Bad marketing may not be why no one is listening to your music.

Sure, the world is full of talented artists who struggle to get the word out about their work, but I would venture to say that, for most, unappreciated talent isn’t the biggest problem.

It’s also not the marketing.

It’s the music.

So before we start throwing money at ads, playlists, or however else you intend to promote your work, let’s ask ourselves a few simple questions to ensure we maximize our efforts and generate the most return for our time and our money.

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Is my music any good?

This really is the most important question any artist can ask.

Unfortunately, few seem to do so.

Look, I will never stop encouraging people to pursue their dreams, but the last thing the world needs is yet another Spotify artist profile with zero listeners and zero streams.

But they seem to keep piling up.

Why?

Some might say, “Well, it’s because these artists don’t know how to market their music,” and while that may be true in some cases, it’s far more likely that most of these accounts are this way because the music just isn’t up to par.

Yes, quality is subjective.

And yes, different genres play by different rules.

But every one of us would likely find more success downstream of our efforts if we took the time to ensure the product we’re creating can actually compete in the market.

Listen to the winners in your niche.

What are they doing well?

Why are they winning?

Now I will always be a fan of moving quickly and building a catalog of songs, but not at the expense of a product that is competitive.

If we want to successfully market our music, we have to have music that is worthy of success in the first place.

Which leads us to our next point…

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Is this something people want?

If there’s no market for your product, it doesn’t matter how good it is.

We all love to make the art we love to make without considering the outcome of making it.

I’m as guilty as the next guy.

That’s what it means to find joy in the process, and this is not a bad thing.

But if we’re thinking about our creative work from a product marketing perspective, we have to create a product other people actually want.

I mean, if Nike made shoes for your hands, would you really buy them?

Sure, maybe as a joke, one time, but no one in their right mind would expect that product to be useful in the long term.

Music is the same way.

Pouring your heart and soul into a product that nobody wants can be heartbreaking, and that experience can set you back.

But we can minimize that heartache by doing a small amount of research in advance.

We all have a unique artistic voice, but I think we tend to overlook the fact that that voice can manifest itself in a variety of ways.

You aren’t bound to the first genre or style that came most naturally to you when you first picked up an instrument.

You also don’t have to do only one thing.

Part of being an artist is evolving, adapting, and maturing in your craft.

And if you can take some cues from your audience in your effort to improve, all the better.

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Am I prepared to take some risks?

Creating art carries with it inherent risks.

It’s the nature of the game.

So, as artists, we should all be relatively familiar with the concept of risk and the rewards that lie on the other side of it.

However, creating is just the first risk in a long line of risks that it takes to succeed.

Marketing, in and of itself, is a massive risk.

You’re putting yourself out there every day—posting, running ads, commenting, sharing, etc.

These are all opportunities to experience victories, but they can also be doorways to failure.

And failure is inevitable.

You’ll get the bad comments.

You’ll release the songs that flop.

And you’ll say the wrong thing.

But without the possibility of failure, the rewards wouldn’t be as sweet.

So before you hit publish on that good song that people actually want, go ahead and mentally prepare yourself for the fact that this is going to be a game of iteration and adaptation, not a quick-fix lotto-ticket-style win.

If you can keep creating, keep evolving, and keep putting yourself out there, on a long enough timeline, you will build a body of work (and a career) you can be proud of.

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