Your artist ecosystem is the collection of things used to grow your audience and keep them.
Building your artist ecosystem is a way of systematizing your output so you can record music, create content, and build a following and monetize it in a relatively automated fashion.
As artists and entrepreneurs, we want to maximize our output while maintaining control over our time to do the things we really want to be doing, like making music.
For my own artist ecosystem, there are four primary tools I use and recommend.
Every artist needs a website
Your website is the primary hub for everything you do, and, funnily enough, it’s the biggest tool I see most artists overlook.
Think of your website as the bedrock of your online presence; it’s where your fans can find everything you do, all in one place.
It doesn’t have to be fancy, and a single landing page will suffice, but a functional website is critical.
I personally use and recommend Carrd if you want to start with something simple. It’s what I’ve used for years, and it doesn’t take much to set it up.
In fact, you can find the exact template I use for my site here.
Note: you’ll need to be on the Pro Plus plan to use the template.
A landing page generator
If you’re releasing music on a regular basis, you’re going to need a simple way to direct your traffic to your song across streaming services.
Enter: the landing page generator.
There are many options out there for this, but a good landing page generator should be music-based for our needs.
Sure, you can use something like Linktree, but you’d be better served with something that automatically formats and pulls music-specific data for you.
I use ToneDen.
Not only does ToneDen seamlessly create music-centric landing pages, but it also gives you the option to use your own custom domain (do this!) and has multiple other link options like redirects, podcast links, and more.
Pro tip: stick with the free plan–it gives you everything you need.
Choose your social media platform
Social media is the net you use to find new fans and drive them to your music.
Every artist should be working to build on social media, but that doesn’t mean you need to be great at every single platform.
My advice is to pick one platform (maybe two if you’re feeling especially frisky) and go all in on that.
Only once you’ve gotten good traction on one platform would I recommend adding more.
Now obviously TikTok is the easy recommendation for music these days, but my platform of choice is actually YouTube (I’m sure you’re stunned to hear this).
I like YouTube because it gives me an outlet for every content format I like to use, all under one roof.
Long-form video, community posts (i.e. tweets and IG photos), Shorts (i.e. Reels & TikToks), and even live streams (Twitch)–I can do it all in one place, and I can easily recycle that content for Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and more if I want to.
And on top of that, YouTube’s monetization options give you a lot of incentive to push hard and build something of substance.
After all, it’s a lot easier to justify the time spent on social media when you’re actually getting paid.
Note: Instagram and TikTok provide monetization options too, but YouTube is the leader in this space.
Get gud at email, noob
Email marketing is such a widely overlooked outlet for artists.
Leave the newsletters to the writers and nerds amirite?!
The truth is this: if you are ignoring email, you are ignoring the greatest asset available to you as an artist, creator, and entrepreneur.
If you are serious about turning your love of creating music into something of substance, build your email list.
Email is the unlock. Email is the key. Email is the one tool to rule them all!
Cue the Gandalf emoji 🧙🏻♂️
Your email list gives you the ability to connect with your audience unimpeded, for free. No algorithms, no trends, no gatekeepers. Just you and your audience.
For my email list, I use ConvertKit and love it.
Seriously, this single step will catapult you further than you could ever imagine.
Putting it all together
Building an effective artist ecosystem takes time. And work.
Actually, a lot of work, but it’s worth it.
Putting these tools together won’t happen overnight, but if you show up every day and methodically chip away at connecting these things to work on your behalf, you will increase your leverage and your output in the digital space.
And with these digital tools working on your behalf 24/7, you will become increasingly more free to spend your time doing what you love: making music.
Your artist ecosystem is the collection of things used to grow your audience and keep them.
Building your artist ecosystem is a way of systematizing your output so you can record music, create content, and build a following and monetize it in a relatively automated fashion.
As artists and entrepreneurs, we want to maximize our output while maintaining control over our time to do the things we really want to be doing, like making music.
For my own artist ecosystem, there are four primary tools I use and recommend.
Every artist needs a website
Your website is the primary hub for everything you do, and, funnily enough, it’s the biggest tool I see most artists overlook.
Think of your website as the bedrock of your online presence; it’s where your fans can find everything you do, all in one place.
It doesn’t have to be fancy, and a single landing page will suffice, but a functional website is critical.
I personally use and recommend Carrd if you want to start with something simple. It’s what I’ve used for years, and it doesn’t take much to set it up.
In fact, you can find the exact template I use for my site here.
Note: you’ll need to be on the Pro Plus plan to use the template.
A landing page generator
If you’re releasing music on a regular basis, you’re going to need a simple way to direct your traffic to your song across streaming services.
Enter: the landing page generator.
There are many options out there for this, but a good landing page generator should be music-based for our needs.
Sure, you can use something like Linktree, but you’d be better served with something that automatically formats and pulls music-specific data for you.
I use ToneDen.
Not only does ToneDen seamlessly create music-centric landing pages, but it also gives you the option to use your own custom domain (do this!) and has multiple other link options like redirects, podcast links, and more.
Pro tip: stick with the free plan–it gives you everything you need.
Choose your social media platform
Social media is the net you use to find new fans and drive them to your music.
Every artist should be working to build on social media, but that doesn’t mean you need to be great at every single platform.
My advice is to pick one platform (maybe two if you’re feeling especially frisky) and go all in on that.
