You guys know me, so you know I love to test new strategies to market my music and build my audience online.
It really is the foundation of what I do.
Now, it would be easy to sit back and ride the wave of what’s working, but that’s not my style. Plus, with every test comes an opportunity to save someone else from the many bad options out there.
So here are three things I’ve recently started testing to market my music and build my fanbase.
New ad set targeting
I’m not gonna lie—my ads have been killing it lately.
I’ve been targeting ages 13-34, with completely open detailed targeting, all in top-tier countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and more.
And I’ve been averaging $0.20 per conversion with this setup for the month of January.
🤯
But that doesn’t mean there might not be room for improvement.
To that end, I recently introduced a new ad set with the following targeting setup:
I’m still targeting the same 13 countries as before, but I’ve narrowed the age breakdown to 18-34 and have included a slew of detailed targeting options as well (I did my best to capture them all in multiple screenshots above).
There are 10 options in all, and as you can likely tell by some of them, I’m trying to think outside the box a bit on this one.
As for setup, this new ad set will be running alongside my current ad set of 13-34 with open targeting for the foreseeable future just to see what happens.
No spending limits or anything else.
May the best ad set win.
Playlist Push
Last week, I dropped a video detailing my first time using Playlist Push in three years.
I have done zero playlisting since 2020, so I figured it was time to test my arm at it again so I could, if nothing else, give an up-to-date opinion on the matter.
I’m using my song “Hero” in the campaign, and the primary metrics I’m looking at to determine success are the track’s popularity score and my genre association as an artist on Spotify.
If either of these things improves, I will consider the experiment not to be a total failure.
Of course, I’m running the risk that this could negatively impact my success on Spotify as well.
Look for a follow-up video in a few weeks to see the results of this little hair-brained experiment.
Short-form video
If I’ve made one pseudo-resolution at all for the new year, it’s to master short-form video.
I’ve already been testing a lot of ideas outside of my comfort zone to find the cross-section of what I enjoy making and what’s most effective.
The single biggest hurdle that has prevented me from pursuing short-form in the past has been the pressure (and time) it takes to find the right sound.
To fix this, I’ve decided to (almost) exclusively use my own music in every video. I’m sure a video or two will happen where that’s not the case, but recently, the sounds have been all mine.
Honestly, it’s been freeing.
I’m testing things like transition videos, b-roll, odd FX shots, performance clips, and even skits.
And I’ve been posting these videos to TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and even Facebook Reels (yes, that’s a thing).
The results have been promising so far. Even a video that does marginally well at ~250 views per placement equates to ~1,000 impressions across all four platforms. That’s great exposure for my music for a minimal amount of effort a few times per week.
Pretty cool.
And on top of that, I’ve seen a couple of small bumps in follower growth or even streams on a specific track when I’ve had a video perform even the smallest bit above average.
Very promising.
It’s also worth mentioning that I’ve been approaching this format purely as an artist lately (or at least trying to), not as a “talking head” or “music marketer”.
It’s important to me that I use myself as a testing ground for you guys so we can all see what works. That doesn’t work if I’m only reporting on the results all the time (we’ll leave that to YouTube and this newsletter for now).
As always, I’ll be monitoring the results of all these different tests and will report on them in due time, so be sure to remain subscribed and turn on notifications on YouTube so you don’t miss an update.
You guys know me, so you know I love to test new strategies to market my music and build my audience online.
It really is the foundation of what I do.
Now, it would be easy to sit back and ride the wave of what’s working, but that’s not my style. Plus, with every test comes an opportunity to save someone else from the many bad options out there.
So here are three things I’ve recently started testing to market my music and build my fanbase.
New ad set targeting
I’m not gonna lie—my ads have been killing it lately.
I’ve been targeting ages 13-34, with completely open detailed targeting, all in top-tier countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and more.
And I’ve been averaging $0.20 per conversion with this setup for the month of January.
🤯
But that doesn’t mean there might not be room for improvement.
To that end, I recently introduced a new ad set with the following targeting setup:
I’m still targeting the same 13 countries as before, but I’ve narrowed the age breakdown to 18-34 and have included a slew of detailed targeting options as well (I did my best to capture them all in multiple screenshots above).
There are 10 options in all, and as you can likely tell by some of them, I’m trying to think outside the box a bit on this one.
As for setup, this new ad set will be running alongside my current ad set of 13-34 with open targeting for the foreseeable future just to see what happens.
No spending limits or anything else.
May the best ad set win.
Playlist Push
Last week, I dropped a video detailing my first time using Playlist Push in three years.
I have done zero playlisting since 2020, so I figured it was time to test my arm at it again so I could, if nothing else, give an up-to-date opinion on the matter.
I’m using my song “Hero” in the campaign, and the primary metrics I’m looking at to determine success are the track’s popularity score and my genre association as an artist on Spotify.
If either of these things improves, I will consider the experiment not to be a total failure.
Of course, I’m running the risk that this could negatively impact my success on Spotify as well.
