It was a big step in my artist’s career when my single ‘Or’ was placed on “Jazz Vibes’ a stunning , almighty Spotify editorial playlist!
These days, these big playlists are like the Holy Grail, even big labels can struggle to get their artists on them so it’s an amazing feeling to get on one of them!
But you’d be excused for not caring and humble bragging can get old fast !...so I was thinking about what I’ve learned from the process and what I could share.
4 quick points.
Release music people want to listen to.
Sounds obvious but still hear a lot of great songs that get very little engagement because it’s not in a defined style and not easy for new listeners to engage with. This is quite sad.
Pre-production is huge.
It’s linked to 1. And is super important. I work as a songwriter / producer and a huge part of planning a release with a client is done in pre-production. If you are good at analyzing music, do it! Spotify or Youtube are amazing tools for that, you should find songs in the middle of which your song would sound good. You should be able to know how the sounds on these records are made and if you don’t know how to do all that, reach out for a producer! It’s a big part of our job.
Patience and persistence:
This is my 15th release on Spotify. I found a little audience on the platform, never to the scale of this playlist before though. I’ve learned a lot about the platform and releasing original music as an artist.
Ideally in the new music model, we should release every month / two months or so.
I realize this could be a challenge especially financially: do your best and be very clear with yourself: there’s no music career without sacrifices.
4. Mindset:
Put music out because it makes you feel good, because that’s what you were born to do. Keep your spirits up, be happy for other people ‘success, keep supporting other artists. If you can do that when nothing is shaking for you, the universe will give back. Call me a hippie all you like I believe in generosity of spirit (not so common among musicians you may find! 😆😜😂)
Hope it helps, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. Peace!