Crazy how you can say “do what works best for you” and people can twist that around lol. I’m an artist with only 100k+ monthly listeners but I make six figures because I’ve released many songs and have a fan base that bounces around my catalog a lot. I think releasing often with short form content is the optimal strategy if you are an independent artist pushing your own music.
Can’t believe the audacity of some people to call BS on your advice without even trying it. But hey not everyone is willing to put in the work to release constantly and create worthy content AND music. Let’s be honest, some artists could apply anyone’s advice but sometimes the music is just not there yet. Cheers Nic, thanks for sharing and being open about everything in pro of the indie artists.
@@sanban6766don’t listen then, don’t put in the work. Keep doing things as every mid artist is BUT don’t expect to make a living out of it. I tested Nics advice and it worked, works and will keep working. I understand it’s easier to complain without even trying it. Sometimes I still feel uncomfortable putting in the work and creating good content. ITS NOT EASY but it’s doable. You just have to want it bad enough. And if youve tried and applied it and it hasn’t worked yet, then you just haven’t put in enough work, enough releases or the songs and the content are not good enough yet. As Nic says: there’s many ways to get it. And his way works, I tested it and worked. If I was you, I would only listen to advice from people who have done it themselves.
Lmaoooo the end 😂😂 tell em’ Nic! I can’t believe someone would not do their research before commenting something like that. TBH all these people just sounds like they dont wanna put in the work to make music and content frequently
My thing is this, the other guy keeps crying about releasing music weekly is bad advice because then people will put out bad songs… How about you don’t make bad music? Why is everyone crying about quality vs quantity? Bro do both. If you can’t release good music weekly then this advice doesn’t apply to you. Release at the frequency at which it allows you to create good music I thought it was obvious that everything you put out should be quality - otherwise everyone would be famous if the difference was solely effort😂😂
There should be no binary, Nic’s point is take the advice that works for you and leave what doesn’t. This isn’t this person vs that person it’s just common sense If making music weekly makes you hate making music then don’t do it If you can’t release frequently because you don’t have quality music or content then don’t do it
With this I feel like it’s rele genre specific. Some genres of music or styles or vibes are not gna sound good if they’re rushed or made quickly, but that’s just my opinion. Like I wouldn’t want tame impala to put out a song every week, I feel like it would water down his sound, but I think for a lot of genres doing as much music as possible is awesome. It just depends on your vibe and genre
I couldn’t agree more with frequent releasing because there’s 100,000 new songs uploaded on Spotify every day.. To only release 1 or 2 songs every couple of months is insane! Plus when you release more, you allow yourself to get the reps in, in turn only making you a better artist.. And i agree it’s all subjective, something you don’t suspect can blow up while something you cherish can flop. But even if you get lucky with a hit song, and barely have a catalogue.. that momentum has no where else to multiply. Frequent releases gives you a larger catalogue. Yes, not everyone has the means to release as often, but like you preach, everyone can always be a little bit more efficient, little more resourceful, little more disciplined. And that makes sense… cause time and effort is all we really have. Don’t even get me started on Content-Marketing.. my Favorite People in any field, are all people who have made a lot of content and have built a bridge for me to connect and relate with on a deeper level than just the singular art. What you say is exactly right, about releasing Social Media Posts (that cost literally nothing), vs Investing in a Music Video (costs hundreds or more) on spaced out releases doesn’t make sense economically in todays time. EVEN LABELS ARE SHIFTING TO YOUR PHILOSOPHIES, telling their artists to hop on Social Media. This is where it’s going.. Content is King, in not just the field of Music.
People are out of their damn minds. You’ve broken down every complaint these commenters have had in a handful of other videos. There are always so many excuses on why something won’t work without people having experienced them
I didn’t realize I was doing this with my song “Wake me up when this is over” basically every time a politician messed up I made a video. Every time I did it consistently on tik tok algorithms went up.
I love the “riding the momentum”- you never know what is going to connect with the audience- so many of my songs throughout my 35 year career have been my favorite… And not theirs!
Nic D!! I bought your book! Thanks for sharing the knowledge and helping us out. There will always be haters right? And you’re very humble and non judgmental about everything so we appreciate your patience and hard work bro!
I’m actual proof that your advice still works in 2024 I got my first 6k monthly listeners this past month and I’ve been making music for almost 5 years now. And you know it’s crazy I’ve seen a ton of other content creators give advice and I have never grown this fast from any other advice applied once again thank you nic d for all the free gems you give out to this community 🤝
PEOPLE ALWAYS LOOK FOR REASONS WHY THEY CANT SUCCEED! Either you do the work or you don’t. Simple as that. Trying to discredit this man by giving your own advice helps no one. Only confuses them. My advice? 😂 Keep your head down and grind on the path YOU believe will work. If/when you see results either double down or change course. Leaving shitty comments won’t get you there. Only doing the work will. Just saying 🤷🏾♂️
Definitely! & it's easier to blame other people for your mistakes than to put in that work and apply the concepts that other successful people applied to get their results.
