There are so many paths to getting your music out there, and it varies so much from artist to artist. Some artists love social media, some hate it with a burning passion. Some have a budget, some don't. Some take 3 months to write and record a song, others crank them out in a couple hours. One artist might see what you do, copy it and become successful while the next might rather quit music entirely than do things the way you do them - every artist is different. For the most part all the major players in this 'music marketing content creator space' give great advice. Jesse gives a lot of great advice and i've seen you give a lot of great advice. The reason why our advice is conflicting sometimes is we all have our own areas of expertise and experiences. As a result I think it's best for artists learning this stuff to stay open minded and have multiple sources they learn from. The only truth is that it's rarely ever 1 thing that makes an artist successful. Usually it's dozens of things done well and consistently over a period of time.
Yes, people don't meet only one person in their lives, we are all forced to interact with atleast two people in our lives in one way or another. Artists have more than one inspiration without them even trying, that also goes for marketing, you can try to learn from one person only, but that is impossible
thanks for the shoutout Nic! been following your strategy since February 2022 and it's literally changed my life. aka i can do music full time and focus on things that I want to work on music wise. Here's to more growth, better music, and better content for all of us! - Drod
I found your YT channel in December 2023 when I had 2k monthly listeners on Spotify. You inspired me so much that i started releasing music every month. It’s May 2024 and I have over 30k monthly listeners without having a viral song. Thank you, Nic. You are doing a God’s work 🫶🏻✨
The fact that your response was as practical as it was respectful, this is why you are a legend. Thanks for being you, thanks for being rad. Cheers, Hunter
Theyre both dorks lol. One is a musician so that may may some people like him more or like him less,& the other guy is a professional so the same goes for him but generally speaking Jesse has more practicalf information and this guy is more about flufy stuff (which is good for youtube)
Well said Nic way to take the high road I felt the way Jesse had someone impersonate you and discredit your advice was uncalled for. You a real one bro. Thank you for continuing to be authentically you and transparent.
I’m all for people having their own opinion and I never mind anyone disagreeing with me but it did feel more like a personal attack than a disagreement in release strategy. All good regardless! I just want to help artists win.
Your advice literally changed my life. I get to do music full time now and it’s been putting food on the table. Don’t know what whoever that dude is said but I’m sure he didn’t buy a 27 acre home with a song. Everything is literately there, you just gotta scroll down Nics TikTok to see it’s all true.
@@ALLGOOD_MUSIC lol chill bro, everything is in his videos and he even said it here again: release often (once a week or every 2 weeks) AND create content for those releases. That’s literally it. Promote the song with content only after it’s out on streaming platforms. I released songs and posted content after and some tiktoks got more then 2 million views that converted to a streams ( a percentage of those viewers, not 100%) . Already had a catalogue with more than 200 songs out so it helped to convert casual listeners to fans. Wish I could post my Spotify for artist stats here for you to see. I took the time to reply just cause some other people might actually apply the advice here given by Nic. But if you call BS it’s only affecting you and your pocket. It’s your problem lol Me and other artists applying the tactics are already eating.
@@ALLGOOD_MUSIC go check my IG, TikTok and Spotify to see it’s all true and it all works, or Nics profiles too or the artists he mentions. Did you even watch the video? lol
Took me a long time to realize that we have gotten stuck on these weekly music advice channels for the dopamine instead of just doing the work they said to do five years ago.
Your advice has brought me from 4.5k to over 40k monthly listeners in about 6 months. And I'm growing daily man. I am so grateful for your advice and for you sharing your experiences and what has worked for you. It's working for me too and I'm leaving other artists at my level in my genre in the dust. Love u bro. I'm now dropping a song every single week just like you
Shoutout from Culpeper! I’ve watched Jesse’s channel for a while now and I own both his book and yours. The two of you come from different backgrounds in the industry and different worlds as far as him being a New Yorker and you being a Virginian. It’s unfortunate to me that Jesse seems to be holding a ton of unnecessary resentment towards you because of your personal differences. He has no reason for pettiness despite his disagreement with you. I’ve gotten value from both of your channels, so it’s just sad to see how he, (probably deliberately,) made it extra obvious that he was talking about you with a poorly blurred picture in his thumbnail, the name he gave you in the video, and the farm green screens that kinda screamed Culpeper 😂. I know that you have thick skin and won’t let that kind of thing get to you, but I hope you know that you’re appreciated and I’m glad you were able to respond humbly and graciously to criticism.
I went from 12 monthly listeners in March to 1219 as of today. I’ve been consistently pushing content and releasing music. Followed your advice and it helped me. Thanks bro
Thanks to you, Nic, I'm now 4 releases into a biweekly strategy with another dropping this Friday. While I have not had a lot of time to keep up with content amidst a big move, I have gotten in the habit and can feel exponential improvements as a recording artist. You're so right - frequency forces you to grow. Even if I cannot make this thing make money, I am growing and making music that makes me so proud. Thank you for being a source of inspiration and guidance. You're the closest thing I have to a mentor in this business, and for that, I'm extremely grateful.
Dude he gives solid advice. I’m trying it and I’ve already had a huge pop on Spotify. Nothing on socials yet but my content sucks! Why lie to myself? I feel like being honest about improving is the priceless part here preaches
I’ve been implementing your advice since January and my monthly listeners have fluctuated from around 30 people to 5k! I really appreciate all the advice you give and for being a humble, good guy in general
nah Nic you’re quite literally the GOAT, I don’t even think Russ understandings the marketing like you. I run a page called vending Machine where I tell independent artists stories and your THE FIRST PERSON I tell artists to go watch if they send me a dm and want to learn how to grow. Thank you for everything you do for the independent artist landscape and sending all the love from South Africa 🇿🇦
After experiencing the professionalism, respectfulness and congruence of your reaction to the bomb that guy dropped on you, i must say i like you more than before, thank you for the value and keep crushing it bro 💪
I think the way you handled this speaks volumes. Two points I would like to make. 1. The further I get in music the more I realize there's no ONE WAY to do this stuff. Anyone who says otherwise usually has an agenda trying to sell you something. 2. Some people in the music (business) space have insanely large egos. Even if they shouldn't. And it clouds their decision making.