Only once you’ve gotten good traction on one platform would I recommend adding more.
Now obviously TikTok is the easy recommendation for music these days, but my platform of choice is actually YouTube (I’m sure you’re stunned to hear this).
I like YouTube because it gives me an outlet for every content format I like to use, all under one roof.
Long-form video, community posts (i.e. tweets and IG photos), Shorts (i.e. Reels & TikToks), and even live streams (Twitch)–I can do it all in one place, and I can easily recycle that content for Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and more if I want to.
And on top of that, YouTube’s monetization options give you a lot of incentive to push hard and build something of substance.
After all, it’s a lot easier to justify the time spent on social media when you’re actually getting paid.
Note: Instagram and TikTok provide monetization options too, but YouTube is the leader in this space.
Get gud at email, noob
Email marketing is such a widely overlooked outlet for artists.
Leave the newsletters to the writers and nerds amirite?!
The truth is this: if you are ignoring email, you are ignoring the greatest asset available to you as an artist, creator, and entrepreneur.
If you are serious about turning your love of creating music into something of substance, build your email list.
Email is the unlock. Email is the key. Email is the one tool to rule them all!
Cue the Gandalf emoji 🧙🏻♂️
Your email list gives you the ability to connect with your audience unimpeded, for free. No algorithms, no trends, no gatekeepers. Just you and your audience.
For my email list, I use ConvertKit and love it.
Seriously, this single step will catapult you further than you could ever imagine.
Putting it all together
Building an effective artist ecosystem takes time. And work.
Actually, a lot of work, but it’s worth it.
Putting these tools together won’t happen overnight, but if you show up every day and methodically chip away at connecting these things to work on your behalf, you will increase your leverage and your output in the digital space.
And with these digital tools working on your behalf 24/7, you will become increasingly more free to spend your time doing what you love: making music.
Your artist ecosystem is the collection of things used to grow your audience and keep them.
Building your artist ecosystem is a way of systematizing your output so you can record music, create content, and build a following and monetize it in a relatively automated fashion.
As artists and entrepreneurs, we want to maximize our output while maintaining control over our time to do the things we really want to be doing, like making music.
For my own artist ecosystem, there are four primary tools I use and recommend.
Every artist needs a website
Your website is the primary hub for everything you do, and, funnily enough, it’s the biggest tool I see most artists overlook.
Think of your website as the bedrock of your online presence; it’s where your fans can find everything you do, all in one place.
It doesn’t have to be fancy, and a single landing page will suffice, but a functional website is critical.
I personally use and recommend Carrd if you want to start with something simple. It’s what I’ve used for years, and it doesn’t take much to set it up.
In fact, you can find the exact template I use for my site here.
Note: you’ll need to be on the Pro Plus plan to use the template.
A landing page generator
If you’re releasing music on a regular basis, you’re going to need a simple way to direct your traffic to your song across streaming services.
Enter: the landing page generator.
There are many options out there for this, but a good landing page generator should be music-based for our needs.
Sure, you can use something like Linktree, but you’d be better served with something that automatically formats and pulls music-specific data for you.
I use ToneDen.
Not only does ToneDen seamlessly create music-centric landing pages, but it also gives you the option to use your own custom domain (do this!) and has multiple other link options like redirects, podcast links, and more.
Pro tip: stick with the free plan–it gives you everything you need.
Choose your social media platform
Social media is the net you use to find new fans and drive them to your music.
Every artist should be working to build on social media, but that doesn’t mean you need to be great at every single platform.
My advice is to pick one platform (maybe two if you’re feeling especially frisky) and go all in on that.
Only once you’ve gotten good traction on one platform would I recommend adding more.
Now obviously TikTok is the easy recommendation for music these days, but my platform of choice is actually YouTube (I’m sure you’re stunned to hear this).
I like YouTube because it gives me an outlet for every content format I like to use, all under one roof.
Long-form video, community posts (i.e. tweets and IG photos), Shorts (i.e. Reels & TikToks), and even live streams (Twitch)–I can do it all in one place, and I can easily recycle that content for Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and more if I want to.
And on top of that, YouTube’s monetization options give you a lot of incentive to push hard and build something of substance.
After all, it’s a lot easier to justify the time spent on social media when you’re actually getting paid.
Note: Instagram and TikTok provide monetization options too, but YouTube is the leader in this space.
Get gud at email, noob
Email marketing is such a widely overlooked outlet for artists.
Leave the newsletters to the writers and nerds amirite?!
The truth is this: if you are ignoring email, you are ignoring the greatest asset available to you as an artist, creator, and entrepreneur.
If you are serious about turning your love of creating music into something of substance, build your email list.
Email is the unlock. Email is the key. Email is the one tool to rule them all!
Cue the Gandalf emoji 🧙🏻♂️
Your email list gives you the ability to connect with your audience unimpeded, for free. No algorithms, no trends, no gatekeepers. Just you and your audience.
For my email list, I use ConvertKit and love it.
Seriously, this single step will catapult you further than you could ever imagine.
Putting it all together
Building an effective artist ecosystem takes time. And work.
Actually, a lot of work, but it’s worth it.
Putting these tools together won’t happen overnight, but if you show up every day and methodically chip away at connecting these things to work on your behalf, you will increase your leverage and your output in the digital space.
And with these digital tools working on your behalf 24/7, you will become increasingly more free to spend your time doing what you love: 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.
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.