Glad you responded to that guy. That guy honestly probably has never broke a record before. Many different ways to do it yall. But Nic D is on point. I have over 150 million streams as a producer indie and helped with the release of evey track production, content and marketing, and Nic D is spot on yall.
the more music you put out the more you can influence the algo…..specially if you dropping every week same day and hitting the release radar, literally doing this with discovery mode right now
Agreed . Can you tell me the best way you increased your listeners? I’ve been dropping a LOT of music and it’s growing well but I’m still under 10,000 and have been for a while . Can’t seem to get that extra push
From someone who actually has released weekly music for 10 years (albeit Nerdcore music under the name Rockit Music) I can confidently tell you every piece of advice he has given is 100% accurate from my own experience as well. Nic is right. I’m also NOT here to promote myself just to reinforce what he is saying as someone who found similar success. The way I would phrase it personally is you need to stop thinking about it as a human and start thinking about it from the perspective of an algorithm. What algorithm is going to push someone’s music who has 1 release vs 100 releases? I would venture to say close to no algorithm (anymore since they are now flooded with 1 off content creators who never really started). Of course you gotta remember the humans are the ones actually watching. Can you name 1 artist that you have binged a million times after the first time you EVER were served up their music on your choice of social media? If it’s your first time seeing a musician that song has to be the best song you’ve ever heard in your life in that singular moment for you and a million other people to give it the attention it needs to go viral. This is definitely possible, but very very unlikely. If it’s someone you’ve SEEN before a bunch BECAUSE you’ve been served other content eventually after enough previews of their various content you’ll either avoid that persons music or listen to it. Plus if you’re releasing more songs as an artist this develops your skills as a songwriter. Eventually your songs WILL get better, and the better they get the more likely they will be to connect with an audience. Then once it connects with someone you’ll have a library of more songs instead of just an albums’ worth or a single. Plus those songs you that never caught fire, but you thought were bangers will get another chance. Trust me… it works. As per the advice of Malcom Gladwell; Put in your 10k hours and you’ll become the top 1% quality of professionals of whatever you strive to do.
Taking the precious time to send the elevator back down most people don’t understand bro. A sad truth maybe.. idk. But know that you are truly appreciated all the way around and your music speaks for itself or this channel doesn’t even exist. 🙌🏻💛😎
It's not a luxury to record and release constantly when you can get a laptop, interface, mic, mic cable, and a DAW for maybe $1,500- $2,500.. it's called saving. That's one of the first steps for many people who feel like it's to far away.
Hey, thank you for this. I’ve heard people explain how they don’t have the “luxury” to post often but for myself personally I’ve taught myself how to produce, play multiple instruments, mix and master, and I’ve even been video editing n known how to use a camera since around 16 years old. I’ve worked hard on becoming as self efficient as I can. Idk if I’d call it a luxury. I’ve worked harder than others to be able to have this ability to release as much as I’d like and to create content as much as I’d like.
More TH-cam videos please Nic! I would love to see a video of you making a song from beginning to end. From the loop or sample you find, to recording vocals and sending it to your producer/mix engineer, to creating content ideas and release schedule stuff. Would just love to see your process for a song from beginning to end! Love from 🇬🇧
So, I like your approach I'm new to this. Right now, it's just a hobby of mine. So, my question is how do you go about copyrights on your content? If I send stuff out for copyrights it usually takes two months minimum to get them back before I can even send them to the distributor then they suggest giving it time before releasing them. To keep costs down you can only send 10 songs at a time to copywriting for the one fee. Also do you do this with your royalty free loops as well after you add your content to them, I just started experimenting with one. Just trying to figure a way to expedite the process myself making the music isn't the hard part for me been doing it for a long time now. I'm just starting to try and share it granted it definitely isn't the best, but it would be nice to earn a little extra on top of my full-time job.
If you want to continue with your youtube advice content could you make a video on how you develop content ideas besides the performance/lipsync videos? Like skits/stories etc
I've Tried so much and no Dice. Still working but not so willing to Spend $ right now BC times are getting tough and I was going Broke with some of the Promotions I was trying with little to no benefit.
You good man, all you have done is try to help people. People need to just try for themselves and learn along the way, many different avenues that have worked for many different folks. Still trying to find mine!.
it was the "so..." at the end for me 😂 would love to hear you talk on content approaches you see working for different genres and artists (ie: if Frank Ocean was making content, should he make the same Talk-Ups and Captioned Reels? If an Indie Rock band like Wallows was releasing a song, should they try acting like Commercial Pop artists to get reach?) If not every artist wants the commercial image of JVKE or Forrest Frank or Connor, is there another way iyo they can have an edge on content? Thanks king 👑
I’ve been in radio for over a decade. I search for new music daily to play. I came across Nic D’s TikTok & it led me to his music. I felt like I found it & wasn’t sold a song like he says in his book (great book I might add). I believe and trust what he says because it worked on me, I am now a fan. I believe his guidance is very valuable in today’s landscape of music.
Its too funny to me that people say its a luxury to post music with a quick turnaround. You can literally get an entire studio for 500$ or less. If youre a musician and dont already mess around with recording programs, vsts and dont already own a computer/laptop....what the hell have you been doing this whole time? You can literally get an interface and mic for a few hundred dollars.
Nick …spot on mate ,all those guru’s 6 week plan to release 1 song ..that is so old school !! Get all your songs released as soon as possible , have a full catalogue of songs released then create the content to promote your catalogue of songs ..makes so much sense to do it that way 👍
Thank you. Though Jessie's video misses the respectful communication mark, I'm grateful that this topic got started. I have 37600 monthly listeners & I feel doubts about my strategies. So having a debate is really helpful. I release a song a week, maybe two weeks, and has a 5% monthly growth atm. No content tho - I just can't manage, at least now. I only wish I had more mental power for producing and mixing songs.