Things I've learned since 2016 was learning how to market my music like selling CDs, posting my music on social media etc. But two main things you made me realize is 1. You gotta MAKE CONTENT to promote your music you can't just put it out there to the public. And 2. You gotta make a catalog. You said before, that its better to have lots of songs released, rather than having two songs released that you think are great. You should have as many songs as you can because quality is subjective, and not many people will like the two songs you have out (no matter the quality) And that is a FACT. 💯
you sold cds in 2016? are you still doing it? i don't subscribe to any music streaming services and i don't think anyone else should, i want physical to dominate again, but i want to know how to positively contribute to that.
I’ve done Jesse’s strategy and I’ve done your strategy Nic. I’ve found a lot more success using your methods. I thought it was odd that he went out his way to mock and discredit you, but regardless the stuff you teach is more fitting for INDEPENDENT artists. Love the stuff you do brother, I listen to your book weekly and it has helped me tremendously so thank you 🙏🏾
Nic is one of the most genuine people out here giving advice on how to build a independent and sustainable music career. and he's an actual ARTIST who speaks from experience... kudos to you for the way you're handling this Nic D!
Since following your advice, I've made better music, have a better outlook on my future and overall, have more confidence that I'm on the right path. One recent video went to 11,000 views (as opposed to my others that barely hit 100) and that was just a test to see what could work. So it's made me rethink content. I think your advice works because we're in a different industry now and a lot of people will get left behind if they don't hop on board with what's working. Much love to you, Nic. You seem like your heart is in the right place and I hope the video doesn't discourage you from sharing your thoughts and advice with those who need it most.
The biggest thing to take into account IMO is that in some genres it just takes longer to write and record songs. Metal, progressive, rock, jazz etc. can take weeks to months to rehearse and record. Conceivably those types of artists could build up a catalogue in advance and then drip feed them out, which I do. But there's no way I could write enough high quality material to release every two weeks. And that's not even considering the time the other musicians need to come up with their own parts and rehearse them.
Nic says exactly that, you do what works best for you. He never said this was the only way to go, he said you take a bit of information about everything and mix it making what works for you different from what works for me. It's important to keep your mind open and don't hate on everything you don't agree with. not saying you hate tho
@@oriohazuki1393 That's what I took away from Jesse's video. He said it's about 'context' multiple times. Yes you can learn from people like Nic, but be aware of the context they are coming from and how it applies to your genre and music.
@@yourbandisabusiness I think if you say that but at the same time have a title like that for clickbait, plus some other parts on the video, it's a bit contradictory, I felt like Jesse got triggered by some advice Nic gave but I understand that's marketing too. I just didn't feel that way after watching the video, but it's okay to have different opinions and Jesse gave some good advice too by the end of the video.
Always love your content. Release more of these hang out sessions too, even if you don't feel like you have anything to say. :) I just enjoy seeing you chill with all your donkeys and whatnot. Thanks.
commented on Jesse’s video but deleted because i’d rather not give him the satisfaction. Nic makes music he likes & feeds his family from it, sharing his strategy with others who want to do the same. you’d think it’d be pretty hard to get mad at that, but somehow Jesse managed. very gracious response here from Nic
I love releasing regularly. Triggering release radar each week and not forcing down people's throats has been much more successful (for me) than pushing one song for 8 weeks. For context, I have about 360k monthly listeners and generally hit about 1.2k streams on release day, primarily from release radar. Everyone is different though. It's about finding what works for you!
Before coming across Nic, I actually watched Jesse's video and tried stuff and nothing worked. I was having freakin anxiety attacks before I saw a video featuring Nic, asked a friend to buy the audiobook and then listened to his bonus podcast and the book in a single go! suddenly it all made sense. I have been following Nic and releasing at least 2 song every month since January 2024 (I do production mix master everything myself along with the content creation so can't do the weekly thing) and I have seen changes. No major breakthrough yet but I feel my reputation building, getting respect and people reaching out to me. I don't hate Jesse but I do hold grudge against him as his videos don't make sense for Independent artists and it's a bunch of BS which is in turn hurtful. You are a blessing for us all Nic, loads of love and gratitude to you.
I haven't watched that specific video yet but I think this is all so dope. I've started releasing music again and "my strategy" is honestly a mix of both you and Jessie's videos. You both have some different views on some things, but i think it all makes sense to one creative or another. ✌✌
My dude. I started implementing your advice and seeing lots of progress since. Haters always hate on people doing better than them. Sending love and respect.
Class act I've been listening to both of y'all's videos because this band I am in has just completed recording 50 songs and are planning a year-long campaign of releasing a song every week. We will be releasing a wide variety of genres with the backbone being punk rock. It will be interesting to see if the frequent release of songs and content strategy will translate well to our market. Best of luck in all your future endeavors
I respect both of your guys input on music marketing. Given Jesses background and the bands he helped developed it makes sense for his punk rock response and approach to marketing. I think your information is much more digestible to those willing to put in the extra effort beyond the music. I find your content more relatable to people just being themselves and not trying to buy into a genre the industry will try to put you in.
Much love and respect for you man. You're successful, your advices worked for many others and now they're successful too. The other guy is just Mr. Nobody who's jealous and is trying use your popularity in order to get some views. Same old story. Keep up with your great content and music. Looking forward to air some more of your songs on my radio station here in Italy. Peace
Jesse was disrespectful, so as much as I wanted to swear on his comment section, I decided not to and stopped watching immediately so as not to help his algorithm....
