The thing with Adele is that she went to the BRIT school, one of the most successful performing arts schools in the world, so she peobably had connections before she even graduated. Amy Winehouse, Katie Melua, FKA Twigs, Imogen Heap and Kate Nash also graduated from the BRIT school. Leona Lewis and Jessie J were Adele's classmates. So its not really a surprise that she was signed to major label one year after graduating. This is NOT the kind of person a upcoming artist should model their career on, Adele was in a position where she could talk to music industry experts when she was like 12.
Believe it or not, I think some of the more polarizing artists such as Lil Peep and Russ are good artists to look at if you're trying to be an artist independently, as most of the others have label help
Side note: Some of us hide from social media and people in general because we're afraid, not lazy. The same vulnerable sensitivity that inspires our music, also makes us scared to show our heart to the world... or maybe it's just me... but I'm working on it.
@golfboy1989 I have thought about that and while it's a great idea, for some.. for me personally.. my goal is to work up to putting myself out there as honestly and openly as possible.. so I feel like a mask would be counter to that. I just need to be more brave >.
@@Musformation you know, you're probably right anyways.. the more I think about it, the more it seems like laziness is just another form of fear.. we fear change so we find some excuse to put it off. so, now I feel like an ass for calling it out in the first place.. my bad. >.>
this is exactly exactly exactly me often i hate when people i know in real life mention my music or play it out loud because i’m embarrassed by what inspired it
Funny thing is, Adele actually speaks about using MySpace and other social media apps to get signed to her first label around 2007-2008. So even the exception isn't a proper exception. I actually use my Instagram almost exclusively to promote music and sharing other people's music 🙂
Are you an angel? o.O Seriously though, I have been dying to take my career to the next level.. but I felt like I didn't know what steps I needed to take next. Then out of no where, I stumble on your channel and you lay out everything that actually matters in such a no-bs kind of way, that it inspires the hell out of me.. and now I feel more confident than I have a long time because I actually have a plan, thank you so much Jesse.. It means the world.
@@Musformation He’s my example as well. But we know that he broke into the industry by songwriting for Brandy. Blonde was such a success because he finessed Def Jam and signed a multimillion dollar deal with Apple. Streaming services still playlist his music
But even he was really good at Tumblr at a time when that was a major platform (referring to around the time of Nostalgia ULTRA, 2011). He is a great writer and it was great fit for his skillset.
@@JohnAlecci It goes beyond that, dude was making hundreds of thousands of dollars writing in LA before he had released novacane. Between that and the connections he started to get at def jam he was well on his way to building his career without anybody even knowing his name.
I’ve always wondered this because my favorite band, Pink Floyd, seemed to be one of the first “mysterious” bands to blow up exponentially and still keep that aura. I know that in their early shows they were a great live band and leading up to the Dark Side of the Moon, they toured like hell. This video was very insightful, but I still don’t know how they were successful in making their art connect to the huge scale that they did, while still remaining in the shadows (they didn’t have masks or anything gimmicky like slipknot or other things that purposefully hide them) . Maybe it was a once in a lifetime thing? I don’t know, I’m not really looking to make dsotm 2, but I am interested in that sort of brand image. No pictures of the band on the album covers and all (first record had picture of the band members, none after that ). Great video dude
I love this, and it encourages me to put that much more effort into my currently minimalistic insta (I do show part of my face, but obscured). I try to do notable things but starting from 0, it feels like making the very first fans is the hardest part. Maybe it's because I haven't found my community yet. What do you do if your niche doesn't quite fit any microgenre? Is social media able to bridge that gap?