I like your weekly rollout advice a lot. I usually drop a song every 3 weeks, but for this new album I’m releasing, I’ve been rolling out a single off the album every week. Thats 12 weeks of music every Friday and it’s honestly so fun. It’s not stressful either because all of the songs are basically done and I can focus 7 days of promotion on each song until the album drops. I’m not where I want to be yet in my music career, but I think you just have to find fun and realistic ways to be consistent
Thank you for these vids Nic. it is incredibly helpful to hear your perspective as a independent artist who's gone before, and understands the mental blocks we've got holding us back
Hey Nic, thanks for all your great advice! I have a purely technical question: Should I use a business account or a creator account on TikTok? I‘m asking because of the link in bio. I started with a creator account and added my music through the „add music“ function. This is only possible with a creator account but that eliminates the link in bio. On the other hand, when I preproduce my videos with my music already in them to use a business account with link in bio, my video gets muted due to potential copyright infringement (with my own song !!). How do or did you go about this? Any advice would be highly appreciated. ✌️
In the last 2 years I released 5 -6 songs per year, 8k listeners per month ( Spotify) In the last 3 months I released inspired by you almost Every Week a song, and now I rised up to 22k listeners on Spotify in just 3 months! You are a very good adviser Nic !
No more explanation needed. People say sh**t like somebody is pointing a gun to their heads and saying "Yo release a song every week". If a person don't like your tips, yoo just don't fkng watch it. Anybody that think that making content and releasing more music faster is the wrong "lucky" path, for sure is still broke, nameless, spending half of their salary on useless Ads and music marketing courses.
i think one thing that could be causing some misconception in terms of “luck” is because whenever you talk about how you just started posting content and going all in after your wife allowed you to test out your music career, you simply just said a video “blew up” and it was great from there. i think you don’t really stress enough how that maybe wasn’t as simple as you make it sound, and you also don’t really show or talk about the actual PROGRESSION. you kind of just say, “i did this, then that happened, and boom”. I love your strategies Nic, thanks a lot, but yeah idk this is how i feel when i hear you talk about your story, sometimes i would love if you’d go a little bit more in depth, because everyone is already trying to post on TikTok to market their music, but it’s not just turning around for us as easy as you make it sound like it did for yourself. Idk if this made any sense 😭 but all love ❤
Hey Nic, thanks for your content mate. I do indie rock and it’s different to your genre but I believe in your approach. Like you said modify to suit your own needs, we’re trying our best to release monthly but with 2 songs as in an A and B side single …this way promo is every two weeks…thanks again and love your attitude 👌
Hey Nic. This question is a bit outside of the realm of music, but I find you to be an expert in the area of multiplatform content creation. My sister-in-law has an enormous tiktok following, 1m+ and we are trying to scale into more platforms and channels, we are trying to use the platform now to enable other income streams. Her Tiktok doesn't take too much time out of her day, but she books appointments and that is her primary income. She is busy and we are trying to figure out the best way to delegate work and leverage an existing brand. Any suggestions?
What's crazy is you're absolutely right, it just stings to face the truth about what it takes to build a music career in 2024. People, including myself, want to believe Jesse's advice works. But for most of us independents, it takes YOUR advice to actually get to the point where his advice works. And honestly, with either approach, consistent CONTENT is the only way any momentum truly happens.
just wanted to touch on the expensiveness part. you don't need to hire musicians you can also skill stack and learn all the instruments. I progressed to recording every instrument for my songs myself (guitar, bass, piano) and got better at both playing and programming drums. than I thought myself production so now the only thing I outsource is mix and master, because I didn't take the time YET to learn those parts as well. you can record acoustic guitars with an iPhone nowadays and with a few good plugins (they actually costed me quite some money, but its a one time thing) you can make everything sound the way you want it to, if you're willing to put in the time. I feel like all the people telling that your advice doesn't work are too lazy for trying it out for long time and see what happens.
First, your book and your advice is great Nic. What is not mentioned and is very important and what explains why people like mister Cannon and many others cannot relate to this advice is that younger artists in the hip-hop and pop buy "beats" of a song that all you need to add to it is lyrics and your voice. So in that scenario it is very possible to release a song every 2 weeks. On the other hand for bands and other genres, you need to write a drum part, bass part, guitar parts, orchestration and all other sounds and instruments and record all of these in the studio which demands a lot of time, energy and ressources. So in this scenario it is almost impossible to release every 2 weeks. That should settle the argument. Btw no matter if you agree or not with Nic's advice, you should never complain about advice that is given to you FREE and that nobody forced you to listen to! Take the knowledge that applies to you and disregard what doesn't ring true to you and you'll come out of it with more wisdom. Wishing tons of success to all of you!
The other thing is that is that if you're like me, the latest things I've written are better than the songs I made months ago, so releasing slowly pushes back the date I can bring out my best work.
I appreciate that you take the time to do these videos. You could easily just live your life and enjoy your success but you take the time to implement this value into your routine. I hope the people you're replying to realize just how much of a favour you're doing them to reply to their self limiting and negative outlook on this thing.