I agree the dude from that other vid came across as a bit of a DBag, he didn't say anything wrong but the way he did just seemed rude annoying & disrespectful which I think he does on purpose
I’ve trolled him before for trying to act like a teenager that knows it all, guys fragile as fuck and responded defending how he holds his microphone lol
Disrespectful video from that dude… I didn’t want to watch the whole thing but thought I’d use it for context. All I can say is a lot of your advice has helped not just my career as a musician, but my life in general. I always appreciate your transparency and the way you approach situations. Keep doing you! ✌️
You're the best! I wrote 52 songs in January now working on recording them by month so I can release consistently along with my full-time job with hopes to go full-time with my music one day instead. Also your book is amazing! Thank you for all you do to help others!
After watching the last video I saw of yours about having a concept first, I wrote a new song that is probably going to be the most accessible song I have ever done. I'm not made of money. I need this little money I have to make something. If I'm all about my personal taste, I'm dust. When I think about being myself but I'm really thinking about the audience, maybe I have a chance. I also cut the whole track in 7 hours studio time. A record. Thanks bud. Your advice is solid.
I’ve been trying to be more consistent and follow your methods Nic and I’ve gone from 13 to 50+ monthly listeners in a few weeks! I know that’s very small but I can only imagine how much it’ll grow if I keep going and get my content better 🙏🏾💪🏾. Preciate you bro
Your advice works my brother. You’re killing it & you’ve helped me gain traction on my Instagram, TikTok & more. You are not a theorist you are a practitioner. You are in the field doing the work you say and that’s why I can listen to you and many other artists can. Other TH-camrs are talking about what they “think” or what they haven’t done. You are directly doing it. We salute you. ❤️
Nic, I really want to thank you because your content, your music and your book, have helped me so much in my music career and my mental health... Just keep the great advise! ❤
Needed this reminder, Nic. Great to see you again in front of the camera. Grateful for the time you take to share your insight and believes. Loved your book - l’m implementing as much as I can. Currently releasing 1 song every 4-5 weeks but figuring out a new system to release every 2-3 weeks. 🤘🏽
Hey Nic, just wanted to drop a huge thank you here! Your advice for independent artists has been incredibly valuable. I’ve listened to your book 3-4 times already and I’m already seeing some exciting results with my music. Your insights and tips are making a real difference. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!
I literally went and tried to watch that Jesse guy, 1mn in, can't do it, he already sounds annoying, don't know him, don't want to know him. The idea of dissing other people in order to make contents is pitifull. Bro is just running out of ideas so he had to use someone and put that person down to make his video. Also, I've been following you for a couple of months now, and yes, your advices are helping 100%. Thanks .
Bro I wanted to share this quote you inspired me to say ! “Frequency creates inspiration” I drop music every single week and my streams are not huge but I build a fan a day and this music thing is fun man! Screw keeping music on a hard drive. Nic your inspire man and are right just drop it and get to the next song ! It’s not about just the art it’s about the fans as well 🙌🏾❤️
Thanks Nic! I’m gonna continue following your strategy. Just curious, with frequent releases, how do you coordinate when you post content for each song?
I watched jesses channel a long time and I stumbled upon your advice some months ago. Imo you both guys have advice that is useful and good. Jesses advice with seeking out community really helped me finding my audience, but your advice with releasing more songs and eventually more songs have the chance to get heard and go viral seems to work better then jesses "try to wait 4-6 weeks until you release another song to create more momentum" I think like always it really depends of many factors, as what music you make and what audience you have and so on.. We as the musician just need to keep being open for advice and try different things out.
Nik thanks for making this response. How can I apply your social media strategies when I make instrumental music? I’m struggling to come up with solid ideas I can repeat effortlessly.
Great response Nic! How would you look to know which song works and which don’t? All based on organic growth of the song on streams? Videos views? Thanks!
Good to hear these perspectives! Thanks. I am curious why you don’t seem to upload most of your short videos to YT shorts or your official releases as audio only/visualiser etc to your Nic D channel? They go on the Nic D - Topic channel but that’s often hard to find
I think a lot of this comes down to the pottery experiment. It's worth looking at, but the result was that quantity actually leads to quality more so than trying to create one perfect thing.
Thanks to your advice I've been making quick decisions, releasing every week this year and its working!! Also consistent quality content thanks to your suggestions. AND I don't do the same music, I do electronic music, so it proves it can work for any genre. Props to you bro. BTW I'd love to remix one of your songs ;)
Nic, so much respect for this response. Very mature, measured, and to the point. Your advice has the ring of truth to it and lines up with what other mentors have been telling me. You and Connor are what finally convinced me to start producing in a DAW and creating content. Enjoy your music, Connor's, and Forrest's immensely. Keep doing you bro, and Lord willing I'll be another testimonial to your methods in the coming years! 🤜🤛
I’m new to the music business, fan of Cannon and happy I got to hear your take on it, very informative and interesting. As an AI music guy, your strategy is a better fit but also yes, take what works for you. 😊
i love the dude's content and while I still recommend people read his books (cause he is one of those people who's actually done what he's teaching others to do), my chatting with him a month before this video came out there were several points of frustration he had with your method that didn't make sense to me. I get that there's a lot of fake "gurus" out there (especially with music advice) but I feel like we're almost circling around to the point where people are overly critical/suspicious of advice they disagree with and take it in bad faith. at the end of the day, Nic's method has worked for a lot of people, and Jesse's traditional method has worked for other people. there is no "right way".
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.”. -Leonard Cohen. FRDI is dropping pearls here. Be consistent and persistent nothing will ever beat that.
Hey Nic and the Frdi Fam!!! I’ve been following your strategy all year! I went from 50 monthly listeners on average the first year to over 1700 now. The waterfall strategy really feeds the algorithm and keeps us recommended on Spotify radio. Jesse was a hater for no reason. It’s sad people have to tear others down just for clicks. Just pray for him and wish him well. Good things will keep coming to you ! 🎉
Hi Nic, I really appreciate the way you handled this situation. You got my respect 👍 In terms of actual advice, I firmly believe that we should only take advice from those that have reaped the success of their own advice. There's just so many people giving each other advice out there but they have nothing to back up their words, to show that their advice actually works... It's like the blind leading the blind. It makes absolutely no sense to me. You've already proven the advice you give works in your own life, and I think that's already far more credible than many others out there.
