I wish we lived in a world where musicians could focus on doing music instead of fabricating a tidal wave of inauthentic guff around themselves on social media outlets. Including and especially myself.
I completely agree & I'm still trying to navigate all this shameless promotion stuff. I spent a full year on two albums that I have up on my channel as well as bandcamp but I've only been letting close friends know about it for now. This stuff is all so unnatural to me, it makes me feel like I'm one of those dancing toy monkeys trying to clap my little cymbals harder than everyone else. Also, streaming services have completely changed the way people look for music. We are now given an unlimited feed of millions of artists at our fingertips making it almost impossible to stand out unless you spend countless dollars & hours on 'promotion' that could've been spent making more art.
I’m a successful independent artist and I post 3 times per day but I plan out every thing. Different styles and different post. I still watch your videos even though I have 150k monthly listeners.
Social media is my job so a lot of these concepts are things I already teach my clients… and yet I found the way you phrased things crystal clear. Super interesting. I want all my musician friends to watch this. Thanks man, great work!
30+ years ago I lost the ability to play my synths, then some 30+ years later my wife and daughter gave me an early 60 year anniversary gift .. a complete studio - I spend a year re-recording more than 200 and when I was about to release it I was hit with a stroke (Blood clot in my left brain). - I still release and still have a billion before I go - Check me out, you might like it 🙂
This is such a powerful story and it will hit with many people if it’s told well on socials. I’m so sorry you have been through this tough time but I’m so glad you’re taking solace in your music. I’m here to help 😊😊
@@DamianKeyes Thank you, It's not that I need it to be - I do enjoy the few people I have more than anything - Thank you for even reacting, I really appreciate it :-)
Everything you said here has been my realization over the last month! What I've notticed, everyone makes music, but people want whole stories, not just the recorded song. They basically want a true piece of you.
The current title is the CATCHY HOOKS - it grabs your attention vs the 2nd you jokingly stated. 1 of the themes he and real experts constantly push (because it works) is GRABBING ATTENTION from jump. Your "title" is more context, which is super, duper key to KEEPING ATTENTION, the 2nd step.
That's a cool perspective...the thing that defines the artist is what the listener embodies and makes their own. It becomes the soundtrack to THEIR life through you, the artist
That’s interesting. I’ve heard the customer is the hero and you’re there to help them, guide them, solve a problem, on their hero’s journey. But what does that look like with a musical artist? You answered it.
Yep exactly true. We’re here to help others and make a difference or impact in someone’s life. They’re the main character of their own life and will use our music to help them on their journey
@@jonathanharris6232100% agree. All the artists I listen to the most have had a personal impact on me. Whether it’s their perspective, they make great music, entertaining personality or a combo of those things something resonated and made me want to stick around to see what’s next.
Ty for sharing. I’ve been feeling frustrated with socials. What I gather from this video is that great storytelling is the key to the content game. The best thing to do is clarify our story as an artist, clarify the stories of our songs, then tailor each story to the specific platform using additional metadata to aid that platform in finding the right audience.
I have found that if you have enough music then turn to music video and film. Give it not only legs to grow but a path to walk down. We did it.Thx for the info Damian!
Makes a lot of sense. The principles of digital marketing are basically universal. What changes is the product going through it! We. as musicians are now (having) to do what many relied on the "company" or others to do for us. Times have obviously changed. However, it is for the better in many ways if you're willing to learn and work (smartly of course)! The best to you in your efforts!
Fantastic video as always. So many great tips available, but the one major drawback to all of them is that the platforms we are posting to are under no obligation to show the content to anyone and you can’t post something directly to the people you are trying to reach. No matter the strategy, you are still throwing content into a black hole hoping that someone sees it.
Absolutely true but the platforms are obligated to show content from the "big boys"(shadowy government types) that bought up all the platforms to continue with the propagandizing of the masses because most people were moving away from "mainstream media"(TV) and now when you engage with them you get a face full of adverts, promotion of medical emergency "hoaxes" and other mind controlling so-called scientific invented fearmongering crisis ! Its like dealing with spoilt petulant children!
Well put. And the inefficacy of trying to get listeners this way is obvious when you think about it from a listener's point of view. I love music- i seek it out- but i never use instagram to find new music to listen to. So why would i expect my band to be found by listeners on instagram? These platforms aren't made for music. RUclips is for video junk, instagram is mainly art junk (it's not even great for photos or visual art, due to low resolution and goofy cropping), twitter is for gossip, and i don't know what tiktok is for, but i'm sure it's not designed for music discovery and sharing songs. None of my favorite musicians owe any of their success- if they've had any- to social media. They either got their fans under the old way of doing things- radio play, t.v. appearances, soundtracks etc., or if they're younger, they have a meager following from years of touring. I've not seen a lot of benefit from social media- in my experience or others'.
Always appreciate your insights Damian. It's helped me grow my fanbase and TikTok from 100 to 6K followers in a few months. Here's to musical success for anyone else watching and reading this 👏🏻
That is awesome, well done! That was all you, you smashed it and it shows that you can scale this up to 100k should you choose. Congrats, this has made my day! 🙂🙂
So much value in this free 25 minute video. You’ve helped me a lot in navigating this upcoming artist life. If this what is in the free content you make, it makes me wonder what the hell is in your paid courses. Hoping to be able to afford one soon.
