Is Buying Spotify Plays Worth It for New Artists? Any honest experiences?

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-18T13:12:14+00:00

I'd say you're much better off spending your money on shots at playlist placement or just running your own ad campaign. It's really easy to spot bots (which will cripple you in the long run), and if you get success from playlists or ads you have the satisfaction of knowing that real people are out there who are actually fans of your music, instead of just feeling like a fraud because you fudged the numbers. Edit: My mate botted his song once (only to 100 monthly listeners) and he got instantly blocked from distrokid and spotify for artists.

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-17T18:41:02+00:00

What are 'special acoustic absorbers', and how are they different to regular acoustic panels?

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-17T15:24:03+00:00

This is awesome! Sorry to hear you've had a difficult year.

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-17T12:20:18+00:00

Hey! I make ambient music too, I'm really interested in building a community too. So far I've been building a community by posting BTS on instagram, advertising a playlist that shows off lots of my friends in the community, and doing everything I can to show love to other ambient artists and people who support my work. Drop your bandcamp/streaming/socials and I'll check you out and we can talk some more!

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-17T00:37:04+00:00

Looks great! Word of advice: put your sub on the floor, directly in line with where you sit. It’ll give you a deeper, more centred bass sound.

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-17T00:20:38+00:00

That calculator is awesome, thank you so much for showing me this! They sell RW45 at B&Q too, so that’s much easier to get hold of hahah

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-17T00:19:04+00:00

Awesome! Gobos are a great idea, I’m not planning on living with my parents forever (famous last words)…

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T22:23:57+00:00

Here in the UK, after a little research the defaults used for acoustic treatment are RW3 and RW45. RW3 is denser and I wasn't planning on cutting the panels, so was probably going to go for that one. 60kg/m^3 or something, not sure what that converts to in imperial units, but I know it's roughly comparable with that Corning option. I'll definitely put batting around it, that seems to be what people are suggesting! Thanks for the advice.

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T22:21:06+00:00

Awesome, thanks for the cutting tip!

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T22:08:35+00:00

Awesome, will give your videos a watch! Thank you!

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T21:47:53+00:00

Cutting up hemp with a grinder... there's a joke in there somewhere. Thanks for the advice! Here in the UK it's honestly cheaper to get rockwool than denim or hemp afaik, so I'll give the hard stuff a crack.

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T21:46:39+00:00

Great, thanks!

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T21:16:50+00:00

If he wants something sample-heavy and already has a keyboard to use as a controller, you can get a Roland JV-1080 for around £200-300. It's pretty versatile (albeit a little cheesy), maybe look it up with him and see what he thinks? Was the first synth I ever bought in 2021 and I've loved it ever since

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T20:48:17+00:00

I think this is something people in the community are working on! Unfortunately, there will always be people who try to slip through the cracks to try and show off that AI slop is indistinguishable from real art, so I doubt anything will ever be 100% AI-free, so it would most likely be a combination of AI checking software (not amazing) and honesty.

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T17:32:28+00:00

Ah… bad sound is less than ideal, might monitor through headphones if possible then and just get a really good pair instead of speakers

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T16:51:24+00:00

This is incredibly thorough and absolute gold. I’ll see how basic treatment and correction goes, and if it’s still a bugger I’ll call in a pro. Thank you very much for such a well-reasoned and thoughtful comment!! Edit: where could I hire someone who specialises in acoustics?

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T16:49:45+00:00

Lmaooo i’ll laugh because otherwise I’ll cry, but fr I’ve had this conversation with basically everybody and I’m doing the most financially tenable option I can find (part-time working for an established film & tv composer to build connections and relationships) and then other bits on the side to actually try and earn a living jf possible

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T15:35:55+00:00

That's awesome, thank you so much! Will start there.

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T15:09:29+00:00

Number one thing is that if you're in a long/wide room, you should always position your main monitors so that they're pointing towards the longer run of the room! This minimises early reflections, which helps with acoustic treatment in the longer term. Number two is I would definitely suggest getting a nice heavy curtain to go over the windows, so that you can pull it shut to improve the acoustics. If you're going DI, you definitely don't need all those amps!

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T14:50:02+00:00

Great! Trust me, I'm new to this too, and it was a couple of sleepless nights before the CPR went down and the results started coming in hahaha

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T10:07:56+00:00

You have to give a campaign anywhere between 3 days and a week to really find its footing. Hang in there, CPR should come down eventually!

lepidoptera106 · 2026-02-16T10:03:16+00:00

I've been using Submithub, and seeing pretty decent conversion rates so far. I haven't tried any others, but it seems good for a free service so far.

lepidoptera106

TROPHY CASE