I agree with you! Been in the industry for like 18 years! The industry is ever changing but yes because of how fast this industry moves and attention spans you have to over share what you are creating in hopes algorithms pushes it organically vs paid. if it works organically then it'll work with paid content
im releasing 100 songs this year, your advice has always stuck with me! you've helped me alot and I recommend you to any artist im friends with! thank you bro!
Appreciate you, those marketing gurus are just bitter because if independent artists crack the code on doing it themselves it puts guys like them out of work
You’re a class act Nic! I appreciate your recommendation of the book Go Giver. I really enjoyed it! I’m one of those guys who loves to make music, but is terrible at self promotion. You’re an inspiration!
That's my hope, that following your advice on releasing often and creating content will eventually pay off. I just need to get better at both making music and content. I did a couple of tracks via labels, yeah nah...
Ty ty. Idk I do a song a week, maybe 2 weeks & listeners are growing. Even given the fact that I dont do content or anything. My quality increased rapidly too.
Great response. Whilst we all have different genres, skill sets, audiences, resources and living situations there will be no objective way of doing this. Creating songs is the only limitless resource we have access to, so arbitrarily holding a song back makes little sense to me personally.
Nic, not only are you talented at what you do, but you are an amazing human being. Thank you for this masterclass on how to deal with disrespect. I admire you. 💙
Disagreeing with someone is one thing but being disrespectful like that is very lame when I’m sure you don’t even know that guy personally, great response though!
The tone of this video is so raw, while I do enjoy the other content creator that provides useful info. This video was better explaining your journey... as it should cause you're the artist 😂 You did a very good job keeping it respectful, and I'm kinda disappointed in the other guy, however that's how he reels in his folks. Loud, sarcastic at times, flashy edits & pretty good info. Didn't expect the guy to bring people down though 😅 people in comments just eat up the negativity. Any who thanks again and keep creating
Bro, I couldn’t even finish his videos, kind of hard to follow along with all the shit he says, I don’t like his vibe. He even called Connor Price “useful ideot” (represented by the “actor” guy with the gray hoodie). He just wants attention, click bait. I started following your advice, which makes total sense. Nic, the fact that someone uploaded a video talking BS about you and your team, it only means you’re killing it bro! 🙌🏼👏🏼 I like your honesty, your vibe, and your music. I’m on your team 💪🏼😎 thank you for sharing your experience and advice 🙏🏼
Read a bunch of the comments below. The fact that almost all of them are positive say a lot about Nic. When I first heard Nic's method, I initially cringed. Content first? Treat a music career as a business? Define a budget for a song based on how many streams would be required to make even and then profit? All of that felt like the exact opposite of everything I aspired to in music. But then, it clicked. First off, everything Nic says comes from a logical/common sense standpoint. If you want to reach people, you have to put yourself out there, and content/social media is THE way in 2024+. If you want to make a career out of music as an independent, you need to think in terms of business strategy. If you want to build momentum, you have to keep regularity. If you want to have a sustainable income, you have to think in terms of budget, sales, etc. Sorry, but that's the truth. There's a place both for the "artsy" musician (taking great pain in crafting his/hers "opus magnum", removing any other aspects from the process) as well as the more "pragmatic" musician. And we get to decide where we are in that continuum. Me? I have done music since I was 15, but have done a poor job at 1) finishing stuff and 2) bringing it to audiences. I'm at a point in my life where I HAVE to be deliberate if I want to change that. I no longer want to dabble with hundreds of unfinished songs, which means I need to set deadlines. I no longer want my music to be just for me, which means I need to create content and be active in social media. I don't have the same amount of free time I used to have, which means I'd rather be effective. I don't necessarily have as a primary goal to live off my music, but most of Nic's advise still holds true. Thanks for sharing your passion Nic!
Just hit don’t recommend channel on Jesse’s video. That was so tasteless and clearly click baity of him. Thanks for everything you’ve done for us Nic! Appreciate you!
my spotify was stuck in the hundreds from my own "paralysis by analysis." YOUR method made me set deadlines and i actually started finishing/releasing songs. i am now approaching 30k on spotify thanks to your advice. there's no definite right or wrong way to do it BUT your way is working for me
There are so many paths to getting your music out there, and it varies so much from artist to artist. Some artists love social media, some hate it with a burning passion. Some have a budget, some don't. Some take 3 months to write and record a song, others crank them out in a couple hours. One artist might see what you do, copy it and become successful while the next might rather quit music entirely than do things the way you do them - every artist is different.
For the most part all the major players in this 'music marketing content creator space' give great advice. Jesse gives a lot of great advice and i've seen you give a lot of great advice. The reason why our advice is conflicting sometimes is we all have our own areas of expertise and experiences. As a result I think it's best for artists learning this stuff to stay open minded and have multiple sources they learn from.
The only truth is that it's rarely ever 1 thing that makes an artist successful. Usually it's dozens of things done well and consistently over a period of time.
Yes, people don't meet only one person in their lives, we are all forced to interact with atleast two people in our lives in one way or another. Artists have more than one inspiration without them even trying, that also goes for marketing, you can try to learn from one person only, but that is impossible
Well said! I've found useful info from all you guys and just appreciate what you all do
S/o to Andrewsouthworth this is a great point! I think I find value from all 3 of you guys!
This is the most honest advice on this page, well said
The main man himself
thanks for the shoutout Nic! been following your strategy since February 2022 and it's literally changed my life. aka i can do music full time and focus on things that I want to work on music wise. Here's to more growth, better music, and better content for all of us!
- Drod
that's awesome bro, and I am working to achieve this too !
Congrats bro! Thats awesome 🔥
Same
I'm working on this too, so, congrats!
Hey man where you buy your streams from ?
I found your YT channel in December 2023 when I had 2k monthly listeners on Spotify. You inspired me so much that i started releasing music every month. It’s May 2024 and I have over 30k monthly listeners without having a viral song.
Thank you, Nic. You are doing a God’s work 🫶🏻✨
The fact that your response was as practical as it was respectful, this is why you are a legend. Thanks for being you, thanks for being rad.