How can you “story tell” and still keep some mystery? Or artists who don’t want to be a character or personality on socials? I think that is what can get lost in this day and age. People over explain the meaning of a song for example in a post and there’s nothing left for the listener to find their own meaning just by listening. There aren’t great examples for artists who are more indie / alternative and aren’t trying to be characters / pop stars. To me at least, it feels like there’s only room for those types of artists on these platforms anymore. Anything too “arty” doesn’t translate with these “rules” we seemingly have to play by. I don’t know, just thoughts
That's how it seems to me too. I even asked one of these popular youtube guys to provide me some examples of bands who've done what they were proposing and had success; they got kind of combative and never did come up with a single example.
Hi Damien, love your content, but I’ve been struggling to adapt some of your point to my classical guitar channel in the past. Would be cool to see more videos specifically for instrumentalists ☺️
Thank you Damian for this video! 🙏🏻 I released a song for the first time last Friday. I’ll keep it in mind: building our brand > promoting the music by itself
Creating content from comments is a really interesting idea. I’m not sure how to do it tho . I will defo try to start convos from comments more . And maybe using a comment as a video and responding to it . I’d love to hear others ideas on how to do this more !
Planned on watching TikTok growth tutorials all day and picking through for golden nuggets… didn’t have to after this video. This video had it all. The Superman metaphor was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you
Damian says right things here, and of course it's very important to promote your music. I like these steps truly! Some of us though don't have the talent for developing a brand. It's frustrating. Let me tell you my story (as a storyteller) I quit promoting a year ago. Engagement fell. Some people stayed. My day job does the thing with money. Music now is just a hobby again, I'm just putting more money it, to print CDs for those few that ACTUALLY care. And it's better for my personal mental heath. I got to do whatever I want, compose whatever, depart from my current style, not caring about an audience. In a way, it's freeing to not chase the algorithms, the branding. Again, that's not to say anything with the video is wrong, of course not. Just wanted to share that promoting is not feasible for me, because I just can't do it 😂
Exactly. I've never followed a single musician that i found on social media. I see musicians open at shows, or meet someone or something and then follow them. It's not built for music, and it's ineffective.
This is what all my favorite musicians would do- if anything. Music is first for a musician, but these people tell you the opposite. I always think of Bones from Star Trek- i'm a musician, not a content creator dammit!
Brilliant Damian, your content on this is fantastic and I really appreciate your insight on this subject and your sharp strategy. Thank you for sharing your experience and insights. 🙏
I do tell stories through my music a lot of rap artist rap the same.The ones that going places is ones that’s different which is alright.I just need to post more music that’s all.
Nice video, a little fast for me, but that's OK as I am just looking at different video styles now vs. then. Thanks for the info, I really like the superhero analogy.
Okay, I'll let you know what I think - and please bear in mind, my opinion is quite charged as I have a very unique relationship with music in general. I think it's so fucking sad how shallow the industry has become, and the toxicity that social media has brought. I will clarify that I enjoyed this video, and believe you are very right in what you are saying. However, I have no interest in prostituting my music by playing these games. I am an artist, and my number one priority is to make the best fucking art I can possibly make. If I need to promote it, I will outsource my promotion. I am not going to create a contrived/designed presence online just to manipulate algorithms, let alone my target audience, into following my craft if it means I am not being true to myself. I am not a social media personality. I am a musician. It begins and ends there. Fuck the system. Thank you for your time.
Quoting from the Elvis biopic - After singing to a Hound dog on the Steve Allen show to gain more viewers; Scotty Moore - "Well that was embarrassing", Elvis - "What am I supposed to do about it"? Scotty Moore "WE'RE MUSICIANS" !!! Get it ? Kittens or credibility, choice is yours !
Yes indeed. And music is a lot of work- even a shiftless bum like me doesn't have enough time to do the countless jobs of recording and releasing songs, and be some kind of algorithm jockey to boot.
Bring your friends into your community and invite them to bring their friends in by the nature of your actions and storytelling, and then your fans will do it for you. Give them more than just with your music. Give them you. Be wild. You won't just "be successful" if you do this - you'll have a way to find and create meaning in your life and the lives of others. And if you screw up, you can fix it. Your growth may not be exponential but it will be inevitable. While you're reading this you're probably thinking "Is there some nugget of truth in here that might get me to that goodie (success in music, specifically)?" It was never about the music.
Most folk don’t give a rats arse about good music unfortunately. They like watching scantily clad gym birds doing squat thrusts infront of increasingly uncomfortable fellow gym users. I have 51 thousand followers on TikTok, music related videos are always the least popular. Any video that’s polarising or a bit of a rant gets plenty. Social media. It’s tough going chaps.