Nic, I have listened to so many advisors about this, but honestly, as an independent songwriter who is not looking to be a performer, and just wants to release music into the world -- your message and strategy are the ones that resonate the most with me. Not to mention that it requires a fearlessness of just letting it go that I need more of in my life in general, so thank you. No disrespect to any other advisors, but we all have to forge our own path.
You are an amazing person Nic, and very inspiring. Positive energy and no bullshit, watched basically all your interviews, Ndpndt, and also lots of Connor (and other channels too, like Jesse) and have adapted your strategy to my own band, and seeing at least some good results so far! Hard to nail content though! 😂 As you say, above all we are having lots of fun releasing every two weeks, and we are getting better at writing and just enjoying releasing so much more than releasing an album ever 2 years. Gives us the freedom to experiment and test stuff we might not have done otherwise. So thanks for sharing your strategy, and please keep inspiring us! 🎉 This strategy is NOT for everyone of course, but if one has the ability it's worth trying! - But you have to enjoy it!
That was great! BTW I’ve seen all your YT videos and TikTok’s and am a true fan of not only your content but you and Connor’s mindset on music and biz with NDPNT. Love your songs but I particularly love Sundown, 8 to Infinity and Gasoline. Would really love for you to discuss your lyric writing work flow. Lyrics are tough to get out fast for a lot of people. Would love to hear your thoughts: I think a lot of others too within this community would too. Again, thank brother! 🙏
Straight up brother, I’ve watched a LOT of production videos and one thing that stands out to me is your obvious discipline, and that you seem happy to help but also that you could take it or leave it, but that you have a commitment, maybe you got cursed or something but those of us who appreciate it certainly do, and some people… are just looking for an argument or contention to make themselves feel real. We re lucky you’re even bothering to read the comments so don’t let clowns get ya down! If they had something better to be doing they would do it. 🇨🇦 💕’s ya player! Thanks again
why are u expending energy and or time to defend yourself... sheesh! get that you wanna defend your image and all but you're doing your thing it's working for you, id say focus.. ain't like people paying you for your thoughts on the matter i believe its "FREE" service...
He’s defending himself but also providing more content for us and his channel. I love it, especially with how easy it is to get confused with all the info being thrown around these days
Releasing music brings me peace. Art is meant to be shared. Years ago I was mentored by people who had similar negative mentalities. "make your songs sound good to labels" or "follow trends" and the like. This lead me to a wall of anxiety and disillusionment. I didn't release music because it wasn't "good enough" or "didn't fit". I now realize how bad for me this was. Now, I make art for the process and I release it so that others may have a chance to experience something themselves. I see this is a process of light. Releasing music is therapy for me. Thank you for your words. More creators need to hear about this and know that their work is valid. Peace is in the grind and release, what happens next is secondary.
I agree with this mindset 💯%. So much so I went to your channel and enjoyed "Daddy Airlines". Great job on that one and thank you for sharing your art!
Thank U for taking the time to share Ur experience! U have inspired me and soooo many more people - U deserve better than this little "envy attack". I guess this is just one of the unfortunate signs that U are doing VERY well! :-D Greetings from Sweden!
Love the music, advice, and evidence you bring. Also the way you carry yourself. Please keep using your voice on here and singing. I know it can be a bummer to hear people assume wrongly about your intentions.
"... you can have a product that you love, quality that you think is worthy and spend enough time on it that makes you feel like you earned it." I think this right here is the crux. If you're making music for yourself and a small group of people who's opinion you care about that's fine but you can't complain when very few people like it and you're not getting paid.
Crazy how you can say “do what works best for you” and people can twist that around lol. I’m an artist with only 100k+ monthly listeners but I make six figures because I’ve released many songs and have a fan base that bounces around my catalog a lot. I think releasing often with short form content is the optimal strategy if you are an independent artist pushing your own music.
ayyyy great seeing you here!
I appreciate your non-aggressive approach to controversies like these.
Can’t believe the audacity of some people to call BS on your advice without even trying it. But hey not everyone is willing to put in the work to release constantly and create worthy content AND music. Let’s be honest, some artists could apply anyone’s advice but sometimes the music is just not there yet.
Cheers Nic, thanks for sharing and being open about everything in pro of the indie artists.
No, his advice is bland. Its the vanilla of music marketing advice.
@@sanban6766don’t listen then, don’t put in the work. Keep doing things as every mid artist is BUT don’t expect to make a living out of it. I tested Nics advice and it worked, works and will keep working. I understand it’s easier to complain without even trying it. Sometimes I still feel uncomfortable putting in the work and creating good content. ITS NOT EASY but it’s doable. You just have to want it bad enough. And if youve tried and applied it and it hasn’t worked yet, then you just haven’t put in enough work, enough releases or the songs and the content are not good enough yet. As Nic says: there’s many ways to get it. And his way works, I tested it and worked. If I was you, I would only listen to advice from people
who have done it themselves.
