Have ever put out music content that fell short of the numbers you expected?
It didn’t get enough views, likes, or comments leaving you lacking the growth you desired.
Immediately feelings of frustration take over because all that effort went to waste. On top of that, you become less confident to post again because you’re afraid the same thing will happen. It’s a vicious cycle to get caught in.
This can cause you to feel your music career to feel like a failure…
But the reality is it isn’t your fault. You probably just missed this crucial step to getting your content to resonate with true fans. Without this, viewers will think your content is boring.
See, you can’t just put out “whatever content you want”.
There needs to be a strategy behind it. This isn’t the Field of Dreams. If you create it, it doesn’t mean they will come.
The problem many music creators face is focusing on what THEY want to produce rather than what their audience is responding to.
This misalignment means music that doesn’t truly connect.
And without that connection, you can’t create true fans.
Which leads me to my next point. I see so many music makers chasing the current trend trying to go viral because they think more views means more fans, but I beg to differ.
This type of content creates “followers”, not true fans.
Followers are passive; they consume. True fans are active; they participate.
This is similar to someone listening to you once from a playlist vs listening to your album front to back. In the first case, they are a follower of the playlist. In the second, they are a fan of yours.
1,000,000 plays isn’t enough for a music career, but 1,000 true fans is.
Chasing temporary viral success won’t lead to real music credibility or loyal fans.
When you chase trends, you no longer are being authentic to yourself.
Don’t produce for the algorithm.
Produce for fans and they will share it. If they share it the algorithm will pick it up so it’s a win-win. The only way to guarantee a piece of content will go viral is for it to get shared.
This works because it happens independently of the algorithm.
Take a look at this post that got shared over 500 times resulting in over 2,000 likes and over 40,000 impressions:
If you’re not being authentic, then how will you be able to connect with anyone to get shared?
I know when I’ve tried to produce inauthentic content it leaves me completely drained of all my energy. I’m not excited to make it, it feels corny, and it’s not true to me. I’m no longer making the content I want to, but rather making it because I feel the need to use a “trending sound” or “trending style”.
I think the rapper Token, put this nicely:
“I’d rather lose fans than lose myself. I don’t chase views, I chase how I view myself”
At the core of all this is your integrity.
Without it, your music has nothing to stand on.
Without it, your career has nothing to stand on.
Without it, you’ll seek validation from external sources instead of internal ones.
The solution is to find a balance between what you want to make, and what your fans want to make.
Successful content happens on the overlap of the two. It’s content you made authentically, that resonates with the audience.
When you create authentic content it makes it easier for the audience to connect with it since it stands out from everyone else’s content.
The most successful music producers balance creativity with an understanding of their existing and potential fans. By combining your personal vision with audience awareness, your content will authentically resonate.
As Naval Ravikant says, “The only way to beat competition is through authenticity because no one can be you better than you.”
Think about that…
NO ONE can be YOU better than YOU. So even if people try to replicate your style, your fans will stick up for you saying, “Oh he is copying Jared’s style”.
I call this the Zero Competition Technique.
Some examples of people who use this technique in their music are JPEGMAFIA with experimental hip hop, Pop Smoke with drill music, and Tame Impala with modern psychedelic rock.
The best way to create content that has zero competition is by following these steps.
First, study the current musical landscape and ask yourself:
- What conversations are happening in music right now?
- What music creators are leading the way in content?
- What do fans want to see that I want to make?
Immerse yourself in what your audience is connecting with.
Second, find 5 music creators that make authentic content you enjoy. Save 3 pieces of content that you like from each of them.
Third, spend an hour a day trying to recreate those pieces of content, but add your own spices so they fit your style.
Over time, you can iterate to make it more and more of your own.
Pablo Picasso made this idea of “stealing like an artist”famous, and if it worked for him I think it will work for us.
Remember, the content you create should be authentic to you. It’s should be a culmination of different inspirations, not a carbon copy.
The last step happens once you start to grow your own fanbase. You can ask your audience what they would want to see, then pick the topics that resonate the most with you. This ensures that you are tapping into the overlap between what your fans want to see, and what you want to make.
By following these steps you can create original music content that deeply connects with the right audience.
It’s important to understand who you’re targeting and what matters to them.
Making content only for yourself won’t necessarily translate to growing your fanbase. Making content only for fans won’t translate to growing yourself. It’s about the balance between the two sides.
The next hit comes from within while looking outward.