The other option that isn’t mentioned; is to be in the top 1% tier of your niche. If you arrive there then creating mystery will work just fine because everything you drop will be undeniably valuable and if you are the type of person ready to put your life and soul into your art you should aspire to this and not waste too much time with this sns stuff. You can either become a rare gem so valuable that it can’t not be discovered OR promote the shit out of your music til everyone knows your name whether good or bad. Which approach would you choose? Current sns is not fostering a musicians creativity - I hope in the next few years the format will change to promote creativity over mindless exposure. If you’re resorting to thirst traps you are low quality. What is your end goal as an artist? If it is exposure, to get attention, then you’re not focusing on the art itself and your overall quality will be low. Do you know how many artists are in the top level in my genre? 2. The top 1% is a quiet place. I used to listen to hip hop, since JDilla there’s been no one who reached his level, the music lost its roots. Aspire to become someone of that caliber not some thirsty sns fame leech..Make your priority to make the best music in existence and not attach your goal to a follower count. I’m deeply disappointed with the music out today, the quality sucks. This isn’t some old guy espousing back in my day bs either. The quality has really died in this arse and this video encapsulates the essence of every shitty musician of today’s era, looking for follows and likes. Respect to the author he’s only playing the game that exists to play, my gripe is with the game itself.
Great video Jesse. Surprised you didn't touch on Death Grips (Hacker in the intro too lol). I feel like they absolutely nailed marketing themselves in the digital era, though like many other artists you mention in the video, their music was so exceptional and mindblowing that it propelled them insanely fast
Thanks so much for the great tips, Jesse! I have focused heavily on pre-release marketing like pre-saves and blog pitching, but have realized most of the magic is in post-release. With that said, would you credit any parts of pre-release an important part of a song release, aside from consistent posting?
Tool's drummer played on Green Jelly's first record (as well as Maynard singing 3 little pigs part), I'd say that was a band that had some potential. I'd love to know what happened. Their second album was pretty cool and they had a bunch of videos for it, that were unlike anything else at the time, just like Tool (they had their own DIY movie studio). But I haven't seen any of them on MTV Europe outside of a late night metal show. It's like somebody decided not to play them and that was it. Same thing happened to many other bands. They were one hit wonders, but not because they couldn't do another hit song, but because somebody decided not to play anything new from them. Good thing at least we don't have to talk about MTV anymore.
Jesse, what advice do you have when you social media followers don't take that extra step to click on the links in your profile to your music pages? It doesn't seem to matter if the clip is a 30 second teaser, the full song or a photo ad. I was also doing non music posts. I thought I was doing things wrong until I polled about 20 or my friends and ALL of them said even if they like the song they just don't go to Spotify or Bandcamp, etc. off of Instagram or Facebook. Apparently it's too much work for them. Ari Herstand said a follower wants your music for free but a fan will support you so I fear that 99% on social media are just followers and not fans. Is it a numbers game? Do I need a bazillion followers so that 1% that are fans will provide enough support?
Man it's cause of you that I've been more active than I've ever been in my life, so thank you! Would love your feedback on some music sometime. Your opinion is super valuable to an independent artist like me.
I do believe you are absolutely right. Your videos are quite interesting, but I feel that you go way too fast...you give a lot of very important information and I've found annoying having to pause the video because you keep talking while showing an article with even more information. I've found it overwhelming, very interesting but...if could you slow down a bit your content will gain immensely. Don't get me wrong, I'm telling you this because your stuff is really good!
When you’re on top the of the ladder, write on the billboard and everyone will see it. When you’re at the bottom of the ladder, write something and barely anyone will see it.
While it's important to utilize all social media, what do you feel about an artist focusing in on one or two that play to their strengths? For me, I think writing things out in twitter and substack will go a longer way for finding and engaging fans than "cute pics" on Instagram or trying to go viral on TikTok.
oh god, if i had a dime for every time i heard someone say "bUt BUrIaL aNd apHeX tWIn dIDn'T hAVe tO pROmOTe tHEmseLvES" i'd be able to buy my way onto a spotify editorial playlist at this point lmao
Whew, I turned this one off. I can appreciate you getting fired up about your area of expertise but like...I got kids running around, man! I'll try another.
I mean for many artists on your list you ultimately default to “they were really fucking good”. Which subverts the point of your video. On Sophie “Madonna tapped her without her having a video”. Now if you really wanted to give us some meaningful content you would tell us how Sophie got noticed by Madonna without the traditional marketing. What did she do to build “demand”? Cashmere Cat is the same deal. He got lots of attention and worked with influential people. How, why, when, where? You aren’t really demystifying anything if you gloss over these stories without an explanation of how they did it.
