A Note on Quality vs. Quantity

Feb 14, 2023

One thing I’ve said over and over again on social media is that we all need to be creating more music and more content. 

As you might imagine, I get a fair amount of pushback on this every time I say it. 

“You’re just adding noise to these platforms, Tom.”

“Yeah, make a bunch of content that sucks so it’s harder to find stuff that’s actually good.”

“More quantity means lower quality.”

And the list goes on. 

Honestly, read the comments at those links above, and you’ll see what I mean.

But there are two fundamental issues everyone seems to miss here: 1) quantity does not have to come at the expense of quality, and 2) if what you put out is low quality, no one will see it anyway. 


When quantity matters

Quantity is most important when we’re starting out. 

When we first begin releasing music and creating content about it, we have no clue what we’re doing. 

I certainly didn’t

Even those who step into the public square with a clear-cut strategy always have to adjust. 

The best way to do this is to gather as many data points as quickly as you can. 

This means post. A lot. 

In the beginning, the more music we release and the more content we post across social media, the faster we can find the intersection of what we enjoy creating, what we’re good at, and what our audience likes to consume. 

The convergence of these three points is what we’re after. 

So, I’ll say it again, when you’re first starting out, post a ton. It’s the fastest way to figure this out. 


The switch to quality

Quality is a natural byproduct of repetition. 

We’ve all heard the whole 10,000 hours bit, right? Well, it applies everywhere, including here. 

If you take the plunge at the beginning and prioritize quantity, you’ll reach this threshold of experience faster than everyone else, and what you do will naturally get better as a result. 

I mean, just compare the production quality of my song “Glitch” (the first song I ever released) and my song “Hero”. 

Night and day. 

The same can be said for my videos on YouTube, posts on Instagram, and every other place I put content out into the world. 

As we naturally get better at what we do, the quantity game becomes less important. A single video or post does far better than 10 or 20 did, combined, in the beginning. 

This is because we now have a built-in audience who likes our work, because it’s good, because we did the hard work of creating a lot of it to get to this point. 


No one will see your failures

If you create trash (we all do at first) and put it out on social media or Spotify, no one will see it anyway. 

Tough to hear? Maybe. True? Yes. 

Social media is still a relatively new technology, and because it’s new, we still do our best to “humanize” these systems because that’s what we understand. 

We tend to attribute very human qualities to these algorithms that scale beyond our ability to grasp. 

There are no human beings watching your videos or listening to your songs to determine if their “worthy” of a wider audience. 

I mean, in some rare cases, yes, but for the most part, no. 

This means there is, essentially, zero downside to figuring it out in public. 

You’re not polluting the platform. 

The math scales infinitely.

Hit publish. 

One thing I’ve said over and over again on social media is that we all need to be creating more music and more content. 

As you might imagine, I get a fair amount of pushback on this every time I say it. 

“You’re just adding noise to these platforms, Tom.”

“Yeah, make a bunch of content that sucks so it’s harder to find stuff that’s actually good.”

“More quantity means lower quality.”

And the list goes on. 

Honestly, read the comments at those links above, and you’ll see what I mean.

But there are two fundamental issues everyone seems to miss here: 1) quantity does not have to come at the expense of quality, and 2) if what you put out is low quality, no one will see it anyway. 


When quantity matters

Quantity is most important when we’re starting out. 

When we first begin releasing music and creating content about it, we have no clue what we’re doing. 

I certainly didn’t

Even those who step into the public square with a clear-cut strategy always have to adjust. 

The best way to do this is to gather as many data points as quickly as you can. 

This means post. A lot. 

In the beginning, the more music we release and the more content we post across social media, the faster we can find the intersection of what we enjoy creating, what we’re good at, and what our audience likes to consume. 

The convergence of these three points is what we’re after. 

So, I’ll say it again, when you’re first starting out, post a ton. It’s the fastest way to figure this out. 


The switch to quality

Quality is a natural byproduct of repetition. 

We’ve all heard the whole 10,000 hours bit, right? Well, it applies everywhere, including here. 

If you take the plunge at the beginning and prioritize quantity, you’ll reach this threshold of experience faster than everyone else, and what you do will naturally get better as a result. 