Cheers,
Hunter
Nic’s energy is cooler than Jessie’s
Jessie is dark
It’s a shame ‘cause I definitely want to hear what he has to say about marketing
Theyre both dorks lol. One is a musician so that may may some people like him more or like him less,& the other guy is a professional so the same goes for him but generally speaking Jesse has more practicalf information and this guy is more about flufy stuff (which is good for youtube)
Seriously? Do you follow a guy for "energy" and not for actual info and it's applyability?
Well said Nic way to take the high road I felt the way Jesse had someone impersonate you and discredit your advice was uncalled for. You a real one bro. Thank you for continuing to be authentically you and transparent.
I’m all for people having their own opinion and I never mind anyone disagreeing with me but it did feel more like a personal attack than a disagreement in release strategy. All good regardless! I just want to help artists win.
What do you think about tiktok might be banned in the US?@@frdiforartists
Your advice literally changed my life. I get to do music full time now and it’s been putting food on the table.
Don’t know what whoever that dude is said but I’m sure he didn’t buy a 27 acre home with a song.
Everything is literately there, you just gotta scroll down Nics TikTok to see it’s all true.
Please. What did you do that he said? What turned it all around for you?
I call BS! And I guarantee I get a BS answer.
@@ALLGOOD_MUSIC lol chill bro, everything is in his videos and he even said it here again: release often (once a week or every 2 weeks) AND create content for those releases. That’s literally it. Promote the song with content only after it’s out on streaming platforms. I released songs and posted content after and some tiktoks got more then 2 million views that converted to a streams ( a percentage of those viewers, not 100%) . Already had a catalogue with more than 200 songs out so it helped to convert casual listeners to fans. Wish I could post my Spotify for artist stats here for you to see. I took the time to reply just cause some other people might actually apply the advice here given by Nic. But if you call BS it’s only affecting you and your pocket. It’s your problem lol
Me and other artists applying the tactics are already eating.
@@ALLGOOD_MUSIC go check my IG, TikTok and Spotify to see it’s all true and it all works, or Nics profiles too or the artists he mentions. Did you even watch the video? lol
@@SebastianRomeroMusic That’s so cool! Congrats on your success!
I stopped listening to that guy a year ago and saw growth when I started doing my own thing more akin to your advice.
I heard jesses post when it dropped and I instantly took it with a grain. Consistency:Quality:Frequency is simply not up for debate
Took me a long time to realize that we have gotten stuck on these weekly music advice channels for the dopamine instead of just doing the work they said to do five years ago.
Where have you seen growth?
Classy response my dude. Jesse was rude AF.
Tru
Your advice has brought me from 4.5k to over 40k monthly listeners in about 6 months. And I'm growing daily man. I am so grateful for your advice and for you sharing your experiences and what has worked for you. It's working for me too and I'm leaving other artists at my level in my genre in the dust. Love u bro. I'm now dropping a song every single week just like you
Shoutout from Culpeper! I’ve watched Jesse’s channel for a while now and I own both his book and yours. The two of you come from different backgrounds in the industry and different worlds as far as him being a New Yorker and you being a Virginian. It’s unfortunate to me that Jesse seems to be holding a ton of unnecessary resentment towards you because of your personal differences. He has no reason for pettiness despite his disagreement with you. I’ve gotten value from both of your channels, so it’s just sad to see how he, (probably deliberately,) made it extra obvious that he was talking about you with a poorly blurred picture in his thumbnail, the name he gave you in the video, and the farm green screens that kinda screamed Culpeper 😂. I know that you have thick skin and won’t let that kind of thing get to you, but I hope you know that you’re appreciated and I’m glad you were able to respond humbly and graciously to criticism.
Based 👏👏👏
I remember this window of time. Everything Nic said is 100% true.
aye ruslan
I unsubbed from him because of that video. Rude for no reason.
same
drama generates clicks unfortunately
I went from 12 monthly listeners in March to 1219 as of today. I’ve been consistently pushing content and releasing music. Followed your advice and it helped me. Thanks bro
I’m following your release strategy and not only has my audience grown, but my workflow has been more intentional and more efficient. 💪🏼
Thanks to you, Nic, I'm now 4 releases into a biweekly strategy with another dropping this Friday. While I have not had a lot of time to keep up with content amidst a big move, I have gotten in the habit and can feel exponential improvements as a recording artist. You're so right - frequency forces you to grow. Even if I cannot make this thing make money, I am growing and making music that makes me so proud. Thank you for being a source of inspiration and guidance. You're the closest thing I have to a mentor in this business, and for that, I'm extremely grateful.
Dude he gives solid advice. I’m trying it and I’ve already had a huge pop on Spotify. Nothing on socials yet but my content sucks! Why lie to myself? I feel like being honest about improving is the priceless part here preaches
@@TheExodusLost congrats on your Spotify success! It’s so cool to see how many artists have been impacted by Nic’s tips
I’ve been implementing your advice since January and my monthly listeners have fluctuated from around 30 people to 5k! I really appreciate all the advice you give and for being a humble, good guy in general
nah Nic you’re quite literally the GOAT, I don’t even think Russ understandings the marketing like you.
I run a page called vending Machine where I tell independent artists stories and your THE FIRST PERSON I tell artists to go watch if they send me a dm and want to learn how to grow.