I see so many unknown bands on YT with cool vids and brilliant songs w 1000 views. Then I see artists with cool videos that have 100M views, but the song is forgettable. I don't think the successful artists are working harder and they're certainly not more talented. Weird world.
I think you’re right that this happens but the rule more than the exception in my view is that the people who put low effort into one so the same in the other. But we all have different tastes and experience
Sometimes I find these so hard to follow. There’s some amazing info but like 90% of this is just saying completely subjective statements. Can we just hear the facts please?
The thing with Adele is that she went to the BRIT school, one of the most successful performing arts schools in the world, so she peobably had connections before she even graduated. Amy Winehouse, Katie Melua, FKA Twigs, Imogen Heap and Kate Nash also graduated from the BRIT school. Leona Lewis and Jessie J were Adele's classmates. So its not really a surprise that she was signed to major label one year after graduating. This is NOT the kind of person a upcoming artist should model their career on, Adele was in a position where she could talk to music industry experts when she was like 12.
Great info
Believe it or not, I think some of the more polarizing artists such as Lil Peep and Russ are good artists to look at if you're trying to be an artist independently, as most of the others have label help
Side note: Some of us hide from social media and people in general because we're afraid, not lazy.
The same vulnerable sensitivity that inspires our music, also makes us scared to show our heart to the world... or maybe it's just me... but I'm working on it.
Love this. except maybe it's lazy not to work on getting past your fear - it does take hard work after all. 😜
Yes I didn’t mean to conflate them as being one in the same
@golfboy1989 I have thought about that and while it's a great idea, for some.. for me personally.. my goal is to work up to putting myself out there as honestly and openly as possible.. so I feel like a mask would be counter to that. I just need to be more brave >.
@@Musformation you know, you're probably right anyways.. the more I think about it, the more it seems like laziness is just another form of fear.. we fear change so we find some excuse to put it off. so, now I feel like an ass for calling it out in the first place.. my bad. >.>
this is exactly exactly exactly me
often i hate when people i know in real life mention my music or play it out loud because i’m embarrassed by what inspired it
Funny thing is, Adele actually speaks about using MySpace and other social media apps to get signed to her first label around 2007-2008. So even the exception isn't a proper exception.
I actually use my Instagram almost exclusively to promote music and sharing other people's music 🙂
Interesting
Thank you for the lesson Jesse.
I'm shy about posting and promoting music so your limb analogy is perfect to get an idea of what to do about this.
Hell yeah
Are you an angel? o.O Seriously though, I have been dying to take my career to the next level.. but I felt like I didn't know what steps I needed to take next. Then out of no where, I stumble on your channel and you lay out everything that actually matters in such a no-bs kind of way, that it inspires the hell out of me.. and now I feel more confident than I have a long time because I actually have a plan, thank you so much Jesse.. It means the world.
Couldn't have said it better myself. Feeling exactly the same thing! This is excellent content. Super refreshing.
Frank Ocean was my personal case study that brought me to a lot of these realizations.
Solid example
@@Musformation He’s my example as well. But we know that he broke into the industry by songwriting for Brandy. Blonde was such a success because he finessed Def Jam and signed a multimillion dollar deal with Apple. Streaming services still playlist his music
But even he was really good at Tumblr at a time when that was a major platform (referring to around the time of Nostalgia ULTRA, 2011). He is a great writer and it was great fit for his skillset.
@@JohnAlecci It goes beyond that, dude was making hundreds of thousands of dollars writing in LA before he had released novacane. Between that and the connections he started to get at def jam he was well on his way to building his career without anybody even knowing his name.
Your videos are so different than other music marketing youtubes and feel much more real. Props king 👑
Appreciate that
Thank you. Good pep talk as always, sir! 🙌🏽
Half way into this video I made the decision to start planning a serious photo shoot. 🤌🏽🙏🏽
Hell yeah!