Look for a follow-up video in a few weeks to see the results of this little hair-brained experiment.
Short-form video
If I’ve made one pseudo-resolution at all for the new year, it’s to master short-form video.
I’ve already been testing a lot of ideas outside of my comfort zone to find the cross-section of what I enjoy making and what’s most effective.
The single biggest hurdle that has prevented me from pursuing short-form in the past has been the pressure (and time) it takes to find the right sound.
To fix this, I’ve decided to (almost) exclusively use my own music in every video. I’m sure a video or two will happen where that’s not the case, but recently, the sounds have been all mine.
Honestly, it’s been freeing.
I’m testing things like transition videos, b-roll, odd FX shots, performance clips, and even skits.
And I’ve been posting these videos to TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and even Facebook Reels (yes, that’s a thing).
The results have been promising so far. Even a video that does marginally well at ~250 views per placement equates to ~1,000 impressions across all four platforms. That’s great exposure for my music for a minimal amount of effort a few times per week.
Pretty cool.
And on top of that, I’ve seen a couple of small bumps in follower growth or even streams on a specific track when I’ve had a video perform even the smallest bit above average.
Very promising.
It’s also worth mentioning that I’ve been approaching this format purely as an artist lately (or at least trying to), not as a “talking head” or “music marketer”.
It’s important to me that I use myself as a testing ground for you guys so we can all see what works. That doesn’t work if I’m only reporting on the results all the time (we’ll leave that to YouTube and this newsletter for now).
As always, I’ll be monitoring the results of all these different tests and will report on them in due time, so be sure to remain subscribed and turn on notifications on YouTube so you don’t miss an update.
You guys know me, so you know I love to test new strategies to market my music and build my audience online.
It really is the foundation of what I do.
Now, it would be easy to sit back and ride the wave of what’s working, but that’s not my style. Plus, with every test comes an opportunity to save someone else from the many bad options out there.
So here are three things I’ve recently started testing to market my music and build my fanbase.
New ad set targeting
I’m not gonna lie—my ads have been killing it lately.
I’ve been targeting ages 13-34, with completely open detailed targeting, all in top-tier countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and more.
And I’ve been averaging $0.20 per conversion with this setup for the month of January.
🤯
But that doesn’t mean there might not be room for improvement.
To that end, I recently introduced a new ad set with the following targeting setup:
I’m still targeting the same 13 countries as before, but I’ve narrowed the age breakdown to 18-34 and have included a slew of detailed targeting options as well (I did my best to capture them all in multiple screenshots above).
There are 10 options in all, and as you can likely tell by some of them, I’m trying to think outside the box a bit on this one.
As for setup, this new ad set will be running alongside my current ad set of 13-34 with open targeting for the foreseeable future just to see what happens.
No spending limits or anything else.
May the best ad set win.
Playlist Push
Last week, I dropped a video detailing my first time using Playlist Push in three years.
I have done zero playlisting since 2020, so I figured it was time to test my arm at it again so I could, if nothing else, give an up-to-date opinion on the matter.
I’m using my song “Hero” in the campaign, and the primary metrics I’m looking at to determine success are the track’s popularity score and my genre association as an artist on Spotify.
If either of these things improves, I will consider the experiment not to be a total failure.
Of course, I’m running the risk that this could negatively impact my success on Spotify as well.
Look for a follow-up video in a few weeks to see the results of this little hair-brained experiment.
Short-form video
If I’ve made one pseudo-resolution at all for the new year, it’s to master short-form video.
I’ve already been testing a lot of ideas outside of my comfort zone to find the cross-section of what I enjoy making and what’s most effective.
The single biggest hurdle that has prevented me from pursuing short-form in the past has been the pressure (and time) it takes to find the right sound.
To fix this, I’ve decided to (almost) exclusively use my own music in every video. I’m sure a video or two will happen where that’s not the case, but recently, the sounds have been all mine.
Honestly, it’s been freeing.
I’m testing things like transition videos, b-roll, odd FX shots, performance clips, and even skits.
And I’ve been posting these videos to TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and even Facebook Reels (yes, that’s a thing).
The results have been promising so far. Even a video that does marginally well at ~250 views per placement equates to ~1,000 impressions across all four platforms. That’s great exposure for my music for a minimal amount of effort a few times per week.
Pretty cool.
And on top of that, I’ve seen a couple of small bumps in follower growth or even streams on a specific track when I’ve had a video perform even the smallest bit above average.
Very promising.
It’s also worth mentioning that I’ve been approaching this format purely as an artist lately (or at least trying to), not as a “talking head” or “music marketer”.
It’s important to me that I use myself as a testing ground for you guys so we can all see what works. That doesn’t work if I’m only reporting on the results all the time (we’ll leave that to YouTube and this newsletter for now).
As always, I’ll be monitoring the results of all these different tests and will report on them in due time, so be sure to remain subscribed and turn on notifications on YouTube so you don’t miss an update.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.