Lol if you knew how many rappers told me they were using the Russ strategy over the last 5 years... Obvs they're all massively successful now 🤣🤣🤣
Lmaoooo the end 😂😂 tell em’ Nic! I can’t believe someone would not do their research before commenting something like that. TBH all these people just sounds like they dont wanna put in the work to make music and content frequently
My thing is this, the other guy keeps crying about releasing music weekly is bad advice because then people will put out bad songs…
How about you don’t make bad music? Why is everyone crying about quality vs quantity? Bro do both. If you can’t release good music weekly then this advice doesn’t apply to you. Release at the frequency at which it allows you to create good music
I thought it was obvious that everything you put out should be quality - otherwise everyone would be famous if the difference was solely effort😂😂
There should be no binary, Nic’s point is take the advice that works for you and leave what doesn’t. This isn’t this person vs that person it’s just common sense
If making music weekly makes you hate making music then don’t do it
If you can’t release frequently because you don’t have quality music or content then don’t do it
I feel that! Some people aren’t yet capable of seeing it that way. 🤷🏾♂️ It takes a certain level of emotional intelligence to recognize it.
Exactly!
With this I feel like it’s rele genre specific. Some genres of music or styles or vibes are not gna sound good if they’re rushed or made quickly, but that’s just my opinion. Like I wouldn’t want tame impala to put out a song every week, I feel like it would water down his sound, but I think for a lot of genres doing as much music as possible is awesome. It just depends on your vibe and genre
I couldn’t agree more with frequent releasing because there’s 100,000 new songs uploaded on Spotify every day.. To only release 1 or 2 songs every couple of months is insane! Plus when you release more, you allow yourself to get the reps in, in turn only making you a better artist.. And i agree it’s all subjective, something you don’t suspect can blow up while something you cherish can flop. But even if you get lucky with a hit song, and barely have a catalogue.. that momentum has no where else to multiply. Frequent releases gives you a larger catalogue. Yes, not everyone has the means to release as often, but like you preach, everyone can always be a little bit more efficient, little more resourceful, little more disciplined. And that makes sense… cause time and effort is all we really have. Don’t even get me started on Content-Marketing.. my Favorite People in any field, are all people who have made a lot of content and have built a bridge for me to connect and relate with on a deeper level than just the singular art. What you say is exactly right, about releasing Social Media Posts (that cost literally nothing), vs Investing in a Music Video (costs hundreds or more) on spaced out releases doesn’t make sense economically in todays time. EVEN LABELS ARE SHIFTING TO YOUR PHILOSOPHIES, telling their artists to hop on Social Media. This is where it’s going.. Content is King, in not just the field of Music.
People are out of their damn minds. You’ve broken down every complaint these commenters have had in a handful of other videos. There are always so many excuses on why something won’t work without people having experienced them
I didn’t realize I was doing this with my song “Wake me up when this is over” basically every time a politician messed up I made a video. Every time I did it consistently on tik tok algorithms went up.
I don’t understand why a good people like you are getting hate
I love the “riding the momentum”- you never know what is going to connect with the audience- so many of my songs throughout my 35 year career have been my favorite… And not theirs!
Nic D!! I bought your book! Thanks for sharing the knowledge and helping us out. There will always be haters right? And you’re very humble and non judgmental about everything so we appreciate your patience and hard work bro!
I’m actual proof that your advice still works in 2024 I got my first 6k monthly listeners this past month and I’ve been making music for almost 5 years now. And you know it’s crazy I’ve seen a ton of other content creators give advice and I have never grown this fast from any other advice applied once again thank you nic d for all the free gems you give out to this community 🤝
Which pieces of advice did you follow
The casual reach for the camera ending...LMAOOOOO Basically, saying the numbers speak for them self. 💯💯💯
Too cold
@@EE-UR Ice Cold...LMAOOOOO
PEOPLE ALWAYS LOOK FOR REASONS WHY THEY CANT SUCCEED!
Either you do the work or you don’t. Simple as that.
Trying to discredit this man by giving your own advice helps no one. Only confuses them.
My advice? 😂 Keep your head down and grind on the path YOU believe will work. If/when you see results either double down or change course.
Leaving shitty comments won’t get you there. Only doing the work will.
Just saying 🤷🏾♂️
Definitely! & it's easier to blame other people for your mistakes than to put in that work and apply the concepts that other successful people applied to get their results.
Glad you responded to that guy. That guy honestly probably has never broke a record before. Many different ways to do it yall. But Nic D is on point. I have over 150 million streams as a producer indie and helped with the release of evey track production, content and marketing, and Nic D is spot on yall.
the more music you put out the more you can influence the algo…..specially if you dropping every week same day and hitting the release radar, literally doing this with discovery mode right now
Agreed . Can you tell me the best way you increased your listeners? I’ve been dropping a LOT of music and it’s growing well but I’m still under 10,000 and have been for a while . Can’t seem to get that extra push
From someone who actually has released weekly music for 10 years (albeit Nerdcore music under the name Rockit Music) I can confidently tell you every piece of advice he has given is 100% accurate from my own experience as well. Nic is right. I’m also NOT here to promote myself just to reinforce what he is saying as someone who found similar success. The way I would phrase it personally is you need to stop thinking about it as a human and start thinking about it from the perspective of an algorithm. What algorithm is going to push someone’s music who has 1 release vs 100 releases? I would venture to say close to no algorithm (anymore since they are now flooded with 1 off content creators who never really started). Of course you gotta remember the humans are the ones actually watching. Can you name 1 artist that you have binged a million times after the first time you EVER were served up their music on your choice of social media? If it’s your first time seeing a musician that song has to be the best song you’ve ever heard in your life in that singular moment for you and a million other people to give it the attention it needs to go viral. This is definitely possible, but very very unlikely. If it’s someone you’ve SEEN before a bunch BECAUSE you’ve been served other content eventually after enough previews of their various content you’ll either avoid that persons music or listen to it. Plus if you’re releasing more songs as an artist this develops your skills as a songwriter. Eventually your songs WILL get better, and the better they get the more likely they will be to connect with an audience. Then once it connects with someone you’ll have a library of more songs instead of just an albums’ worth or a single. Plus those songs you that never caught fire, but you thought were bangers will get another chance. Trust me… it works. As per the advice of Malcom Gladwell; Put in your 10k hours and you’ll become the top 1% quality of professionals of whatever you strive to do.