Thank you for everything you do for the independent artist landscape and sending all the love from South Africa 🇿🇦
That's gotta be the most tasteful and classy response video to ever grace the internet. Love the content 🙌
After experiencing the professionalism, respectfulness and congruence of your reaction to the bomb that guy dropped on you, i must say i like you more than before, thank you for the value and keep crushing it bro 💪
These video's help more than you realise Nic! Thank you for making them :)
I think the way you handled this speaks volumes. Two points I would like to make. 1. The further I get in music the more I realize there's no ONE WAY to do this stuff. Anyone who says otherwise usually has an agenda trying to sell you something. 2. Some people in the music (business) space have insanely large egos. Even if they shouldn't. And it clouds their decision making.
facts
well said sir
Things I've learned since 2016 was learning how to market my music like selling CDs, posting my music on social media etc. But two main things you made me realize is
1. You gotta MAKE CONTENT to promote your music you can't just put it out there to the public.
And
2. You gotta make a catalog. You said before, that its better to have lots of songs released, rather than having two songs released that you think are great. You should have as many songs as you can because quality is subjective, and not many people will like the two songs you have out
(no matter the quality)
And that is a FACT. 💯
Love it! Glad you found some value!!
you sold cds in 2016? are you still doing it? i don't subscribe to any music streaming services and i don't think anyone else should, i want physical to dominate again, but i want to know how to positively contribute to that.
I’ve done Jesse’s strategy and I’ve done your strategy Nic. I’ve found a lot more success using your methods. I thought it was odd that he went out his way to mock and discredit you, but regardless the stuff you teach is more fitting for INDEPENDENT artists. Love the stuff you do brother, I listen to your book weekly and it has helped me tremendously so thank you 🙏🏾
Nic is one of the most genuine people out here giving advice on how to build a independent and sustainable music career. and he's an actual ARTIST who speaks from experience... kudos to you for the way you're handling this Nic D!
Since following your advice, I've made better music, have a better outlook on my future and overall, have more confidence that I'm on the right path. One recent video went to 11,000 views (as opposed to my others that barely hit 100) and that was just a test to see what could work. So it's made me rethink content. I think your advice works because we're in a different industry now and a lot of people will get left behind if they don't hop on board with what's working.
Much love to you, Nic. You seem like your heart is in the right place and I hope the video doesn't discourage you from sharing your thoughts and advice with those who need it most.
The biggest thing to take into account IMO is that in some genres it just takes longer to write and record songs. Metal, progressive, rock, jazz etc. can take weeks to months to rehearse and record. Conceivably those types of artists could build up a catalogue in advance and then drip feed them out, which I do. But there's no way I could write enough high quality material to release every two weeks. And that's not even considering the time the other musicians need to come up with their own parts and rehearse them.
Nic says exactly that, you do what works best for you. He never said this was the only way to go, he said you take a bit of information about everything and mix it making what works for you different from what works for me. It's important to keep your mind open and don't hate on everything you don't agree with. not saying you hate tho
@@oriohazuki1393 That's what I took away from Jesse's video. He said it's about 'context' multiple times. Yes you can learn from people like Nic, but be aware of the context they are coming from and how it applies to your genre and music.
@@yourbandisabusiness I think if you say that but at the same time have a title like that for clickbait, plus some other parts on the video, it's a bit contradictory, I felt like Jesse got triggered by some advice Nic gave but I understand that's marketing too. I just didn't feel that way after watching the video, but it's okay to have different opinions and Jesse gave some good advice too by the end of the video.
Jesse feelin threatened
Always love your content. Release more of these hang out sessions too, even if you don't feel like you have anything to say. :) I just enjoy seeing you chill with all your donkeys and whatnot. Thanks.
commented on Jesse’s video but deleted because i’d rather not give him the satisfaction. Nic makes music he likes & feeds his family from it, sharing his strategy with others who want to do the same. you’d think it’d be pretty hard to get mad at that, but somehow Jesse managed. very gracious response here from Nic
I love releasing regularly. Triggering release radar each week and not forcing down people's throats has been much more successful (for me) than pushing one song for 8 weeks. For context, I have about 360k monthly listeners and generally hit about 1.2k streams on release day, primarily from release radar.
Everyone is different though. It's about finding what works for you!
Before coming across Nic, I actually watched Jesse's video and tried stuff and nothing worked. I was having freakin anxiety attacks before I saw a video featuring Nic, asked a friend to buy the audiobook and then listened to his bonus podcast and the book in a single go! suddenly it all made sense. I have been following Nic and releasing at least 2 song every month since January 2024 (I do production mix master everything myself along with the content creation so can't do the weekly thing) and I have seen changes. No major breakthrough yet but I feel my reputation building, getting respect and people reaching out to me.
I don't hate Jesse but I do hold grudge against him as his videos don't make sense for Independent artists and it's a bunch of BS which is in turn hurtful.
You are a blessing for us all Nic, loads of love and gratitude to you.
Damn, there's music marketer beef on here. I've seen it with fitness TH-camrs, but I guess it was bound to happen eventually
I haven't watched that specific video yet but I think this is all so dope. I've started releasing music again and "my strategy" is honestly a mix of both you and Jessie's videos. You both have some different views on some things, but i think it all makes sense to one creative or another. ✌✌
My dude. I started implementing your advice and seeing lots of progress since. Haters always hate on people doing better than them. Sending love and respect.
Class act I've been listening to both of y'all's videos because this band I am in has just completed recording 50 songs and are planning a year-long campaign of releasing a song every week. We will be releasing a wide variety of genres with the backbone being punk rock. It will be interesting to see if the frequent release of songs and content strategy will translate well to our market. Best of luck in all your future endeavors
Love your style, man. That other dude is not worthy.
I respect both of your guys input on music marketing. Given Jesses background and the bands he helped developed it makes sense for his punk rock response and approach to marketing.
I think your information is much more digestible to those willing to put in the extra effort beyond the music. I find your content more relatable to people just being themselves and not trying to buy into a genre the industry will try to put you in.
Glad to have you back droppin videos on this channel 🙏🏾
Much love and respect for you man. You're successful, your advices worked for many others and now they're successful too. The other guy is just Mr. Nobody who's jealous and is trying use your popularity in order to get some views. Same old story. Keep up with your great content and music. Looking forward to air some more of your songs on my radio station here in Italy. Peace
Great video and response Nic. Thank you for everything you do to be positive, informative, and respectful to the music.
Jesse was disrespectful, so as much as I wanted to swear on his comment section, I decided not to and stopped watching immediately so as not to help his algorithm....