I’ve always wondered this because my favorite band, Pink Floyd, seemed to be one of the first “mysterious” bands to blow up exponentially and still keep that aura. I know that in their early shows they were a great live band and leading up to the Dark Side of the Moon, they toured like hell. This video was very insightful, but I still don’t know how they were successful in making their art connect to the huge scale that they did, while still remaining in the shadows (they didn’t have masks or anything gimmicky like slipknot or other things that purposefully hide them) . Maybe it was a once in a lifetime thing? I don’t know, I’m not really looking to make dsotm 2, but I am interested in that sort of brand image. No pictures of the band on the album covers and all (first record had picture of the band members, none after that ). Great video dude
I like this guy... nice sensible direct logical approach.
I love this, and it encourages me to put that much more effort into my currently minimalistic insta (I do show part of my face, but obscured). I try to do notable things but starting from 0, it feels like making the very first fans is the hardest part. Maybe it's because I haven't found my community yet. What do you do if your niche doesn't quite fit any microgenre? Is social media able to bridge that gap?
Wonderful video as always, can't deny I cried thinking about SOPHIE, still terribly sad, she was the best.
I had to retake after the tears
Jesse is straight no bullshit. Realist person in music marketing.
The other option that isn’t mentioned; is to be in the top 1% tier of your niche. If you arrive there then creating mystery will work just fine because everything you drop will be undeniably valuable and if you are the type of person ready to put your life and soul into your art you should aspire to this and not waste too much time with this sns stuff. You can either become a rare gem so valuable that it can’t not be discovered OR promote the shit out of your music til everyone knows your name whether good or bad. Which approach would you choose? Current sns is not fostering a musicians creativity - I hope in the next few years the format will change to promote creativity over mindless exposure. If you’re resorting to thirst traps you are low quality. What is your end goal as an artist? If it is exposure, to get attention, then you’re not focusing on the art itself and your overall quality will be low. Do you know how many artists are in the top level in my genre? 2. The top 1% is a quiet place.
I used to listen to hip hop, since JDilla there’s been no one who reached his level, the music lost its roots. Aspire to become someone of that caliber not some thirsty sns fame leech..Make your priority to make the best music in existence and not attach your goal to a follower count. I’m deeply disappointed with the music out today, the quality sucks. This isn’t some old guy espousing back in my day bs either. The quality has really died in this arse and this video encapsulates the essence of every shitty musician of today’s era, looking for follows and likes. Respect to the author he’s only playing the game that exists to play, my gripe is with the game itself.
love ur content bud. do you have a video or some content talking about data analysis/big data in the music industry?
I try to focus on under 10k fans on this channel and I don’t find data to be a big thing for them but I talk about it a bit in my book
Where have you been all my life?!?! YOUR CONTENT IS SO STRONG.
Appreciate that
Best music channel on RUclips. Absolute fucking gold.
Appreciate that!
Makes a lot of sense. I genuinely can't think of any exceptions to this model off the top of my head.
Jesse, please make a video of exactly how you need to interact with people in the community of artists like you.
It’s coming!
Jesse! Love this man. I have been putting your advice into practice, and seeing results. Thank you so much.
Great video Jesse. Surprised you didn't touch on Death Grips (Hacker in the intro too lol). I feel like they absolutely nailed marketing themselves in the digital era, though like many other artists you mention in the video, their music was so exceptional and mindblowing that it propelled them insanely fast
I cut it from the video since I felt they were complicated
@@Musformation Fair enough, they're definitely a major exception to the rule
Thanks so much for the great tips, Jesse! I have focused heavily on pre-release marketing like pre-saves and blog pitching, but have realized most of the magic is in post-release. With that said, would you credit any parts of pre-release an important part of a song release, aside from consistent posting?
No I don’t think it’s helpful at all for artists under ten thousand fans
love the anatomy analogies !
Hell heah
Great perspective, thank you!
Love your channel so much!
Really appreciate that
Tool's drummer played on Green Jelly's first record (as well as Maynard singing 3 little pigs part), I'd say that was a band that had some potential. I'd love to know what happened. Their second album was pretty cool and they had a bunch of videos for it, that were unlike anything else at the time, just like Tool (they had their own DIY movie studio). But I haven't seen any of them on MTV Europe outside of a late night metal show. It's like somebody decided not to play them and that was it. Same thing happened to many other bands. They were one hit wonders, but not because they couldn't do another hit song, but because somebody decided not to play anything new from them. Good thing at least we don't have to talk about MTV anymore.
