Marketing Monday Written by Jon for November 3rd

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Last week, I asked you these three questions:

1. What are you excited about with music right now?
2. What is one thing I should write more about (or make more videos about)?
3. Why do you follow Two Story?

Then I went to a cabin in Luray, Virginia and tried, with some small success, to ignore the fact that my laptop exists. So I hadn't read through your replies until literally five minutes ago.

When I logged on this morning, there were 36 of them:

You guys are the best, and I'm not blowing smoke when I say that taken together these made for a legitimately wonderful read. There were relatable lows. There were euphoric highs. There were more than a few wild twists.

I won't share every response, because some of them were frankly a little weird, and anyway if I shared all of them this newsletter would become a bad James Joyce novel.

But I will share a few of my favorites below.

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What are you excited about with music right now?

"I’m very much in the process of rediscovering that I actually enjoy listening to music. Sometimes we musicians can forgot that just listening to a song and enjoying it is ok. I’m listening to a lot of ‘new’ music and asking everyone for new albums recommendations. I share what I discover with my dad and he in turn shares his old favourites with me. It brought us closer.

I’m excited to see music as an art form again used to connect with people and it inspires me to try new things when I play."

– Armani

"I'm excited about some fun shows I played this last weekend, a Halloween theme campout and my first show in Big Sur at the Henry Miller Library."

– Andy

"I'm excited about some collaborations I have in the hopper right now. Not something I have done before but it's that new exciting shiny ball kind of thing."

– Kevin

My thoughts: Maybe it was due to my framing, but I found it interesting that the vast majority of responses to this question focused on music itself rather than music as an end to something else (i.e, metrics, or marketing, or money).

You guys apparently delight in pure music: in writing it, in playing it, in listening to it. Call me corny, but I think that's beautiful.

What is one thing I should write more about (or make more videos about)?

"How to get a playlist promoted via ads. I have somehow failed at doing that well via Meta ads so far. It feels like I need way too much budget to get a few followers more on my playlist. I believe I am not doing it the right way."

– Michael

"How do you feel about Spotify? I know that you have made them your bread and butter, so to speak. But I would imagine you are aware that Spotify, under the direction of Ek, have:

• Invested nearly $700 million dollars (made off of all of the artists on their platform) to Helsing, an AI military tech company, of which Ek himself is the Chairman. This company manufactures drones for air, land and underwater strikes.
• Placed in the contractual agreement, which every artist who uploads is immediately beholden to, that Spotify have the right to use their music pretty much any way they want, including using pieces of it to create a new composition, all without the artist ever being paid for it.
• Run ads for ICE recruitment, and refuse to stop doing so.

I am not trying to shame you or blame you. I am curious how you rationalize trying to get more people to use this platform, rather than the opposite?"

– Mark

"I would love to hear more about how to grow on Instagram organically, specifically, and thoughts on trial reels."

– Jess

"I'd love to get your take on Twitch, or perhaps an alternative option for Spotify, if you've come across anything."

– Sophie

"I'd love you to make more posts about good and legit Spotify promotion for songs or playlisting, or tutorial videos on how you make good music video ads for better conversions in Meta Ads."

– Trung

My thoughts: I was hoping for two outcomes from this question: 1) that you guys would give me good ideas for future newsletters, and 2) that, taken together, your responses would suggest some general theme of interest that I could focus my effort toward for the next little while.

Well...

Outcome 1: ✅ to the max.
Outcome 2: Yeah, kind of the opposite.

You can tell from the replies I've included above: People have a bunch of different ideas as to what I should write about, and it's rare that any two people are interested in the same thing.

You can't make everyone happy. But I like to try anyway, which means you'll probably get a dissatisfying mishmash of content for the foreseeable future.

Sorry.

Why do you follow Two Story?

"I've found a lot of value in your courses that I've taken, and in the MSM club I was a member of a while back.

Additionally, I always enjoy reading your and Tom's emails, regardless of what the particular topic of the day might be. They're well-written, entertaining, encouraging, and offer interesting perspectives."

– Todd

"I love reading your emails, because it makes me laugh and it makes me feel like I’m not alone with all the insecurity and decisions that go into being a songwriter and artist these days. I love your analytical approach to comparing services and marketing options."

– Carli

"Sometimes interesting and it seems genuine."

– David

"I follow Two Story because I think you guys are very intelligent and also very down-to-earth and no hype and no bull and it just gels with me."

– Brook

"Honestly, I just like following genuine people who are interested in all of us rising collectively. I learn so much from reading your thoughts, and I always appreciate your insights!"

– Victoria

"You are similar to the LANDR guy from Indie Music Academy, but a) he is a little too slick, b) reddit says he doesn't usually work directly with clients, and their setup is so big it's kind of unresponsive, and c) his "sync" vids seem sketchy ... or at least, slightly sketchier than yours 😊

You have some very detailed, very useful YouTube vids, like the 13 best promo sites, and a walk-through of setting up meta ads."

– Chris

My thoughts: To survey your responses, it looks like this question amounted to fishing for compliments. That wasn't my intent (consciously, at least), but I have to admit that I enjoyed reading about how smart, funny, and generally just all-around great Tom and I are.

On a serious note: I was so gratified to hear several people describe Two Story of a means of connection, a way to feel less alone in the music industry. Connection is one of my core values and kind of an implicit part of our mission, so it's incredibly fulfilling to hear that we're having that sort of impact.

And on a less serious note, I've got to say that Chris' response really cracked me up. "The LANDR guy from Indie Music Academy" is none other than Ryan Waczek, who's a good friend of mine. If he's slicker than me, it's a consequence of being way better than I am on video, and, relatedly, having much better hair.

I'll close the mailbag there.

Again, thanks so much to everyone who responded. I'd love to imagine that I'm intrinsically motivated and could keep grinding on this newsletter for years without any sign audience support – but that's a fantasy. If I'm honest, this is the sort of stuff that keeps me going.

I appreciate you.

I'll be back next week with either a breakdown of some Spotify marketing tactic or a philosophical examination of the moral consequences of promoting music on Spotify.

Or something else entirely. I haven't decided yet.

Talk soon,

– Jon

Jon Anderson Founder @ Two Story Media Surprisingly Good @ Super Smash Bros on N64

👋 Want more people to hear your music? Here are three ways Two Story Media can help. ​ ​Join the Million Streams Membership. Get our full library of music marketing courses, new monthly trainings, and access to a cool community of other artists. Start learning today. ​ ​Get Meta Ads Mentorship. Work with me one-on-one to become a Meta ads master, make your advertising plan, and get your music heard. Apply here. ​ ​Hire us to run your Meta ads. We create and manage campaigns to help artists get heard. It works pretty well. Apply here.

P.S. – Here are a few photos from our week in Shenandoah. Having just moved from Denver, I'm a bit of a snob for mountains, but I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty of the Blue Ridge range. It was a good, refreshing trip.

P.P.S. – A little heads-up: For Black Friday, I'm going to be offering a discount on our playlist promotion service. So if you've been thinking about trying it but haven't yet, maybe wait until the week of Thanksgiving.