Same
I agree the dude from that other vid came across as a bit of a DBag, he didn't say anything wrong but the way he did just seemed rude annoying & disrespectful which I think he does on purpose
i hate listening to that dude sound so nasally lmao
I’ve trolled him before for trying to act like a teenager that knows it all, guys fragile as fuck and responded defending how he holds his microphone lol
Disrespectful video from that dude… I didn’t want to watch the whole thing but thought I’d use it for context.
All I can say is a lot of your advice has helped not just my career as a musician, but my life in general. I always appreciate your transparency and the way you approach situations. Keep doing you! ✌️
You're the best! I wrote 52 songs in January now working on recording them by month so I can release consistently along with my full-time job with hopes to go full-time with my music one day instead. Also your book is amazing! Thank you for all you do to help others!
It’s the mic on the hat for me 😂 Great response video, Nic!
After watching the last video I saw of yours about having a concept first, I wrote a new song that is probably going to be the most accessible song I have ever done. I'm not made of money. I need this little money I have to make something. If I'm all about my personal taste, I'm dust. When I think about being myself but I'm really thinking about the audience, maybe I have a chance. I also cut the whole track in 7 hours studio time. A record. Thanks bud. Your advice is solid.
I’ve been trying to be more consistent and follow your methods Nic and I’ve gone from 13 to 50+ monthly listeners in a few weeks! I know that’s very small but I can only imagine how much it’ll grow if I keep going and get my content better 🙏🏾💪🏾. Preciate you bro
Thanks so much for making this 🙏. I was super confused after Jesse’s video.
Great stuff dude! Being Real AF and grounded and humble in the face of criticism speaks volumes of your character.
Your advice is changing lifes and careers. Keep it up Nic!
I haven’t even listened to your industry advice yet…. But seeing you handle criticism with grace and confidence makes me want to . Good job.
Your advice works my brother. You’re killing it & you’ve helped me gain traction on my Instagram, TikTok & more. You are not a theorist you are a practitioner. You are in the field doing the work you say and that’s why I can listen to you and many other artists can. Other TH-camrs are talking about what they “think” or what they haven’t done. You are directly doing it. We salute you. ❤️
Do you offer content editing posting. Im
looking for assistance
Nic, I really want to thank you because your content, your music and your book, have helped me so much in my music career and my mental health... Just keep the great advise! ❤
Needed this reminder, Nic. Great to see you again in front of the camera. Grateful for the time you take to share your insight and believes. Loved your book - l’m implementing as much as I can. Currently releasing 1 song every 4-5 weeks but figuring out a new system to release every 2-3 weeks. 🤘🏽
Hey Nic, just wanted to drop a huge thank you here! Your advice for independent artists has been incredibly valuable. I’ve listened to your book 3-4 times already and I’m already seeing some exciting results with my music. Your insights and tips are making a real difference. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience!
I literally went and tried to watch that Jesse guy, 1mn in, can't do it, he already sounds annoying, don't know him, don't want to know him. The idea of dissing other people in order to make contents is pitifull. Bro is just running out of ideas so he had to use someone and put that person down to make his video. Also, I've been following you for a couple of months now, and yes, your advices are helping 100%. Thanks .
Keep doing you mate - love all the advice !
Bro I wanted to share this quote you inspired me to say ! “Frequency creates inspiration” I drop music every single week and my streams are not huge but I build a fan a day and this music thing is fun man! Screw keeping music on a hard drive. Nic your inspire man and are right just drop it and get to the next song ! It’s not about just the art it’s about the fans as well 🙌🏾❤️
Thanks Nic! I’m gonna continue following your strategy. Just curious, with frequent releases, how do you coordinate when you post content for each song?
I watched jesses channel a long time and I stumbled upon your advice some months ago. Imo you both guys have advice that is useful and good. Jesses advice with seeking out community really helped me finding my audience, but your advice with releasing more songs and eventually more songs have the chance to get heard and go viral seems to work better then jesses "try to wait 4-6 weeks until you release another song to create more momentum"
I think like always it really depends of many factors, as what music you make and what audience you have and so on.. We as the musician just need to keep being open for advice and try different things out.
Nik thanks for making this response. How can I apply your social media strategies when I make instrumental music? I’m struggling to come up with solid ideas I can repeat effortlessly.
Great response Nic! How would you look to know which song works and which don’t? All based on organic growth of the song on streams? Videos views? Thanks!
Appreciate u sharing as always dawg 💯 you’re definitely a top figure for independent artists to pay attention too currently
Good to hear these perspectives! Thanks. I am curious why you don’t seem to upload most of your short videos to YT shorts or your official releases as audio only/visualiser etc to your Nic D channel? They go on the Nic D - Topic channel but that’s often hard to find
More than your thoughts, I appreciate your attitude toward the situation
I think a lot of this comes down to the pottery experiment. It's worth looking at, but the result was that quantity actually leads to quality more so than trying to create one perfect thing.
thanks for everything Nic, you showing how to handle hate maturely!
I find all your advice amazing
Thanks to your advice I've been making quick decisions, releasing every week this year and its working!! Also consistent quality content thanks to your suggestions. AND I don't do the same music, I do electronic music, so it proves it can work for any genre. Props to you bro. BTW I'd love to remix one of your songs ;)
release both music frequently and content frequently, thats a gem thanks Nic 💎🙏🏽📝
Nic, so much respect for this response. Very mature, measured, and to the point. Your advice has the ring of truth to it and lines up with what other mentors have been telling me. You and Connor are what finally convinced me to start producing in a DAW and creating content. Enjoy your music, Connor's, and Forrest's immensely. Keep doing you bro, and Lord willing I'll be another testimonial to your methods in the coming years! 🤜🤛
I’m new to the music business, fan of Cannon and happy I got to hear your take on it, very informative and interesting. As an AI music guy, your strategy is a better fit but also yes, take what works for you. 😊
Thanks bro. I appreciate the game as well as your heart behind it. God bless.
i love the dude's content and while I still recommend people read his books (cause he is one of those people who's actually done what he's teaching others to do), my chatting with him a month before this video came out there were several points of frustration he had with your method that didn't make sense to me.
