Most music artists don’t do this…but should

Hope you found this video valuable. Grab my book if you want to 🤝
www.nicdbook.com

[@alexgrant311]

I'm a music video director, but i always tell my clients to not create music videos and create mini documentaries. The budget is going to be similar, you get a piece of content made that will help your audience connect with you as a human, and a documentary piece can actually be cut up in multiple videos. If a doc is done strategically, an artist will have enough content for at least 2 years. Lets say you record a 2 hour interview that gets cut down to 5 minutes for a doc. At least an hour of content is still on the cutting table that can be cut into numerous videos. You need b roll scenes for a doc, so the DP is going to capture bts footage, concert footage, your process of creating and so much more. Obviously all of that will go into the larger doc, but all of that can be repurposed to create more content moving forward. Why spend $3k on a music video when you can spend $3-5k on a mini doc piece.

[@peazyd2b]

What your Instagram ?

[@alexgrant311]

@@peazyd2b @alexbgrant_

[@kazonikz]

This is GOLD, thank you

[@joeytoxicbaby]

5-8k

[@alexgrant311]

@alexbgrant_ ​@@peazyd2b

[@samraiblade]

"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." The most relatable quote to this channel.

[@frdiforartists]

Is this a good or bad thing lol

[@samraiblade]

@@frdiforartists This is good!! My bad for off context. Having a side business Also helped me understand how to function as a business and relate it to music that's why your channels good.

[@MotionGifts]

It's a good thing ​@@frdiforartists

[@aaronasissoard1098]

Agree

[@plutoandcharonmusic]

Dude I can’t say it enough, this content meant to help artists is equal parts inspiring and empowering. Look up to you bro! Much love ❤️

[@Thusfarsbs]

Shoutout to Nic D because this helped me wrap my mind around making personality content, salute

[@DustinWarbear]

What if making music is legitimately my only hobby? 😭😂 I work, make music, and sleep. Nic, please help lol.

[@CHA53RJr]

Make new hobbies

[@Joeymuggz]

Talk about your love of work. What drives you to focus on work or be singularly focused on music as your only hobby ☕️☕️

[@dasistrafa]

go to the gym, meet more people, read, run, buy Lego, puzzles, grow some plants, create new drinks, try something new 😘

[@watchgoodday]

Do what Nic is doing right now. Share your music process, you can even focus on the fact that music is your only hobby. Learn how to create content with great hooks to get attention and leverage curiosity gaps to hold attention. Ultimately you should think about how can you entertain and provide value to a viewer who doesn’t know you and only cares about if you can entertain them or give them valuable information. You got this! Just try to make one piece of content/day and practice how to make engaging and interesting work. I promise it’s not that hard. Take an afternoon, Watch some videos on content creation formula and principals, apply that information every day for a few weeks or months. Make it better over time. Keep doing what you love just add this on top!

[@ShimmerWali]

This is the best video yet, as an artist, i struggle to think that I should only make music content, but realize i can do my other content as well

[@austincelaya1139]

I think sharing yourself is sharing your personality and if people like you as a person, they will listen to your music by extension.

[@carlosp.1846]

well... I'm not so sure of this.. I'm subscribed to this channel, I like the content, I never heard or listened to his music...

[@naveedahmedny]

Agreed with everything you’re saying but at the same time, there are so many musicians who make “other” content who get more known for that and people don’t follow them back to their music. Where’s that balance of showing yourself as a multi-dimensional human but also building a consistent/cohesive presence as a musician?

[@frdiforartists]

I think my main point was make sure you give people your authentic self because they need to care about you in order to care about your releases.

[@Riverazofficial]

great question! exactly what im wondering too. I see so many people with millions of views yet only 500 monthly listeners. Nic d definitelymade it happen though so im ready to implement everything he says

[@brion_aiota]

Idk if this helps as I wasn’t around for his come up but going to his TikTok and studying a bit of his strategy in practice by picking random videos, pretty much every single post is still centered around the music, whether it be performance or otherwise. He translates his personality thru everything that surrounds the song within the post like the talk up at the beginning or little comments between lines in the song or funny/interesting things happening while performing etc. There are very few, if any, posts that don’t directly revolve around whatever song is being presented. It seems like what you’re referring to is when artists make posts that are engaging and get attention, but then they also make posts about their music, so the people that followed them for a funny video or whatever may not be interested in their music cus it wasn’t part of what initially grabbed them in the first place. That can work in their favor sometimes, but if I understand correctly, that’s what you’re seeing happen. The idea seems to be that the showcasing of your personality should be in all the little opportunities to do so that are packed around a song but within the same videos as the songs themselves and not in separate posts. Ofc other creative outlets allow for people to get to know you in a way that doesn’t involve the music, but as he’s said, he doesn’t really mix those worlds and lets them naturally integrate thru their own lanes of exposure, but you’ll never (almost?) see a post by Nic D on TikTok that doesn’t very clearly indicate that he’s a musician, regardless of what else is happening in the video.

[@music_ethos]

Can you make a video on the little things no one talks about with content like how you actually upload it. Do you use a service to upload to all platforms at once? Is it you personally who recording, editting, making the captions, and posting it on every platform. How do you make your lyric videos for youtube? Other things that help streamline the process. Thanks, these videos are awesome keep it up!

