Don’t Sleep on Your Old Songs

You’re only one song away from changing your life.

But sometimes that song isn’t your newest release. 

Releasing music on a regular basis is an important aspect of building a body of work as an artist, but turning out single after single doesn’t mean you need to abandon the work you already have. 

Artists’ existing catalogs on Spotify are now generating the bulk of their streams, as compared to new music.

So even though it’s important to give every new release its due, it should never come at the expense of continuing to promote what’s already working. 

Your catalog is king

According to Spotify’s recent Fan Study, roughly three-quarters of all streams on the platform are now coming from an artist’s catalog, which Spotify defines as songs over 18 months old.

This means the work you released two years ago stands to earn you more streams, listeners, and revenue than the song you just put out. 

Think about that for a second–the longer your music is out, the more powerful it becomes. 

This sort of changes the game on new releases. Rather than thinking of a new release as an opportunity for a song to go viral, it might be better to think of it as a hook to reel in new listeners so they can discover the rest of your work.

So releasing new music on a regular basis is important, but each new track is adding to a growing pie, not replacing the pie altogether.

All it takes is one

It only takes one song to pay for the whole party. 

If you review the catalogs of many mid- to high-level artists, you’ll see that, overwhelmingly, one or two songs outpace everything else. 

Think of every one-hit wonder you know. All of them have built entire careers off of, essentially, one song.

That’s the power of one.

If you look at my Spotify artist profile, you’ll see that my songs, “Hero” and “Lions” have outpaced everything else. They are still my most-streamed tracks and they have both been out for over 18 months.

That’s the power of the catalog.

And while I have released music since those songs, they still both pay for the whole party and will likely continue to do so for some time to come until I find a new winner.

Releasing new music is a combination of catalog promotion and an attempt to find that single track that lifts everything else.

Marketing your catalog

I push new music and my catalog winners at the same time. 

With every new song I put out, I build a new campaign and drop it into the marketing system I have that I know works, but this doesn’t mean I abandon what I already have working.

I am still using the same ads for “Hero” and “Lions” that I have been using for the past year and a half.

Because they work.

Those two songs are proven winners, so why would I turn them off?

Each new track is an opportunity to find a new winner, but it has to earn that right. I am constantly testing every new song against the current winners, and it is only when they clearly outpace the previous winners that they get the priority spot in my marketing campaigns.

So promote every new song, but always keep your best ad going.

Music marketing is most effective when approached like a marathon, not a sprint. Stopping old campaigns and starting new ones is ineffective and can sabotage your long-term goals to grow as an artist.

So keep releasing music on a regular basis, but be sure to pay attention to your winners.

There’s more power in your catalog than you might think.