I mean, just compare the production quality of my song “Glitch” (the first song I ever released) and my song “Hero”. 

Night and day. 

The same can be said for my videos on YouTube, posts on Instagram, and every other place I put content out into the world. 

As we naturally get better at what we do, the quantity game becomes less important. A single video or post does far better than 10 or 20 did, combined, in the beginning. 

This is because we now have a built-in audience who likes our work, because it’s good, because we did the hard work of creating a lot of it to get to this point. 


No one will see your failures

If you create trash (we all do at first) and put it out on social media or Spotify, no one will see it anyway. 

Tough to hear? Maybe. True? Yes. 

Social media is still a relatively new technology, and because it’s new, we still do our best to “humanize” these systems because that’s what we understand. 

We tend to attribute very human qualities to these algorithms that scale beyond our ability to grasp. 

There are no human beings watching your videos or listening to your songs to determine if their “worthy” of a wider audience. 

I mean, in some rare cases, yes, but for the most part, no. 

This means there is, essentially, zero downside to figuring it out in public. 

You’re not polluting the platform. 

The math scales infinitely.

Hit publish. 

One thing I’ve said over and over again on social media is that we all need to be creating more music and more content. 

As you might imagine, I get a fair amount of pushback on this every time I say it. 

“You’re just adding noise to these platforms, Tom.”

“Yeah, make a bunch of content that sucks so it’s harder to find stuff that’s actually good.”

“More quantity means lower quality.”

And the list goes on. 

Honestly, read the comments at those links above, and you’ll see what I mean.

But there are two fundamental issues everyone seems to miss here: 1) quantity does not have to come at the expense of quality, and 2) if what you put out is low quality, no one will see it anyway. 


When quantity matters

Quantity is most important when we’re starting out. 

When we first begin releasing music and creating content about it, we have no clue what we’re doing. 

I certainly didn’t

Even those who step into the public square with a clear-cut strategy always have to adjust. 

The best way to do this is to gather as many data points as quickly as you can. 

This means post. A lot. 

In the beginning, the more music we release and the more content we post across social media, the faster we can find the intersection of what we enjoy creating, what we’re good at, and what our audience likes to consume. 

The convergence of these three points is what we’re after. 

So, I’ll say it again, when you’re first starting out, post a ton. It’s the fastest way to figure this out. 


The switch to quality

Quality is a natural byproduct of repetition. 

We’ve all heard the whole 10,000 hours bit, right? Well, it applies everywhere, including here. 

If you take the plunge at the beginning and prioritize quantity, you’ll reach this threshold of experience faster than everyone else, and what you do will naturally get better as a result. 

I mean, just compare the production quality of my song “Glitch” (the first song I ever released) and my song “Hero”. 

Night and day. 

The same can be said for my videos on YouTube, posts on Instagram, and every other place I put content out into the world. 

As we naturally get better at what we do, the quantity game becomes less important. A single video or post does far better than 10 or 20 did, combined, in the beginning. 

This is because we now have a built-in audience who likes our work, because it’s good, because we did the hard work of creating a lot of it to get to this point. 


No one will see your failures

If you create trash (we all do at first) and put it out on social media or Spotify, no one will see it anyway. 

Tough to hear? Maybe. True? Yes. 

Social media is still a relatively new technology, and because it’s new, we still do our best to “humanize” these systems because that’s what we understand. 

We tend to attribute very human qualities to these algorithms that scale beyond our ability to grasp. 

There are no human beings watching your videos or listening to your songs to determine if their “worthy” of a wider audience. 

I mean, in some rare cases, yes, but for the most part, no. 

This means there is, essentially, zero downside to figuring it out in public. 

You’re not polluting the platform. 

The math scales infinitely.

Hit publish. 

Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:

  1. Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.

  1. Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.

  1. The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.

  1. 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:

  1. Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.

  1. Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.

  1. The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.

  1. 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:

  1. Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.

  1. Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.

  1. The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.

  1. 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.

Subscribe to The One Thing

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Subscribe to The One Thing and receive one thing to help you improve your marketing and expand your audience—delivered every Tuesday.

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© 2024 Tom DuPree III

© 2024 Tom DuPree III

© 2024 Tom DuPree III