Wow I forgot that
Always exceptional content.
Hell yeah
Really enjoyed this!
Hell yeah I’m a subscriber to your channel. Have lived sone of those Skrillex buss videos.
Jesse, what advice do you have when you social media followers don't take that extra step to click on the links in your profile to your music pages? It doesn't seem to matter if the clip is a 30 second teaser, the full song or a photo ad. I was also doing non music posts. I thought I was doing things wrong until I polled about 20 or my friends and ALL of them said even if they like the song they just don't go to Spotify or Bandcamp, etc. off of Instagram or Facebook. Apparently it's too much work for them. Ari Herstand said a follower wants your music for free but a fan will support you so I fear that 99% on social media are just followers and not fans. Is it a numbers game? Do I need a bazillion followers so that 1% that are fans will provide enough support?
Does anyone have any answers to this question?
I'd be really curious to know what "mysterious" musician cultivated that mystery without some element of marketing.
Hes back!
15 long cold days
Man it's cause of you that I've been more active than I've ever been in my life, so thank you! Would love your feedback on some music sometime. Your opinion is super valuable to an independent artist like me.
I do believe you are absolutely right. Your videos are quite interesting, but I feel that you go way too fast...you give a lot of very important information and I've found annoying having to pause the video because you keep talking while showing an article with even more information. I've found it overwhelming, very interesting but...if could you slow down a bit your content will gain immensely. Don't get me wrong, I'm telling you this because your stuff is really good!
Appreciate this since before every video intel myself I’m gonna go slower and then 🤦♂️
When you’re on top the of the ladder, write on the billboard and everyone will see it. When you’re at the bottom of the ladder, write something and barely anyone will see it.
Yay cross country skiing
I see no lies here!
🕺🏼
This is that SAUCE
While it's important to utilize all social media, what do you feel about an artist focusing in on one or two that play to their strengths? For me, I think writing things out in twitter and substack will go a longer way for finding and engaging fans than "cute pics" on Instagram or trying to go viral on TikTok.
That’s tight and what I advise
Do a video on promoting music on TikTok
It’s mostly written just trying to have enough insight yhat it’s worth contributing
oh god, if i had a dime for every time i heard someone say "bUt BUrIaL aNd apHeX tWIn dIDn'T hAVe tO pROmOTe tHEmseLvES" i'd be able to buy my way onto a spotify editorial playlist at this point lmao
Lol
Whew, I turned this one off. I can appreciate you getting fired up about your area of expertise but like...I got kids running around, man! I'll try another.
😎
Might I suggest using a Becky and Stacy meme to appease the virgins?
Lol god tier knowledge here
Adele was produced by Rick Rubin Lolol there’s your social media exception
I mean for many artists on your list you ultimately default to “they were really fucking good”. Which subverts the point of your video. On Sophie “Madonna tapped her without her having a video”. Now if you really wanted to give us some meaningful content you would tell us how Sophie got noticed by Madonna without the traditional marketing. What did she do to build “demand”? Cashmere Cat is the same deal. He got lots of attention and worked with influential people. How, why, when, where? You aren’t really demystifying anything if you gloss over these stories without an explanation of how they did it.
I see so many unknown bands on YT with cool vids and brilliant songs w 1000 views. Then I see artists with cool videos that have 100M views, but the song is forgettable. I don't think the successful artists are working harder and they're certainly not more talented. Weird world.
I think you’re right that this happens but the rule more than the exception in my view is that the people who put low effort into one so the same in the other. But we all have different tastes and experience
“4 keys”? I didn’t learn shit.
Lol
What if you are old, unattractive and, er, a little overweight? Asking for a friend.
:-)
Sometimes I find these so hard to follow. There’s some amazing info but like 90% of this is just saying completely subjective statements. Can we just hear the facts please?
I felt like yhis one had actual facts and examples more than most?
I use social media, but as far as touring and going out, that's something I've been thinking about.