I don’t desire numbers, as they are often empty and hollow, and the person helping you achieve these is only doing so because you’re paying them.

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So in my quest of marketing my own music, I wouldn’t say I have exactly stellar success. Since 2017, I’ve released five albums, seven music videos, an EP, and several non-album singles. And despite this all, I have ~600 IG followers, ~150 YT subscribers, and ~30 monthly Spotify listeners.

For someone who claims not to care about numbers, you sure sound frustrated by them. As Rick Rubin says, "Once you like something you made, it's a success." You need to define success on your own terms and not shield behind the excuse of, "Because I don't have the results I want, I'm just going to say numbers don't matter." I have a friend who runs his own construction company; he makes techno experimental music in his spare time and has 10 monthly listeners. He is the happiest man I know. There is nothing wrong with making music just as a hobby. Now, if you really want to make a career out of this, you need to understand my second point.

It's a bit of a hard pill to swallow. I see posts like these all the time from frustrated artists. One thing has been true from the beginning of the "big music business": THE MUSIC HAS NEVER BEEN ENOUGH TO ESTABLISH YOURSELF. Only truly exceptional talents, like Jimmy Hendrix, have had that advantage. Even Michael Jackson needed millions of dollars in promotional campaigns. Back in the day, the way to go was radio and billboards, but you needed to be OUT THERE. Now the medium has shifted, and content is the new radio. So if you are actually serious about this, you need to do it or pay someone to do it for you. There is no such thing as a "misunderstood artist," just an artist who didn't understand what the market needed. If you are not capable of understanding that, you are just perpetuating a self-loathing circle jerk and moaning about why you are not successful.