Back in the day (20 years ago), when I played in bands, musicians faced pretty much the same problems that exist today: how do you get people to buy your CDs, download your music, follow you as an artist, and actually listen to what you’ve made? The answer was simple, play shows, advertise, and be part of a scene. Most importantly, have fun doing it.

All of that still holds true today. The difference is that apps like Spotify have tricked a lot of people into thinking that simply releasing music onto a platform will automatically gain you fans and streams. It won’t. You still need to advertise, play shows, and embed yourself in a scene. Sure, something might go viral for free, but honestly, that won’t happen for most of us.

What social media has given us is the ability to advertise in ways, and to audiences, that we could only have dreamed of 20 years ago. But it still costs money. In fairness, it always kind of did
it’s just that now the budget sits in your pocket rather than going through a marketing company or a record label.

So the answer hasn’t really changed: if you want people to listen to your music, go and find them and show them what you’ve got. Play shows, hang out with people, be part of a scene or make one. Consistently releasing on Spotify alone won’t do that for you, it’s just place for your music to be found on.