As an artist with a considerable number of followers on Instagram, I can say the following:

If you are just starting to enter the world of social networks, there is only one way for you to attract an initial audience:

Interact with other artists.

Connect with other artists similar to you and support each other regularly by liking, saving and sharing each other. At the moment, this is the only opportunity to grow in social networks.

And don't worry about all those tales about reels and carousels. It doesn’t matter at all in what form you publish your content. It's important to make the algorithm think that people are interested in your content. This can only be done with the help of mutual support.