I really appreciate ya take honestly, when you dead don’t even have to respond to any of that. Keep up the work 💯
Taking the precious time to send the elevator back down most people don’t understand bro. A sad truth maybe.. idk. But know that you are truly appreciated all the way around and your music speaks for itself or this channel doesn’t even exist. 🙌🏻💛😎
It's not a luxury to record and release constantly when you can get a laptop, interface, mic, mic cable, and a DAW for maybe $1,500- $2,500.. it's called saving. That's one of the first steps for many people who feel like it's to far away.
"Men lie, women lie numbers dont"- Jay Z
Right off the bat, I don't really understand how that's bad advice..
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
Hey, thank you for this. I’ve heard people explain how they don’t have the “luxury” to post often but for myself personally I’ve taught myself how to produce, play multiple instruments, mix and master, and I’ve even been video editing n known how to use a camera since around 16 years old. I’ve worked hard on becoming as self efficient as I can. Idk if I’d call it a luxury. I’ve worked harder than others to be able to have this ability to release as much as I’d like and to create content as much as I’d like.
More TH-cam videos please Nic! I would love to see a video of you making a song from beginning to end. From the loop or sample you find, to recording vocals and sending it to your producer/mix engineer, to creating content ideas and release schedule stuff. Would just love to see your process for a song from beginning to end! Love from 🇬🇧
Yes that would be awesome!
Mic drop ending, great job! New fan! I can love advice from both you and Jesse.
So, I like your approach I'm new to this. Right now, it's just a hobby of mine. So, my question is how do you go about copyrights on your content? If I send stuff out for copyrights it usually takes two months minimum to get them back before I can even send them to the distributor then they suggest giving it time before releasing them. To keep costs down you can only send 10 songs at a time to copywriting for the one fee. Also do you do this with your royalty free loops as well after you add your content to them, I just started experimenting with one. Just trying to figure a way to expedite the process myself making the music isn't the hard part for me been doing it for a long time now. I'm just starting to try and share it granted it definitely isn't the best, but it would be nice to earn a little extra on top of my full-time job.
If you want to continue with your youtube advice content could you make a video on how you develop content ideas besides the performance/lipsync videos? Like skits/stories etc
2 days in a row, Nic?! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
People throw rocks at things that shine.
DANG, good call. 🔥
Hey Nick, your advice has been the best that I’ve had after years of searching. Thanks for your help buddy ❤️
I've Tried so much and no Dice. Still working but not so willing to Spend $ right now BC times are getting tough and I was going Broke with some of the Promotions I was trying with little to no benefit.
You good man, all you have done is try to help people. People need to just try for themselves and learn along the way, many different avenues that have worked for many different folks. Still trying to find mine!.
this 7:02 💯
it was the "so..." at the end for me 😂
would love to hear you talk on content approaches you see working for different genres and artists (ie: if Frank Ocean was making content, should he make the same Talk-Ups and Captioned Reels? If an Indie Rock band like Wallows was releasing a song, should they try acting like Commercial Pop artists to get reach?)
If not every artist wants the commercial image of JVKE or Forrest Frank or Connor, is there another way iyo they can have an edge on content? Thanks king 👑
I’ve been in radio for over a decade. I search for new music daily to play. I came across Nic D’s TikTok & it led me to his music. I felt like I found it & wasn’t sold a song like he says in his book (great book I might add). I believe and trust what he says because it worked on me, I am now a fan. I believe his guidance is very valuable in today’s landscape of music.
Please keep making videos on this channel. You're my role model in music and these videos are extremely helpful. I hope you are doing well
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Its too funny to me that people say its a luxury to post music with a quick turnaround. You can literally get an entire studio for 500$ or less. If youre a musician and dont already mess around with recording programs, vsts and dont already own a computer/laptop....what the hell have you been doing this whole time? You can literally get an interface and mic for a few hundred dollars.
I define good luck as "undiscovered metrics that work in your favor."
I feel that's somewhat related.
Nick …spot on mate ,all those guru’s 6 week plan to release 1 song ..that is so old school !! Get all your songs released as soon as possible , have a full catalogue of songs released then create the content to promote your catalogue of songs ..makes so much sense to do it that way 👍
Thank you.
Though Jessie's video misses the respectful communication mark, I'm grateful that this topic got started.
I have 37600 monthly listeners & I feel doubts about my strategies. So having a debate is really helpful.
I release a song a week, maybe two weeks, and has a 5% monthly growth atm. No content tho - I just can't manage, at least now.
I only wish I had more mental power for producing and mixing songs.
love your videos bro
These response videos are amazing. Thank you.