Would love to see you do a case study episode on the MASSIVE success of Connor Price's Spin the Globe marketing campaign!! Think it would be awesome for us as independent artists to understand the why and how behind his success.
thanks for this! im on day 6 of promoting my debut single and everything i post every day remains in 200 view jail and it feels embarassing.. this video came out right on time
Appreciate that. don't worry about the 200 view prison, just concentrate on context and improving the production. Success leaves clues so keep watching for more engagement or a spike in views 🙂🙂 I'm here to help if you are struggling.
@@danielvestcomposer I believe we are in the communications industry and any way we can communicate whether that through art or just being a good human always helps 😊😊
Your presentations are of great value. Keep up the great work. For me, there is one turn off and that is the denigration of the beautiful name of Karen. There is already an appropriate word. It starts with 'B' and rhymes with witch.
Very true and many counties that have different trends or different dsp’s and promotion. I would say most of my audience is western counties and Spotify based (however not all). The key here is doing what works for you and your music 😊😊
To be honest, what I have understood (learned - accepted - name it as you prefer) at the age of 45 (with a past of 35 years in music composition) and after 17 years of a - not intense - presence on RUclips is that if you do what you do well, beautifully, correctly, and you have talent + necessary knowledge (instrumentation blah blah blah) inevitably, even if you title the video "I brought the meat" or "I eat my nails" and the video shows, IN EVERY SONG you post, a fly sleeping on a windowsill. .... your songs will be heard, inevitably, because they are BEAUTIFUL. Let us not burden each other with illusions and false expectations. Yes, there are music creators who for one reason or another did not manage to "get out there" and despite the fact that they deserved it (that is, they wrote GOOD-BEAUTIFUL MUSIC) their music was never heard. Speaking of RUclips though, IN MY OPINION, if what you post is GOOD and REALLY worth hearing, it WILL BE HEARD no matter what "package" you put it in. I spent years believing that I'm doing something wrong - in terms of SEO, thumbnails etc - and people don't listen to my music (that is, they don't see my videos). And I was wrong + I wasted countless hours trying to fix a mistake that didn't even exist. Actually, people weren't listening to my music because my music wasn't (and isn't) what I THOUGHT it was: Too good not to be heard. Actually, my music - was and - is: Not good enough to be heard. So simple. Now I upload my music, so my kids have something from me when I'm not there with them. But I personally recommend that the "musician" or -really- musician in here (on RUclips ) first think about whether HIMSELF would listen to his music with as much interest as he EXPECTS any STRANGER to listen to it, and THEN move on to issues like SEO, thumbnails, hook etc etc. First "Is my music really good?" and THEN "let's create the right 'bottle' to put my music in for the world to hear". My opinion, of course. I might be wrong. Life is strange.
I hear you on the superman thing, but I also know that what is very popular on Tiktok is slice of life, relatable, real life content. People dont want to feel like you're advertising them, and don't want to feel like things are too polished. They want to feel like you hit record on your phone and gave them a vibe. What do we think?
Thanks for making this. Is there anyone you can point me to to use as a model for a musician who offers value in their post? I tend to feel like I’m only interesting when I’m performing live or in studio. Is that enough? I was kinda thinking just to focus on that and show the in between of the process basically. I tend to like having “Clark Kent” time for myself a lot and sometimes I feel that’s more genuine so I think “maybe I should just record the non Rick Rocker stuff too”. Idk. I’ve been working on new music and have an album almost done so I’m trying to figure a game plan. Your video is helping me brainstorm tho so thanks again! Appreciate your help 🤘🏼
Have to say I'm getting pretty sick of being a slave to social media. I find many people who are successful with much less social media have the record deals, are out on tour and doing it for real while the rest of us are trying to make a great post.
Agreed, I think we all feel like that. Even with this post on RUclips I needed to play to the algorithm, make a longer video that I wanted, make it sensational and have some click bait thumbnail… sadly if we don’t play the game we struggle to get the rewards. I feel you though, I feel the same pain every day with my own content 😊❤️
Thank you. Solid advise as always. 🙏😊🧙🏻♂️ But i have a different issue. On Tiktok I get around 1000 views every vid. Between 100 -300 likes, and about 50 comments. Plus people use my music for their content. BUT, i released an EP 3 week ago and it has had 8 spotify listeners, who have listened 4 times each. What am i doing wrong? How can i be supposedly suceeding on social media yet failing?
Hi Damo - do you mind me asking what camera you use for your content? I really want something high quality like yourself but I've no idea where to start if you can recommend? Thanks 🙏🏻
Feel like you're contradicting yourself. In another video I watched you were talking about knocking out 20 videos in an hour. I think it was the "20 day release strategy" video or something like that. In THAT video you were pushing the grindset mindset and now in this video you're telling us to step back and make things we're proud of without worrying about the amount. I'm just gonna assume it's somewhere in the middle.
This is a good observation, and open to interpretation. I think the two can co-exist though. Filming a bunch of content together in a batch helps creating content easier, but that doesn't have to be garbage material. You can tell story, and show your personality, without spending so much time. Everything about your shot tells your story; your clothes, maybe there's a skateboard in your shot, maybe your in the middle of hiking a nature trail, maybe your wearing a Denver Broncos hat. All of the details are silent ways to tell your story, and show the viewer what makes you uniquely you.
