Despite my wife’s non-negotiable support, I really had no idea how or where to start my campaign to take the music of Them Creepy Crawlies to the world. I had a vague and naive plan to build followers on Facebook and Instagram whom I would encourage to stream my songs on Spotify. But I had no idea what this encouragement would look like or, indeed, how to create the content. Anyway, shouldn’t I focus on selling tickets to gigs because didn’t you have to have zillions of streams to make the smallest bit of money? And is it really about the money? Isn’t it about the appreciation of your art? Isn’t it about people thinking your songs are good?
After a week of googling how to promote your indie band, a strategy still confused, my Facebook became bombarded with the beatific smile of John Gold, fizzing and promising a stairway to Spotify heaven.
Sod it, I thought, the strategy can come later; more Spotify streams will do just fine for now. To be honest, after parting with $99 to purchase John’s Spotify Growth Engine (SGE) program, it felt like I was falling for one of those click-me cons where you know you shouldn’t but just can’t help it. Mind you, John’s super-slick video was far removed from an email sent by some exotic prince promising to share untold fortunes in return for your bank account details.
Turns out this 2022 emeer is pretty well respected, and his excellent training is delivered in 11 videos of between 5 and 50 minutes. Along with their access, you’re invited to the SGE Facebook page where musicians discuss their experiences and provide advice to each other. You also get a flirty mix of free and pay-for add-on resources.
Simply, the SGE teaches you how to get people to your Spotify page by using Facebook advertising and its lookalike targeting tool. Lookalike targeting is a way your ads can reach people who are likely to be interested in you because they share similar characteristics to you – in this case bands and genres.
So, the first thing I needed to do was think about lookalike, or rather soundalike bands. This has been an ongoing challenge for genre-confused, eclectically influenced Them Creepy Crawlies and I’ve had people liken various songs to Tin Machine, REM, Barracudas, Buzzcocks, Augie March - even Pink Floyd ffs! These are bands solidly tagged to a sound and a crowd, not like us who are bit gangless. Mind you, I suppose Lennon and McCartney weren’t bothered by categories when they wrote Helter Skelter (punk), A Day In The Life (psychedelic), You Got To Hide Your Love Away (folk), When I’m 64 (music hall) and no end of Mersey beat and pop. (Oh, hang on: beatles, creepy crawlies…)
(By the way, there’s a web site called Music-Map where you can add a band name and see who sounds the same. Put in the Beatles and the 3 bands nearest them are Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and Queen! I tried Them Creepy Crawlies and it asked me to check the spelling…)
I digress.
The long-term goal is, of course, Spotify streams (and followers) which rich people and cashed-up record labels can sort of buy with large advertising budgets. But, as the SME teaches, for hard-up independent artists the aim should be to interest Spotify’s algorithm that will, in turn, interest Spotify’s playlist curators that will, in turn, lead to being included in Discover Weekly that will, in turn, lead to heaps of streams that will, in turn, lead to nirvana.
Rather than a streaming smash and grab, to poke the algorithm bear you need consistency. Spotify wants to see a song resonate with an audience, and when they do, they reward you with playlisting. Obviously, you must achieve some critical mass first, so you need a song that gives you the most clicks for the minimum Facebook advertising budget of $5 a day and the only way to do this is test – test songs, test soundalike bands, test audiences, test advertising creative. Give each song a week, they say, and when you find the one with the lowest click per conversation $ rate, run that one for a longer period.
Still with me?
So, I’ve now ‘tested’ two songs twice, changing the soundalikes. Don’t laugh, okay, but for Come and Go I’ve done, David Bowie, Violent Femmes, The Pixies, The Cure, Talking Heads, Joy Division, Indie Rock, Alternative Rock and New Wave.
Worst performing lookalike audiences was not the Violent Femmes but The Pixies (bugger) that garnered a predictably hopeless 3 clicks though to Spotify.
On the other hand, the best performing lookalike audience was, infact, Joy Division with 199. Joy Division! For those who know their Facebook advertising, it achieved a CPC of $0.32 which, according to the sages on SGE’s Facebook page, is okay for a beginner over Christmas.
For Buy Some Time I only tested 4 audiences. Queens of the Stone Age amassed a surprisingly low 9 clicks and I say surprising because I pinched the first 3 chords from their song I Sat By The Ocean – okay, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. Then there’s a jump to 52 for Arctic Monkeys and another one to 98 for Dandy Warhols. But way out in front with 162 conversation was the Foo Fighters. However, again for you Facebook aficionados, the best CPC was for the Dandies at $0.33 whereas the Foos only achieved $0.42.
So, what does all this mean?
Fuck knows! But here’s some fun facts: Before starting the SME we had 403 Spotify streams gathered over 18 months. Today we have 1232 so for an investment of $155 I might expect a royalty payment of $3. However, we’ve increased our Spotify followers from 24 to 57and monthly listeners have risen from 9 to 172. Even our Facebook and Instagram followers have risen to 320 and 149 from 278 and 113 respectively. So, I’m feeling a bit of love especially from Brazil and Mexico, currently top of the 'where our listeners are from' charts.
But why did Buy Some Time, a more conventional rock song, provide a lower CPC than the genre-challenged Come and Go. Why did the fans of the Dandys like it more than those of the QOTSA. Do I sound more Courtney than Josh? And does Ad 3 in the 2nd campaign perform better than the others because it’s a more ecstatic song clip? What other sound-a-like bands should I try? Spotify tells me my listeners tend to be over 45 so should I target younger bands for younger listeners? I don’t know any younger bands. Should I limit adverts to Tier 1 countries only? Include FB and IG stories and reels? Do I have to spend more money to reach the magic 50 conversations and what does that mean, anyway? Welcome to the Stress Growth Engine.
Overall, while the numbers seem tiny and Discover Weekly remains a distant dream, I’m buoyed by the experience and I’m spending time learning something interesting rather than moronically binging dramas daily on Netflix. I don’t care if my friends are currently more passionate discussing Line of Duty than Them Creepy Crawlies’ latest EP, it’s only a matter of time ‘til they’ll want to know if La Phonographique actually existed and whether Tina really was a ballerina or Ernie a drug dealing male prostitute. So, I’m going to commit to 6 months of trying stuff before deciding either to chuck it in or actually develop a serious plan.
Oh…and I sold a tee-shirt to someone in Brazil!
- After having a man-look, I decided on bandzoogle for our web site mainly because Rick Barker, Taylor Swift’s former manager told me to, and it’s linked to free print-on-demand merch platform Printful. Although I’m a bit torn because you can now promote three merch items/bundles on Spotify if you have a not-free Shopify account.
- On the other hand, the blog functionality is hopeless as we can’t have conversations and there’s no sign-up. I must find a better platform. Btw…thanks to everyone who left a comment last time!
- Been having a conversation with my friend Sarah about whether selling music requires you to sell your personality. And is it my brand or the band’s brand or both? Unfortunately, with 60,000 songs released every day on Spotify having a good song is irrelevant so if I am to take the music of TCC to the world I’m/we’re going to have to have the courage to put myself/ourselves out there naked and unplugged.
- I’ve signed up for John’s YouTube Growth Engine so expect news on that next time but I’m going to continue with the Spotify stuff and the next song I’m going to test is Fashion Queens. Have a listen and leave your thoughts on a soundalike band in the comments below. Best CPC I’ll send you a CD of our new album that’s coming out around Easter.
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Hey ho
Neil
xoxo