I like your weekly rollout advice a lot. I usually drop a song every 3 weeks, but for this new album I’m releasing, I’ve been rolling out a single off the album every week. Thats 12 weeks of music every Friday and it’s honestly so fun. It’s not stressful either because all of the songs are basically done and I can focus 7 days of promotion on each song until the album drops. I’m not where I want to be yet in my music career, but I think you just have to find fun and realistic ways to be consistent
That luck comment was hurtful. They don’t know the days you worked full-time recording music in the back of a minivan… keep being yourself!
Thank you for these vids Nic. it is incredibly helpful to hear your perspective as a independent artist who's gone before, and understands the mental blocks we've got holding us back
Gondor called for aid... and Nic D answered!!!
The first comment was obviously just Jessie using another account
Eyy for me most of your advice works for me its just that am not reaching people I don't know if it's the content or titles eyy bra 😅🇿🇦
Hey Nic, thanks for all your great advice! I have a purely technical question: Should I use a business account or a creator account on TikTok? I‘m asking because of the link in bio. I started with a creator account and added my music through the „add music“ function. This is only possible with a creator account but that eliminates the link in bio. On the other hand, when I preproduce my videos with my music already in them to use a business account with link in bio, my video gets muted due to potential copyright infringement (with my own song !!). How do or did you go about this? Any advice would be highly appreciated. ✌️
In the last 2 years I released 5 -6 songs per year, 8k listeners per month ( Spotify) In the last 3 months I released inspired by you almost Every Week a song, and now I rised up to 22k listeners on Spotify in just 3 months! You are a very good adviser Nic !
Thanks so much for everything you’re doing for the independent music community Nic - really appreciate it
No more explanation needed. People say sh**t like somebody is pointing a gun to their heads and saying "Yo release a song every week". If a person don't like your tips, yoo just don't fkng watch it. Anybody that think that making content and releasing more music faster is the wrong "lucky" path, for sure is still broke, nameless, spending half of their salary on useless Ads and music marketing courses.
i think one thing that could be causing some misconception in terms of “luck” is because whenever you talk about how you just started posting content and going all in after your wife allowed you to test out your music career, you simply just said a video “blew up” and it was great from there. i think you don’t really stress enough how that maybe wasn’t as simple as you make it sound, and you also don’t really show or talk about the actual PROGRESSION. you kind of just say, “i did this, then that happened, and boom”. I love your strategies Nic, thanks a lot, but yeah idk this is how i feel when i hear you talk about your story, sometimes i would love if you’d go a little bit more in depth, because everyone is already trying to post on TikTok to market their music, but it’s not just turning around for us as easy as you make it sound like it did for yourself. Idk if this made any sense 😭 but all love ❤
Hey Nic, thanks for your content mate. I do indie rock and it’s different to your genre but I believe in your approach. Like you said modify to suit your own needs, we’re trying our best to release monthly but with 2 songs as in an A and B side single …this way promo is every two weeks…thanks again and love your attitude 👌
Very comforting video for musicians just starting out thank you Nic!
Hey Nic. This question is a bit outside of the realm of music, but I find you to be an expert in the area of multiplatform content creation. My sister-in-law has an enormous tiktok following, 1m+ and we are trying to scale into more platforms and channels, we are trying to use the platform now to enable other income streams.
Her Tiktok doesn't take too much time out of her day, but she books appointments and that is her primary income. She is busy and we are trying to figure out the best way to delegate work and leverage an existing brand. Any suggestions?
What's crazy is you're absolutely right, it just stings to face the truth about what it takes to build a music career in 2024. People, including myself, want to believe Jesse's advice works. But for most of us independents, it takes YOUR advice to actually get to the point where his advice works.
And honestly, with either approach, consistent CONTENT is the only way any momentum truly happens.
I have watched almost all the videos and am still hungry for more wisdom from you. My dream is to see Drax Africa and Nic D in one song.
Love your authenticity and genuine advice! Thank you for sharing 🙏🏻
just wanted to touch on the expensiveness part. you don't need to hire musicians you can also skill stack and learn all the instruments. I progressed to recording every instrument for my songs myself (guitar, bass, piano) and got better at both playing and programming drums. than I thought myself production so now the only thing I outsource is mix and master, because I didn't take the time YET to learn those parts as well.
you can record acoustic guitars with an iPhone nowadays and with a few good plugins (they actually costed me quite some money, but its a one time thing) you can make everything sound the way you want it to, if you're willing to put in the time. I feel like all the people telling that your advice doesn't work are too lazy for trying it out for long time and see what happens.
That last comment didn't even deserve a response 😅
thiis is all good press for the kid. keep it up dawg
First, your book and your advice is great Nic. What is not mentioned and is very important and what explains why people like mister Cannon and many others cannot relate to this advice is that younger artists in the hip-hop and pop buy "beats" of a song that all you need to add to it is lyrics and your voice. So in that scenario it is very possible to release a song every 2 weeks. On the other hand for bands and other genres, you need to write a drum part, bass part, guitar parts, orchestration and all other sounds and instruments and record all of these in the studio which demands a lot of time, energy and ressources. So in this scenario it is almost impossible to release every 2 weeks. That should settle the argument. Btw no matter if you agree or not with Nic's advice, you should never complain about advice that is given to you FREE and that nobody forced you to listen to! Take the knowledge that applies to you and disregard what doesn't ring true to you and you'll come out of it with more wisdom. Wishing tons of success to all of you!