He said you have to have strategy behind it not just pump out whatever stuff you can think of. And recording 20 videos in one day and releasing them one at a time daily just makes good business sense. Unless you would rather work every day?
@@UnseemlyGenie00 It's more or less just the quality or quantity argument. In a perfect world you would have both quality videos and have them in abundance. That's just not reality tho as an independent artist with no team or even having a small team. If you want to create truly special pieces of content I sincerely doubt that it will come from rushing through 20 videos in a day (as an independent artist with a small team or no team). Now if you have a record label backing you and all the resources in the world there's no doubt you can have quality and quantity at the same time.
@@iamhunterreece I think it really depends on the type of content you're setting out to create. Some pieces of content takes more time than other pieces of content. If it's just a simple lip sync video with lyrics and a cool background then that's not too difficult. If you're trying to tell a comprehensive story alongside the stuff I just mentioned previously and you want to make it visually pleasing almost like short form music videos then there's naturally going to be more time involed. That process could look something like: Writing scripts, storyboarding, setting scenes (props, lighting, cameras, etc.) and then editing it. This is all by yourself by the way if you don't have any team alongside you.
I have a problem that may be the problem of lots of composers. When i upload a cover, it has nice engagement, coments and likes. But when i upload something original it often have a lot less engagement. What should i do?
What about all the issues around Spotify taking down artists for fake streams without any evidence. Also what about all the artists that are now pulling all their music from Spotify and going direct to consumers
I wish we lived in a world where musicians could focus on doing music instead of fabricating a tidal wave of inauthentic guff around themselves on social media outlets. Including and especially myself.
I completely agree & I'm still trying to navigate all this shameless promotion stuff. I spent a full year on two albums that I have up on my channel as well as bandcamp but I've only been letting close friends know about it for now. This stuff is all so unnatural to me, it makes me feel like I'm one of those dancing toy monkeys trying to clap my little cymbals harder than everyone else. Also, streaming services have completely changed the way people look for music. We are now given an unlimited feed of millions of artists at our fingertips making it almost impossible to stand out unless you spend countless dollars & hours on 'promotion' that could've been spent making more art.
@@gabrielreyes6343 - The music on your channel is really cool.
I’m a successful independent artist and I post 3 times per day but I plan out every thing. Different styles and different post. I still watch your videos even though I have 150k monthly listeners.
99% of these artist don't post enough or the right things. Congrats on your success and best of blessings on your journey .
Same here, got 210k listeners and still want to know more :)
@@methtelchris and that's why u are successful !
🔥🔥🔥 boutta peep ur music
270k now. I love it. Join me on my journey peeps
Social media is my job so a lot of these concepts are things I already teach my clients… and yet I found the way you phrased things crystal clear. Super interesting. I want all my musician friends to watch this. Thanks man, great work!
30+ years ago I lost the ability to play my synths, then some 30+ years later my wife and daughter gave me an early 60 year anniversary gift .. a complete studio - I spend a year re-recording more than 200 and when I was about to release it I was hit with a stroke (Blood clot in my left brain). - I still release and still have a billion before I go - Check me out, you might like it 🙂
This is such a powerful story and it will hit with many people if it’s told well on socials.
I’m so sorry you have been through this tough time but I’m so glad you’re taking solace in your music.
I’m here to help 😊😊
@@DamianKeyes Thank you, It's not that I need it to be - I do enjoy the few people I have more than anything - Thank you for even reacting, I really appreciate it :-)
This is so inspiring 😭 just subbed ❤
@@Ellifmusic Thank you ❤
@DanteS-119 Thanks man 🙂
Everything you said here has been my realization over the last month! What I've notticed, everyone makes music, but people want whole stories, not just the recorded song. They basically want a true piece of you.
Title: Stop Using Social Media To Promote Your Music
Reality: Actually use social media way more
The joys of RUclips algorithm, I hate it as much as the everyone else. Hopefully there was value in the video though and it helps 🙂🙂
"Stop Using Brute Force Methods on Social Media"
On the button.
The current title is the CATCHY HOOKS - it grabs your attention vs the 2nd you jokingly stated.
1 of the themes he and real experts constantly push (because it works) is GRABBING ATTENTION from jump.
Your "title" is more context, which is super, duper key to KEEPING ATTENTION, the 2nd step.
I’ve also heard that the listener is the super hero and we’re here to help them on their hero’s journey with our music.
That's a cool perspective...the thing that defines the artist is what the listener embodies and makes their own. It becomes the soundtrack to THEIR life through you, the artist
That’s interesting. I’ve heard the customer is the hero and you’re there to help them, guide them, solve a problem, on their hero’s journey. But what does that look like with a musical artist? You answered it.
Yep exactly true. We’re here to help others and make a difference or impact in someone’s life. They’re the main character of their own life and will use our music to help them on their journey
@@jonathanharris6232100% agree. All the artists I listen to the most have had a personal impact on me. Whether it’s their perspective, they make great music, entertaining personality or a combo of those things something resonated and made me want to stick around to see what’s next.
