In fact, they almost sunk the label. Then the fourth release was Alive! and that did the trick. Kiss was on their way. The live record consisted of songs off the first three records. The audience sounds were the only “live†performances from Alive!. It was completely re-recorded in the studio because the musical performances were terrible. Here is a PRIME situation proving that marketing doesn’t matter when the songs are great. They had already released the music before and it failed. Then the fans liked the live version. No marketing necessary, the fans decided, right?
- Carrie Underwood – Carrie was a farm-girl from rural Oklahoma. But she could sing. If you study pictures of Carrie prior to her American Idol appearances, she looked plain. Now she looks like a star. Why would she do that? It’s all about the art, right? It’s all about her voice. Why change the look? Oh, let’s also remember that she came into the public awareness singing covers in front of a TV audience of over 30 million people every week. But I’m sure THAT had nothing to do with her rise to fame because her voice and look were so powerful. What AI really did was make some famous music producers aware of her talent. Once they recorded her the art took over and Carrie was on her way. No promo necessary.
- Miranda Lambert – Miranda Lambert came into our awareness after getting tons of exposure placing third on the talent show Nashville Star. Like Carrie, she was singing covers for 9 weeks to a huge TV audience. This exposure gained her an audience and the interest of Sony Records. They signed her and released her first single. Sony, of course, went to work getting the art and the artist in front of as many people as possible and it worked. The rest is history. Miranda, in my opinion, is one of the true artists on the planet. I’m sure she would’ve broken no matter what. No marketing necessary.
- Blake Shelton – Blake is one of the best-selling country artists. He has 24 #1’s with 17 of them being consecutive. Yes, Shelton had great songs but they became staples on the radio. His star rose higher when he started making regular TV appearances as a judge on Nashville Star in 2007 as well as The Voice which he’s been on since its inception. But all the fame and radio spins don’t matter, Blake would still be famous without them. When you’re that good you don’t need to market. You don’t need exposure because your audience will do it for you.
- Every Record Label – Have you ever wondered why record labels have marketing & promotion departments? Especially if you believe that great art will find its own audience. In fact, most record deals will allow 10% of the overall budget to the recording and manufacturing of the product. The other 90% is saved for marketing and promotion. Why is that? Why would they spend so much money promoting when they have such good art?
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The better question would be why aren’t you spending 90% of your money and 90% of your time promoting your music?
Remember, you’re promoting something that nobody needs. So, make them want it.
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I obviously want you to compare here, but don’t forget the small steps. It’s not ok to say you want to become an astronaut but quit because you can’t immediately go into space. You must fly jets first. Before jets, multi-engine prop planes. Before prop planes, single engine planes. Oh, and you attend school to be allowed to operate any planes.
It’s a process.
My point is, “I don’t have any money to get on TV or the radio†is a lame excuse. You have social media and YouTube.
Artists break on social media and YouTube.
Spending every penny you have on recording your music won’t work if you want other people to care about it. If you’re not spending 90% of your overall budget on marketing, you won’t see results.
What’s your plan?
Good art does NOT magically find its own audience. Rather, audiences react to good art when they’re exposed to it enough times.
Therefore, if you don’t have any plan for marketing your masterpiece, nobody will hear it.
HINT: Market YOU before you release the project in the new music business.
Artist first.
Music second.
These artists blew up because somebody spent some time putting their art in front of NEW EYEBALLS.
Yes, you can argue that the labels had millions to spend on radio promotion and you don’t.
I would argue that even if you did have the money, it wouldn’t help you today. Period.
The formula is the same though. Get the art in front of new people who would like that kind of art.
Simple, right?
Radio and music videos used to be effective in executing the formula.
But now they’re not effective for debut artists. Especially if they don’t have big marketing budgets.
Look at the record sales.
How can you get your music in front of new, targeted eyeballs?
Social media is a start.
Oh yeah, that’s free.
YouTube is another method to potentially reach 1 billion people per day.
That’s free too.
What’s your excuse now?
You don’t know how to do it?
LEARN.
Want to be a plumber?
LEARN.
Do you aspire to be a teacher?
LEARN.
Don’t have time?
Then you don’t really want to be an artist. If you don’t have time to do the free stuff, believe me, you don’t have time to go on a radio tour either.
Good music must have marketing. It’s the way we find out about it.
If you don’t have a marketing plan, you’re wasting your time and your money.
Aren’t you sick of being disappointed?
Stay
In
Tune
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