The other thing is that is that if you're like me, the latest things I've written are better than the songs I made months ago, so releasing slowly pushes back the date I can bring out my best work.
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Great video! I’m 100% team Nic. I just really need a video where you explain your beef with ads 😅
I appreciate that you take the time to do these videos. You could easily just live your life and enjoy your success but you take the time to implement this value into your routine.
I hope the people you're replying to realize just how much of a favour you're doing them to reply to their self limiting and negative outlook on this thing.
He’s better I used to watch Jessie but his stuff was basically how labels do it and I don’t like Jessie approach his is better for independent artists
The end of this was hilarious 😂😂😂
U should have read all the positive comments instead of focusing on the negative ones
Nic, I have listened to so many advisors about this, but honestly, as an independent songwriter who is not looking to be a performer, and just wants to release music into the world -- your message and strategy are the ones that resonate the most with me. Not to mention that it requires a fearlessness of just letting it go that I need more of in my life in general, so thank you. No disrespect to any other advisors, but we all have to forge our own path.
Please keep posting more videos nic love your content
the last comment is ridiculous and can only come from who never had anything to do with transferring people to different interests or even tried
You are an amazing person Nic, and very inspiring. Positive energy and no bullshit, watched basically all your interviews, Ndpndt, and also lots of Connor (and other channels too, like Jesse) and have adapted your strategy to my own band, and seeing at least some good results so far! Hard to nail content though! 😂
As you say, above all we are having lots of fun releasing every two weeks, and we are getting better at writing and just enjoying releasing so much more than releasing an album ever 2 years. Gives us the freedom to experiment and test stuff we might not have done otherwise. So thanks for sharing your strategy, and please keep inspiring us! 🎉
This strategy is NOT for everyone of course, but if one has the ability it's worth trying! - But you have to enjoy it!
yes work hard and luck will come together ,true
That was great! BTW I’ve seen all your YT videos and TikTok’s and am a true fan of not only your content but you and Connor’s mindset on music and biz with NDPNT. Love your songs but I particularly love Sundown, 8 to Infinity and Gasoline. Would really love for you to discuss your lyric writing work flow. Lyrics are tough to get out fast for a lot of people. Would love to hear your thoughts: I think a lot of others too within this community would too. Again, thank brother! 🙏
Straight up brother, I’ve watched a LOT of production videos and one thing that stands out to me is your obvious discipline, and that you seem happy to help but also that you could take it or leave it, but that you have a commitment, maybe you got cursed or something but those of us who appreciate it certainly do, and some people… are just looking for an argument or contention to make themselves feel real. We re lucky you’re even bothering to read the comments so don’t let clowns get ya down! If they had something better to be doing they would do it.
🇨🇦 💕’s ya player! Thanks again
They don’t want it bad enough
For me you are the best ,thank you
Reminds me of a poem, The man in the arena.
Bro you can’t win on the internet…
why are u expending energy and or time to defend yourself... sheesh! get that you wanna defend your image and all but you're doing your thing it's working for you, id say focus.. ain't like people paying you for your thoughts on the matter i believe its "FREE" service...
He’s defending himself but also providing more content for us and his channel. I love it, especially with how easy it is to get confused with all the info being thrown around these days
thks again
Keep posting please!
Thank you.
Glorious.
the end 😂
Respect and nothing but facts 🙏🏻
💙
Releasing music brings me peace. Art is meant to be shared.
Years ago I was mentored by people who had similar negative mentalities. "make your songs sound good to labels" or "follow trends" and the like. This lead me to a wall of anxiety and disillusionment. I didn't release music because it wasn't "good enough" or "didn't fit". I now realize how bad for me this was.
Now, I make art for the process and I release it so that others may have a chance to experience something themselves. I see this is a process of light.
Releasing music is therapy for me.
Thank you for your words.
More creators need to hear about this and know that their work is valid.
Peace is in the grind and release, what happens next is secondary.
I agree with this mindset 💯%. So much so I went to your channel and enjoyed "Daddy Airlines". Great job on that one and thank you for sharing your art!
@@JohnHunt_ Thanks ! I appreciate that.
Thank U for taking the time to share Ur experience! U have inspired me and soooo many more people - U deserve better than this little "envy attack". I guess this is just one of the unfortunate signs that U are doing VERY well! :-D Greetings from Sweden!
I absolutely appreciate you sharing your advice! Thank you!! PS I am 33 and I look up to like your my big bro.
We love you Nic D! Don’t listen to those air heads! You’re getting so big, they are using you for views!
Love the music, advice, and evidence you bring. Also the way you carry yourself. Please keep using your voice on here and singing. I know it can be a bummer to hear people assume wrongly about your intentions.
"... you can have a product that you love, quality that you think is worthy and spend enough time on it that makes you feel like you earned it." I think this right here is the crux. If you're making music for yourself and a small group of people who's opinion you care about that's fine but you can't complain when very few people like it and you're not getting paid.
The proof is in the pudding 🤷♂️. Love your vids
F the haters bro
Would love to hear how you sit on putting out stuff today, very well said, looking forward to the next vid!
bodied, thanks for all the great advice man