Interesting and by us super hero’s
Ty for sharing. I’ve been feeling frustrated with socials. What I gather from this video is that great storytelling is the key to the content game. The best thing to do is clarify our story as an artist, clarify the stories of our songs, then tailor each story to the specific platform using additional metadata to aid that platform in finding the right audience.
I really appreciate that, don’t give up just keep on experimenting and trying new things. Hope this helps and keep me posted. 😊😊
Damn, thats a great summary. Only got thru 2 minutes of the video but after your comment I'm good. LOL. Thx
@@Staykool777lol at least leave it running so Damien gets that sweet sweet ad revenue
I have found that if you have enough music then turn to music video and film. Give it not only legs to grow but a path to walk down. We did it.Thx for the info Damian!
Damian is giving social media advise that applies not just for music related contet, but for other areas as well. Great advise.
Makes a lot of sense. The principles of digital marketing are basically universal. What changes is the product going through it! We. as musicians are now (having) to do what many relied on the "company" or others to do for us. Times have obviously changed. However, it is for the better in many ways if you're willing to learn and work (smartly of course)! The best to you in your efforts!
Fantastic video as always. So many great tips available, but the one major drawback to all of them is that the platforms we are posting to are under no obligation to show the content to anyone and you can’t post something directly to the people you are trying to reach. No matter the strategy, you are still throwing content into a black hole hoping that someone sees it.
Absolutely true but the platforms are obligated to show content from the "big boys"(shadowy government types) that bought up all the platforms to continue with the propagandizing of the masses because most people were moving away from "mainstream media"(TV) and now when you engage with them you get a face full of adverts, promotion of medical emergency "hoaxes" and other mind controlling so-called scientific invented fearmongering crisis ! Its like dealing with spoilt petulant children!
Do something about it, make an app that targets people to promote to brooo. Do it. Do it now.
Well put. And the inefficacy of trying to get listeners this way is obvious when you think about it from a listener's point of view. I love music- i seek it out- but i never use instagram to find new music to listen to. So why would i expect my band to be found by listeners on instagram? These platforms aren't made for music. RUclips is for video junk, instagram is mainly art junk (it's not even great for photos or visual art, due to low resolution and goofy cropping), twitter is for gossip, and i don't know what tiktok is for, but i'm sure it's not designed for music discovery and sharing songs. None of my favorite musicians owe any of their success- if they've had any- to social media. They either got their fans under the old way of doing things- radio play, t.v. appearances, soundtracks etc., or if they're younger, they have a meager following from years of touring. I've not seen a lot of benefit from social media- in my experience or others'.
I learned more from you in 25 minutes than from other people's live classes going for 3 hours. Thank you so much for the knowledge!
That really means a lot, thank you so much 🙂🙂
Always appreciate your insights Damian. It's helped me grow my fanbase and TikTok from 100 to 6K followers in a few months. Here's to musical success for anyone else watching and reading this 👏🏻
That is awesome, well done! That was all you, you smashed it and it shows that you can scale this up to 100k should you choose. Congrats, this has made my day! 🙂🙂
How much does tik tok pay?
@@heythere6983That’s the wrong approach lol
So much value in this free 25 minute video. You’ve helped me a lot in navigating this upcoming artist life. If this what is in the free content you make, it makes me wonder what the hell is in your paid courses. Hoping to be able to afford one soon.
How can you “story tell” and still keep some mystery? Or artists who don’t want to be a character or personality on socials? I think that is what can get lost in this day and age. People over explain the meaning of a song for example in a post and there’s nothing left for the listener to find their own meaning just by listening. There aren’t great examples for artists who are more indie / alternative and aren’t trying to be characters / pop stars. To me at least, it feels like there’s only room for those types of artists on these platforms anymore. Anything too “arty” doesn’t translate with these “rules” we seemingly have to play by. I don’t know, just thoughts
That's how it seems to me too. I even asked one of these popular youtube guys to provide me some examples of bands who've done what they were proposing and had success; they got kind of combative and never did come up with a single example.
Good question! Too bad most of these RUclipsrs can't or don't want to give you an answer. I'm a private person myself..
deep , wide, and a good alternative to what I've thought of as "using social media"
your use of analogies are absolutely perfect
Lol thanks that actually means a lot as sometimes I think they are bit bonkers! The new videos has some really out there ones! 🙂🙂
I'm just starting out on figuring out how to promote my music on social media, so thanks for some sage advice.
I think the biggest gem you have in this video is letting the viewer know why you’re in front of them
Thanks Chris, I will make more of that point in future videos as I believe you are right, it's so important when grabbing attention 🙂🙂
25 mins of Music Marketing Superman! Thanks! 🙏🏻
Damian you excelled at this video 👍🏻. Very out of the box idears and readings of the operation.
Thank you for this great information Damian you are blessed already may the good Lord continue to guide and watch over you and your family Amen 🙏
Hi Damien, love your content, but I’ve been struggling to adapt some of your point to my classical guitar channel in the past. Would be cool to see more videos specifically for instrumentalists ☺️
Thank you Damian for this video! 🙏🏻 I released a song for the first time last Friday. I’ll keep it in mind: building our brand > promoting the music by itself
Man, I like you. Always genuine content. Highly appreciated.
