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<aside> šŸ§± Hi, I'm Brick Blair.

I'm an indie singer-songwriter who has been making music for many years but only recently started to take its marketing and promotion seriously.

I am not an expert. There are many people who know a lot more than I do about this. My knowledge is very incomplete. But I am happy to share my experience, research, and observationsā€”for whatever they are worth.

I have other pages exploring other indie music marketing issues which you can find here.

šŸŽø Spotify šŸŒ Website šŸ¤³Ā IG šŸ“§Ā  Email ā¬‡ļøĀ  Permalink

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Contents

Overview

Hi there, on April 11, 2022 I hosted an Ask Me Anything session about Spotify playlisting on a live Zoom session. This page captures the output from that session. I hope you find it beneficial.

Background

I have some thoughts and experience from going deep into this world the last several months that Iā€™m happy to share. I donā€™t have answers but I have some data, deductions, observations, and opinions.

In the last 4 months Iā€™ve gone from essentially 0 to 50,000 listeners, 85,000 streams, and 4500 followers on Spotify. Also from few hundred to 2000 Instagram followers. I canā€™t claim with absolute certainty that none of those streams are artificial but Iā€™ve tried very hard and spent countless hours trying to ensure that they are not. Iā€™m in it for the long-haul.

To be clear my Spotify strategy at this stage is:

  1. I primarily view Spotify as a form of social proof and legitimacy. Anything else is a bonus. I view social, video, website, email and performances as the primary way to build a long-term relationship with my fans and generate revenue.
  2. Further, I view the time and energy it takes to get on third-party playlist as having the primary purpose of getting me to the place where I get attention from Spotifyā€™s algorithmic playlist which can then become something more self-sustaining. And, ultimately, Spotify editorial playlists.
  3. Finally I was starting from zero so that requires a certain strategy thatā€™s different than somebody who is further along.

Iā€™m providing that context because the best approach will vary if your goals are different.

Mindmap of Session

2022-04-12-Spotify AMA with Brick Blair-Black.png

Recording of Session

2022-04-11-Spotify AMA with Brick.mp4

Material Covered in Session

<aside> šŸ§± This document uses Toggle lists extensively, so wherever you you see a ā–ŗ, you can click and the next section will open up.

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