Forget about quick & easy music marketing hacks...

To become a successful artist, you have to create remarkable art.

The music industry is a notoriously tough business. Contrary to common belief, it's neither luck nor supernatural talent that's responsible for success. If you want to be among the few artists who "make it" out of the millions who don't, you have to have a great strategy and the grit to execute it.

Based on more than 15 years of experience in the music industry, I have distilled three essential principals that I believe make a difference.

My core beliefs

Most websites that talk about building an artist-career will tell you things like "your image is more important than your music" or "Instagram is what makes or breaks an artist these days". Similarly, most studios  will tell you that it's their fancy analog gear or expensive room acoustics that make all the difference and you can't properly mix and master your own tunes. 

I don't subscribe to any of this. 

I call this "gatekeeper-talk" because all it creates is frustration and confusion. This is not how the music industry works in the 2020s and beyond. This is the age of the empowered artist and I'm here to support you.

Here's what I believe in:

• Your music still matters most and you should focus 80% of your energy into honing your skills and discovering your unique creative touch. If your songs don't have a lasting emotional impact on your listeners, you won't make it.
• Music and marketing have to go hand in hand and support each other organically and authentically. If you think you can take shortcuts and run after the latest Instagram hack, you won't be able to succeed in the long run.
• The only "tools" you really need are a growth-oriented mindset and a strong will to learn and implement. If you instead think you need expensive gear and great presets (made by someone else), you'll end up in debt and lack crucial skills.
• If you surround yourself with the right mentors, coaches, and friends who challenge and support you,  you're set up for massive success. But if you do the classic, superficial "networking" thing and hang out with toxic party friends, you won't survive in the challenging digital music industry.

Curious where these beliefs are coming from? 

Well, here's my story.

I'm convinced that there’s something truly unique in every artist. We just have to put in the work to discover our potential. Strangely, this is what most upcoming artists simply don’t do. Instead, they try to "be like their heroes”. But that’s a trap!

If you’re feeling a little guilty now, don’t worry. In fact, I was the same way. 

Back when my old band still existed, we made exactly the same mistake that I see many of my clients make today: We tried to be like our heroes and ended up as a mediocre copycat version of them.

Our music didn’t manage to stand out and our artist-brand wasn’t special either. If we had just focused on discovering our unique strengths, we would have had much more success.

This is how I discovered the first principle: 
Create music that matters and find your unique artistic voice.

Blog posts related to this principle:

Another mistake we've made was to focus on shallow things like "how many followers do we have on social media". It seemed like this was a useful metric to look at but in the end, most of these people weren't even interacting with our posts or coming to our shows.

We were doing what all the music marketing blogs were telling us to do instead of thinking what would actually add value to our audience. 

If we had focused on deepening the relationship with the people who did come to every show, we would have grown our fanbase significantly.

This is how I discovered the second principle: 
Grow a tribe of 1000 true fans instead of social followers.

Blog posts related to this principle:

There's one more mistake we've made. Instead of looking at the bigger picture and follow a five to ten year strategy, we focused on the next tour, the next album, the next interview, etc. Sure, we had some hopes and dreams, but that's different from a clear vision and measurable goals.

This meant that we didn't have to guts to invest in ourselves, plan ahead, and win the race in the long run.

If we had followed a shared vision with a clear strategy and action plan, we would have stayed in the game for long enough to finally make a full-time living off of it.

This is how I discovered the third principle: 
Focus on strategies rather than tactics and play the long-term game.

Blog posts related to this principle:

So what happens if you put these principles into practice? Here's how my story continues (with an unexpected turn)

These principles are the DNA of Copilco Productions. They guide my work and ensure your success.

Here's how I can help you build a meaningful artist-career

Ready to build a meaningful
artist-career?

Let's talk about your project!