I just love your channel. Thank you for all the advice. I need a manager like you. 🙏🏻
Watching from Nashville. Incredible advice, such high value advice. Thank You!
Creating content from comments is a really interesting idea. I’m not sure how to do it tho . I will defo try to start convos from comments more . And maybe using a comment as a video and responding to it .
I’d love to hear others ideas on how to do this more !
Planned on watching TikTok growth tutorials all day and picking through for golden nuggets… didn’t have to after this video. This video had it all. The Superman metaphor was exactly what I needed to hear. Thank you
So glad to help! Good luck 💪😊
Damian says right things here, and of course it's very important to promote your music. I like these steps truly!
Some of us though don't have the talent for developing a brand. It's frustrating. Let me tell you my story (as a storyteller)
I quit promoting a year ago. Engagement fell. Some people stayed. My day job does the thing with money. Music now is just a hobby again, I'm just putting more money it, to print CDs for those few that ACTUALLY care.
And it's better for my personal mental heath. I got to do whatever I want, compose whatever, depart from my current style, not caring about an audience.
In a way, it's freeing to not chase the algorithms, the branding.
Again, that's not to say anything with the video is wrong, of course not. Just wanted to share that promoting is not feasible for me, because I just can't do it 😂
Man just put 3 contents worth of information into one video. Thanks for the education Damo.
Good advice as always Damian. Thanks very much. Can’t wait to get into more DK mba stuff and see you this week!
learned to stop caring about social media. It's for people who have a following, not for those who are trying to get one.
Exactly. I've never followed a single musician that i found on social media. I see musicians open at shows, or meet someone or something and then follow them. It's not built for music, and it's ineffective.
@@SeeSawMassacrebut is threads possibly changing this? I am watching. It's attached to the fediverse now.
"If you're just putting up your content so someone will listen to your music, your already off the mark"... This is why i hate social media 🤦
This is what all my favorite musicians would do- if anything. Music is first for a musician, but these people tell you the opposite. I always think of Bones from Star Trek- i'm a musician, not a content creator dammit!
@@SeeSawMassacre ...exactly
Amazing content as always brother! So super helpful. Thank you 🙏 appreciate you Damian!
Brilliant Damian, your content on this is fantastic and I really appreciate your insight on this subject and your sharp strategy. Thank you for sharing your experience and insights. 🙏
Thanks for the information boss. I’m very grateful 🙏🏾. It’s very helpful.
This video was SO helpful, thank you!
Another Excellent video Damian. thanks. You are spot on with the superhero analogy.
Thanks so much Paul, appreciate that 😊😊
I do tell stories through my music a lot of rap artist rap the same.The ones that going places is ones that’s different which is alright.I just need to post more music that’s all.
Genius insights as usual! Maybe someday I’ll finish some songs, follow your advice and get them out in the world.
Nice video, a little fast for me, but that's OK as I am just looking at different video styles now vs. then. Thanks for the info, I really like the superhero analogy.
Great advice. I'll try to put that to task . I'm the superhero. Very cool 😎
Okay, I'll let you know what I think - and please bear in mind, my opinion is quite charged as I have a very unique relationship with music in general. I think it's so fucking sad how shallow the industry has become, and the toxicity that social media has brought. I will clarify that I enjoyed this video, and believe you are very right in what you are saying. However, I have no interest in prostituting my music by playing these games. I am an artist, and my number one priority is to make the best fucking art I can possibly make. If I need to promote it, I will outsource my promotion. I am not going to create a contrived/designed presence online just to manipulate algorithms, let alone my target audience, into following my craft if it means I am not being true to myself. I am not a social media personality. I am a musician. It begins and ends there. Fuck the system. Thank you for your time.
Very good guidance in a digital market place that is quite complex.
Thanks 🙏🏽
You are a legend, thank you Damian
ugh as per usual., mind bursting with info. This was precision at its best, Damo, thank you. So much to think about and apply in this one.
Really appreciate that, let’s make 2024 a big and fun year 😊😊
@@DamianKeyes ooooft super into that. Another 1:1 may be in order, I'm just coming to the end of the cycling promo cycle!
Quoting from the Elvis biopic - After singing to a Hound dog on the Steve Allen show to gain more viewers; Scotty Moore - "Well that was embarrassing", Elvis - "What am I supposed to do about it"? Scotty Moore "WE'RE MUSICIANS" !!!
Get it ? Kittens or credibility, choice is yours !
Yes indeed. And music is a lot of work- even a shiftless bum like me doesn't have enough time to do the countless jobs of recording and releasing songs, and be some kind of algorithm jockey to boot.
Bring your friends into your community and invite them to bring their friends in by the nature of your actions and storytelling, and then your fans will do it for you. Give them more than just with your music. Give them you. Be wild. You won't just "be successful" if you do this - you'll have a way to find and create meaning in your life and the lives of others. And if you screw up, you can fix it. Your growth may not be exponential but it will be inevitable.