I get that there's a lot of fake "gurus" out there (especially with music advice) but I feel like we're almost circling around to the point where people are overly critical/suspicious of advice they disagree with and take it in bad faith.
at the end of the day, Nic's method has worked for a lot of people, and Jesse's traditional method has worked for other people. there is no "right way".
“Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work.”. -Leonard Cohen.
FRDI is dropping pearls here.
Be consistent and persistent nothing will ever beat that.
Hey Nic and the Frdi Fam!!!
I’ve been following your strategy all year! I went from 50 monthly listeners on average the first year to over 1700 now. The waterfall strategy really feeds the algorithm and keeps us recommended on Spotify radio. Jesse was a hater for no reason. It’s sad people have to tear others down just for clicks. Just pray for him and wish him well. Good things will keep coming to you ! 🎉
Hi Nic,
I really appreciate the way you handled this situation. You got my respect 👍
In terms of actual advice, I firmly believe that we should only take advice from those that have reaped the success of their own advice. There's just so many people giving each other advice out there but they have nothing to back up their words, to show that their advice actually works... It's like the blind leading the blind. It makes absolutely no sense to me.
You've already proven the advice you give works in your own life, and I think that's already far more credible than many others out there.
I agree with you! Been in the industry for like 18 years! The industry is ever changing but yes because of how fast this industry moves and attention spans you have to over share what you are creating in hopes algorithms pushes it organically vs paid. if it works organically then it'll work with paid content
Nic, thanks for all you do. You are the best!
im releasing 100 songs this year, your advice has always stuck with me! you've helped me alot and I recommend you to any artist im friends with! thank you bro!
Way to keep a cool head and give an honest, measured response to an incendiary provocation.
Appreciate you, those marketing gurus are just bitter because if independent artists crack the code on doing it themselves it puts guys like them out of work
Great video, well stated and masterfully handled.
You’re a class act Nic! I appreciate your recommendation of the book Go Giver. I really enjoyed it! I’m one of those guys who loves to make music, but is terrible at self promotion. You’re an inspiration!
That's my hope, that following your advice on releasing often and creating content will eventually pay off. I just need to get better at both making music and content. I did a couple of tracks via labels, yeah nah...
This response makes me respect you even more
That guy is a tool. He said something about Nic before and he got triggered because people were defending him.
Ty ty.
Idk I do a song a week, maybe 2 weeks & listeners are growing. Even given the fact that I dont do content or anything.
My quality increased rapidly too.
Great response. Whilst we all have different genres, skill sets, audiences, resources and living situations there will be no objective way of doing this. Creating songs is the only limitless resource we have access to, so arbitrarily holding a song back makes little sense to me personally.
I don’t know anything about Jesse, but I appreciate the information you put out and sharing your story so that others can learn from you. Thanks 🙏
Nic, not only are you talented at what you do, but you are an amazing human being. Thank you for this masterclass on how to deal with disrespect. I admire you. 💙
your method works for me that way had landed me on a spotify editorial every time i release a song they post it
Absolute elegance kudos for you
🤝
Disagreeing with someone is one thing but being disrespectful like that is very lame when I’m sure you don’t even know that guy personally, great response though!
The tone of this video is so raw, while I do enjoy the other content creator that provides useful info. This video was better explaining your journey... as it should cause you're the artist 😂 You did a very good job keeping it respectful, and I'm kinda disappointed in the other guy, however that's how he reels in his folks. Loud, sarcastic at times, flashy edits & pretty good info. Didn't expect the guy to bring people down though 😅 people in comments just eat up the negativity. Any who thanks again and keep creating
Bro, I couldn’t even finish his videos, kind of hard to follow along with all the shit he says, I don’t like his vibe. He even called Connor Price “useful ideot” (represented by the “actor” guy with the gray hoodie). He just wants attention, click bait. I started following your advice, which makes total sense. Nic, the fact that someone uploaded a video talking BS about you and your team, it only means you’re killing it bro! 🙌🏼👏🏼 I like your honesty, your vibe, and your music. I’m on your team 💪🏼😎 thank you for sharing your experience and advice 🙏🏼
Read a bunch of the comments below. The fact that almost all of them are positive say a lot about Nic.
When I first heard Nic's method, I initially cringed. Content first? Treat a music career as a business? Define a budget for a song based on how many streams would be required to make even and then profit? All of that felt like the exact opposite of everything I aspired to in music.
But then, it clicked.
First off, everything Nic says comes from a logical/common sense standpoint. If you want to reach people, you have to put yourself out there, and content/social media is THE way in 2024+. If you want to make a career out of music as an independent, you need to think in terms of business strategy. If you want to build momentum, you have to keep regularity. If you want to have a sustainable income, you have to think in terms of budget, sales, etc. Sorry, but that's the truth.
There's a place both for the "artsy" musician (taking great pain in crafting his/hers "opus magnum", removing any other aspects from the process) as well as the more "pragmatic" musician. And we get to decide where we are in that continuum.
Me? I have done music since I was 15, but have done a poor job at 1) finishing stuff and 2) bringing it to audiences. I'm at a point in my life where I HAVE to be deliberate if I want to change that. I no longer want to dabble with hundreds of unfinished songs, which means I need to set deadlines. I no longer want my music to be just for me, which means I need to create content and be active in social media. I don't have the same amount of free time I used to have, which means I'd rather be effective.
I don't necessarily have as a primary goal to live off my music, but most of Nic's advise still holds true.
Thanks for sharing your passion Nic!
I love your content and your book. Classy response 👑
Just hit don’t recommend channel on Jesse’s video. That was so tasteless and clearly click baity of him. Thanks for everything you’ve done for us Nic! Appreciate you!
my spotify was stuck in the hundreds from my own "paralysis by analysis." YOUR method made me set deadlines and i actually started finishing/releasing songs. i am now approaching 30k on spotify thanks to your advice. there's no definite right or wrong way to do it BUT your way is working for me