🎙️How Record Labels Grow A Fan Base

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Music Videos Have Never Been Easier

Well now that you're finally on Distrokid releasing music, it's time to consider maybe dropping some visuals. The music is great, but we need to place a face on that music now. This is where Distrovid comes into play. Distrovid, much like Distrokid will post your music on multiple video streaming services such as Youtube, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal. On top of the easy posting, with Distrovid you keep 100% of your earnings!

Some Benefits:

• Get a VEVO channel & YouTube verification.

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• Keep 100% of your earnings

• Custom future release dates

The platform makes it extremely similar and just as easy as Distrokid itself. This is a Distrokid-owned platform so you already know it's great!

Have you added Distrovid to your Distrokid account? If have you had any issues or upsides with it?

Charts Weekly: Hip Hop

I'm thoroughly convinced that First Class is literally unstoppable. Drake dropped a whole album that completely took over the charts just to be knocked off of the top 3 the next week. Don't get me wrong, clearly, Drake is still #1, but I had imagined that Drake would keep the top three spots for weeks to come but I guess not.

Charts Weekly: EDM

Beyonce? This is quite a refreshing thing to see honestly! Beyonce is moving into the Electronic/Hip-Hop scene as opposed to her older style. This is a very smart move to make as music simply evolves as the trends change. Beyonce has been able to keep that legend title with her ability to maintain true to herself while following

Charts Weekly: Pop

As if my day wasn't already ruined by the 25-minute Starbucks line... Harry is back as #1 and I couldn't be more frustrated. If you tuned in last week you'd know that I paid Joji to get this clown as far away from the charts as I possibly could. This fool didn't hold his end of the bargain, I will be sending a Paypal dispute immediately.

How Record Labels Grow A Fan Base

There are a lot of variables that go into getting signed, and the artist development aspect. Most of us probably think we get signed, go to a studio, take cool pictures, then blow up, but this simply isn't the case! Only a bad label would cause one to think that this is the route, there are many intricacies.

Development - Any good label understands that the development of an artist is crucial. It's not that a label wants to completely strip you of your identity, they want to bolster it! Many artists get stuck in this thought process that they will be turned into some sort of puppet controlled by a puppet master but this just isn't the case for a good label. No conspiracy theorists, they aren't out here cloning rappers, shut up.

It's all about TikTok - It's simple, our biggest base of listeners is currently, and most likely will always be Gen Z, 14-24. This group of individuals just so happens to be consuming the heck out of TikTok right now! TikTok has an incredible algorithm that gives the average Joe the ability to blow a song up overnight! Not sure how legitimate this source is, but I have heard that artists signed to large labels have this thing called the "on switch." The on switch is simply a function that can be manipulated by Tik Tok themselves in which they can selectively give someone more exposure. It is theorized that labels pay for this for their artists to grow extremely quickly regardless of the content that they are posting. I myself believe this to be true as I have posted some amazing content with 110%+ watch time that only garnered roughly 70k views and a few thousand followers. This theory is VERY possible! Don't get me wrong, you don't have to be signed to blow up on the platform, but all indicators point towards it being an easier feat!

Tik Tok influencers - Understand that bargaining with big Tik Tok creators can actually be more beneficial than you promoting your music yourself. Oftentimes labels get huge access to a list of influencers that are simply capable of getting a song trending in just a few posts. For instance, someone like Charli D'Amelio has blown up COUNTLESS songs with a singular post. You can imagine how often a label reaches out to her offering tens, maybe even hundreds of thousands of dollars to run a campaign with said song.

No, I don't follow her, she's cringe.

Fan Activation - This is where the label is going to try working with what you already have. I know it sounds simple, but your few super fans are the most important. These fans will help a label understand your audience, and what they should be marketing to in the future! Fan activation relies heavily on content, whether that be music videos, an artist newsletter, simply posting on Instagram, Reddit posts, going live, community Discord, etc. You're not looking to gain more fans with these methods, you're looking to keep the ones you have!

Now let's assume you're never getting signed... How can you market your music with NO money at all?

Build A Fan Base With No Money

Let's assume you don't have a dollar to your name, you're a nobody, and you're worthless. Just kidding, maybe, anyway, you have nothing but time. How can we be utilizing our time to grow our audience?

1. ) Spend some time in a forum - Yeah I know, it sounds old-school but literally speaking to people in a respectful way can turn them into a fan. Imagine speaking in a large reddit or discord community, gaining some respect, and then simply asking for feedback on a track! It's a time consuming task but in the end it'll be fun, you'll make friends, and get yourself streams. If you're doing this in a large forum you might actually gain some real traction. White Iverson by Post Malone literally blew up from Reddit. It sounds weird but it's true!

2. ) Influencer communities - Look, these influencers with a big following are also people! This essentially works the same as the first tip in terms of placing yourself in the correct social environment. Start commenting on these influencers' posts, and figure out where they're spending their time. Do they have Discord or any type of community platform behind what they do? If they're smart, then they most likely will. I myself have a few of these friends with high following that I take a lot of information from & sometimes even get marketed a bit! In one instance, a TikTok friend of mine with 500k followers told me exactly what to do in one of my posts, this post alone garnered me over 2000 followers! Realize that these people have a following for a reason, find a way to befriend them! Here's that post by the way. 

3. ) Make A Song With Meaning - Ok, let me explain! You may think that your track is sentimental and means something to everyone because it does to you, but it probably doesn't. In the beginning, if you have no marketing dollars, your best friend is simply relatability. Make something that people can resonate with emotionally, or have fun with! Notice how earlier on in Kanye's career he was making songs like "Gold Digger." After building this insanely large audience off of simple songs, he then moved into the realm of "Yeezus" where things got weird, but the fans still accepted it.

What're your thoughts on this and did we miss anything? What are some methods you're using? Let us know by replying to this email!

Here's a video that goes in-depth on these topics.

Artist of the week: CallMeStevieRay

I had to do some digging, but yes, this guy always wears the same outfit. No really, go look at his Tik Tok, he literally wears the same outfit in every single post he makes. (TikTok linked below.)

Honestly, this has quite a bit of shock value I'd say. When you look at the comments everyone is asking about his singular outfit. This is a prime example of brand consistency and its power in short-form content such as TikTok.

Who should be the featured artist next week? Submit your song here!

I don't care what you say, Cardi B and Nicki simply cannot do what Young M.A can do when it comes to freestyling. The energy and wordplay she brings are simply top-notch, she's clearly the best female rapper IMO.

Notable Lyrics:

I love the play on her gender role implying both her female and masculine energy.

PressPlay Quick Links

• The Vegas party podcast - Full Send

• How to break an artist

• Last week at PressPlay

• How record labels grow a fanbase.

• How to release a single, it's easy, but it's hard...

• Logic is spitting GAME!

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