While you're reading this you're probably thinking "Is there some nugget of truth in here that might get me to that goodie (success in music, specifically)?"
It was never about the music.
Incredible, thank you so much for this treasure trove!!!
I appreciate this, thank you so much 🙂🙂
Most folk don’t give a rats arse about good music unfortunately. They like watching scantily clad gym birds doing squat thrusts infront of increasingly uncomfortable fellow gym users. I have 51 thousand followers on TikTok, music related videos are always the least popular. Any video that’s polarising or a bit of a rant gets plenty. Social media. It’s tough going chaps.
Would love to see you do a case study episode on the MASSIVE success of Connor Price's Spin the Globe marketing campaign!! Think it would be awesome for us as independent artists to understand the why and how behind his success.
Great information
Love the break down on this, one of your best videos, thanks!
Really appreciate the advice - I need to do something about it now and get posting!! 😊
thanks for this! im on day 6 of promoting my debut single and everything i post every day remains in 200 view jail and it feels embarassing.. this video came out right on time
Appreciate that. don't worry about the 200 view prison, just concentrate on context and improving the production. Success leaves clues so keep watching for more engagement or a spike in views 🙂🙂
I'm here to help if you are struggling.
Same here literally! Good luck 🍀
really helpful, DK. Thanks for the information. I've got a new release happening shortly. Will use these tips for sure.
Thanks for the valuable tips and perspective. :)
I really appreciate that, thanks Lily! 😊😊
Thanks Damian you are a legend!
This video literally came up when I needed it. I definitely learned something from this video that I can use. Thanks for sharing Damian!
I’m glad it did! Good luck ⚡️😊
Thanks - that thing with the comments - that was gold. I never though about it this way, but it makes so much sense@@DamianKeyes
@@danielvestcomposer I believe we are in the communications industry and any way we can communicate whether that through art or just being a good human always helps 😊😊
Great video - good stuff is near the end.
Always on Point!🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Your presentations are of great value. Keep up the great work.
For me, there is one turn off and that is the denigration of the beautiful name of Karen. There is already an appropriate word. It starts with 'B' and rhymes with witch.
Found this extremely helpful thank you!
Reason to stay, you like my music. Hear it? Like it? Cool, Spotify it is, becaise the music is the thing I sell, not the content
VIDEO OF THE YEAR.
Trap. Drill , reggaeton,many stiles of music out there with no story at all. Just all about the melody and vibe
Very true and many counties that have different trends or different dsp’s and promotion. I would say most of my audience is western counties and Spotify based (however not all).
The key here is doing what works for you and your music 😊😊
To be honest, what I have understood (learned - accepted - name it as you prefer) at the age of 45 (with a past of 35 years in music composition) and after 17 years of a - not intense - presence on RUclips is that if you do what you do well, beautifully, correctly, and you have talent + necessary knowledge (instrumentation blah blah blah) inevitably, even if you title the video "I brought the meat" or "I eat my nails" and the video shows, IN EVERY SONG you post, a fly sleeping on a windowsill. .... your songs will be heard, inevitably, because they are BEAUTIFUL. Let us not burden each other with illusions and false expectations. Yes, there are music creators who for one reason or another did not manage to "get out there" and despite the fact that they deserved it (that is, they wrote GOOD-BEAUTIFUL MUSIC) their music was never heard. Speaking of RUclips though, IN MY OPINION, if what you post is GOOD and REALLY worth hearing, it WILL BE HEARD no matter what "package" you put it in. I spent years believing that I'm doing something wrong - in terms of SEO, thumbnails etc - and people don't listen to my music (that is, they don't see my videos). And I was wrong + I wasted countless hours trying to fix a mistake that didn't even exist. Actually, people weren't listening to my music because my music wasn't (and isn't) what I THOUGHT it was: Too good not to be heard. Actually, my music - was and - is: Not good enough to be heard. So simple. Now I upload my music, so my kids have something from me when I'm not there with them. But I personally recommend that the "musician" or -really- musician in here (on RUclips ) first think about whether HIMSELF would listen to his music with as much interest as he EXPECTS any STRANGER to listen to it, and THEN move on to issues like SEO, thumbnails, hook etc etc. First "Is my music really good?" and THEN "let's create the right 'bottle' to put my music in for the world to hear". My opinion, of course. I might be wrong. Life is strange.
wow this stuff gets so intense my head's gonna explode.
Too good to be free 🙌
I hear you on the superman thing, but I also know that what is very popular on Tiktok is slice of life, relatable, real life content. People dont want to feel like you're advertising them, and don't want to feel like things are too polished. They want to feel like you hit record on your phone and gave them a vibe. What do we think?
Makes a lot of sense! Great tips!!
This is on point man instead of Superman Im thinking be Joker or Venom 🤘🏼😈🤘
Thanks for making this. Is there anyone you can point me to to use as a model for a musician who offers value in their post? I tend to feel like I’m only interesting when I’m performing live or in studio. Is that enough? I was kinda thinking just to focus on that and show the in between of the process basically. I tend to like having “Clark Kent” time for myself a lot and sometimes I feel that’s more genuine so I think “maybe I should just record the non Rick Rocker stuff too”. Idk. I’ve been working on new music and have an album almost done so I’m trying to figure a game plan. Your video is helping me brainstorm tho so thanks again! Appreciate your help 🤘🏼
Great advice Damien
Ya MIGHT GET LUCKY? DO UYOU YOU FEEL LUCKY? Kidding
I actually agree with you!
brilliant thank you Damian!
I really appreciate this, thank you 🙂❤
that was fantastic thank you Damian
Thank you so much i really appreciate this 🙂🙂
Love the Superman Clark Kent analogy Damo
Have to say I'm getting pretty sick of being a slave to social media. I find many people who are successful with much less social media have the record deals, are out on tour and doing it for real while the rest of us are trying to make a great post.
Agreed, I think we all feel like that. Even with this post on RUclips I needed to play to the algorithm, make a longer video that I wanted, make it sensational and have some click bait thumbnail… sadly if we don’t play the game we struggle to get the rewards.
I feel you though, I feel the same pain every day with my own content 😊❤️
@@DamianKeyes 👍👍
Great. What you say at 21:15 is what I missed doing correctly.
Thank you. Solid advise as always. 🙏😊🧙🏻♂️
But i have a different issue. On Tiktok I get around 1000 views every vid. Between 100 -300 likes, and about 50 comments. Plus people use my music for their content.
BUT, i released an EP 3 week ago and it has had 8 spotify listeners, who have listened 4 times each.
What am i doing wrong?
How can i be supposedly suceeding on social media yet failing?
Hi Damo - do you mind me asking what camera you use for your content? I really want something high quality like yourself but I've no idea where to start if you can recommend? Thanks 🙏🏻
RUclipsrs need to hear this too. We're inundated with crap content on YT now. Have some level of quality, please!!!
this video is great. thank you!!! Always where do you get that shirt? its sick
Another insightful video 😊
I really needed this…
Some good advice and insights.
Feel like you're contradicting yourself. In another video I watched you were talking about knocking out 20 videos in an hour. I think it was the "20 day release strategy" video or something like that. In THAT video you were pushing the grindset mindset and now in this video you're telling us to step back and make things we're proud of without worrying about the amount. I'm just gonna assume it's somewhere in the middle.
This is a good observation, and open to interpretation. I think the two can co-exist though. Filming a bunch of content together in a batch helps creating content easier, but that doesn't have to be garbage material. You can tell story, and show your personality, without spending so much time. Everything about your shot tells your story; your clothes, maybe there's a skateboard in your shot, maybe your in the middle of hiking a nature trail, maybe your wearing a Denver Broncos hat. All of the details are silent ways to tell your story, and show the viewer what makes you uniquely you.
yup…… he literally has paid courses saying the complete opposite of this.
He said you have to have strategy behind it not just pump out whatever stuff you can think of. And recording 20 videos in one day and releasing them one at a time daily just makes good business sense. Unless you would rather work every day?
@@UnseemlyGenie00 It's more or less just the quality or quantity argument. In a perfect world you would have both quality videos and have them in abundance. That's just not reality tho as an independent artist with no team or even having a small team. If you want to create truly special pieces of content I sincerely doubt that it will come from rushing through 20 videos in a day (as an independent artist with a small team or no team). Now if you have a record label backing you and all the resources in the world there's no doubt you can have quality and quantity at the same time.
@@iamhunterreece I think it really depends on the type of content you're setting out to create. Some pieces of content takes more time than other pieces of content. If it's just a simple lip sync video with lyrics and a cool background then that's not too difficult. If you're trying to tell a comprehensive story alongside the stuff I just mentioned previously and you want to make it visually pleasing almost like short form music videos then there's naturally going to be more time involed. That process could look something like: Writing scripts, storyboarding, setting scenes (props, lighting, cameras, etc.) and then editing it. This is all by yourself by the way if you don't have any team alongside you.
This video is BOMB 💣 MAKE 80% Superman and 20% clark Kent … “ socks on the bedroom floor is clark Kent “ 😂‼️‼️‼️
Thank you, DK!
My pleasure and thank you so much, I appreciate you 😊😊
Damn! This is some good perspective 🙏🏽
Thank you, I appreciate that 😊😊
Damian posted something? I'm here 🤚
Thank you, I'll be more consistent over the next few weeks 🙂🙂
Gold! Thank you
Thank you!
Thanks, Damian!
Appreciate you! Thanks for the love it means a lot 😊😊
I have a problem that may be the problem of lots of composers. When i upload a cover, it has nice engagement, coments and likes. But when i upload something original it often have a lot less engagement. What should i do?
What about all the issues around Spotify taking down artists for fake streams without any evidence.
Also what about all the artists that are now pulling all their music from Spotify and going direct to consumers
Brilliant as always. 👍
I really appreciate that, hopefully I won’t get punched by Mike Tyson or it would be curtains for me!!
Waaaaaay ahead of you! Hahahha