[@dylansmith8660]

Super helpful. Much appreciated Nic! Def going to grab your book 🎉

[@ghostcoach]

Thanks Nic, we've been following your advice and our streams have gone through the roof. It has really changed my life.

[@TheMissingFrets]

Hey thanks bro I love your realism!👊🏼

[@GRAVYBEATS]

Bro dropping gems 💎🙌

[@positivereptile]

Hey man, I appreciate your delivery of this advice. It feels like you are actually talkin to me and not sounding super preachy like others. I like how you said some basic level of success from music is on the other side of Content creation lol Im learning to accept that and starting to experiment with different styles of content. Appreciate it man, take care

[@jahbrae]

TIME STAMPS [0:23] Emphasizes the importance of showcasing personality to stand out in the music industry [1:37] Advises focusing on why people should like you, rather than just educating them about your music or profession [2:56] Discusses the challenges talented musicians face in making a living from their music [4:01] Shares practical ways to give the audience more of yourself, such as showing bits of your daily life [6:04] Talks about the importance of starting a podcast or creating different content to show different sides of yourself [8:33] Emphasizes the need to separate different types of content on different platforms for better engagement and connection with the audience.

[@ParrisCrockett]

Nic just want to say thank you, I love your book ! I haven’t even listened to much of your music but I like what I’m hearing from you bro ! God bless you, and happy holidays. 🎄

[@Iamdanybazz]

Please more videos I need the encouragement and guidance for next year Thanks

[@unclefifofficial]

I just listened to Riptide. Your music is really good.

[@nyronwaite]

Love these videos bro!!!!!

[@lyndilopez5]

This is solid bc you could spin this to work for youself in a lot of fields (I'm in marketing for a big distributor). Love this content so much!

[@speedcrawlmusic]

super helpful thank you

[@lifeinthespiritt.v1402]

Love you bro good tips

[@steelokey]

Always love clicking on your new videos, sometimes I don’t watch the entire thing but I feel like I always get some good information from them. Working on making 2024 the best year for me yet - musically.

[@chrisglover3171]

Nic I just discovered your content and music and I just wanted to say thank you. The advice that you give independent artist makes a lot of sense and is very valuable. I'm gonna purchase your book and I look forward to learning more about the business from your experiences.

[@ajetwothousand]

Second this !

[@frdiforartists]

I hope you find the book valuable 🤝

[@chrisglover3171]

@frdiforartists I'm sure I will. I'm a little old school so it should be really helpful learning how to navigate this new way of making money with your music.

[@onegillianbaci2]

I am so glad Nic spoke about separating the accounts. I'll explain my own story in case it helps someone out there who is in a similar situation. I was originally posting performance content on my music-focused IG account. As time wore on, I tried experimenting with other content types and found gold. Apparently, people love me talking about anything (basically vlogs with voiceovers). Initially, I was over the moon with this. To provide perspective, my music content was generating around 200-500 likes per post and around 10-25 comments. However, some of my vlogs were pulling in 1-4k likes with over 100 comments. But not just that, some posts brought in 100+ followers in a single day. Naturally, I felt I had conquered the algorithm. But time passed, and I noticed a very disturbing trend. You would think that people who like you for your personality would instantly like you for your music as well. But this was not the case at all. If anything, the explosive growth (or high engagement) acquired by my vlogs was actually undercutting my music content in two interesting ways. A) Algorithmic Confusion: Like Nic says in the video, the algorithm got a bit confused as to who to share what post with. But this is the surface explanation. Upon further consideration, it became clearer what was going on. Algorithms tend to show your new posts to a random set of your most engaged (and or recently engaged) accounts. Since my vlog content was outperforming my music content by more than 3x on average, it stood to reason that most people who got my music content may have followed primarily for the vlog content. Thus, they would swipe away from any content that was 100% about music (which all performance content is). So, imagine then that 100 accounts were shown my new music content. 70% swipe up due to lack of interest. What do you imagine happens to the reach (which naturally impacts engagement)? It tanks! So, I had grown by more than 2x, but the reach and engagement of my music content were worse. Clearly, something was wrong. How I solved this problem was what Nic suggests: split the accounts. Since people love my personality (as expressed through my vlogs and other talking content), I would give it to them on a more personal account while I keep the music account for better algorithmic focus. Now to the second issue, which was a bit more internal. B) Creator Confusion/Misalignment or Creative Laziness: Because I was gaining massive growth and engagement from vlogs, I found that I wasn't paying close enough attention to how well or poorly the music content was performing. Why? Because when I faced the emotional assault from low reach and engagement numbers on music posts (which were mostly performance videos), I would turn to vlog content to make me feel better. But this was a sophisticated form of cowardice. I got out of this loop by being honest with what I wanted: music adoption (making a living off streaming). As such, any social media growth that wasn't impacting this goal positively (and worse yet, was even becoming a negative) was bad for the music brand. Thus, it became clearer that my content strategy needed some adjustment. I'm still in the middle of that experiment and can already see some fruits. So, if you're reading this and facing a similar conundrum, split your accounts. It's best to think in terms of branding/business as that will make it easier to determine what to separate. Thank you, Nic, for sharing what you know with the world ❤

[@JUSTUSraps]

These vids are all dope, appreciate you uploading frequently

[@frdiforartists]

Trying to be consistent on this channel 🤝

[@VersatBeats]

This is so true I hate the camera!! but i've decided i'm going to start making videos for my 10 viewers lol

[@RomeoCarterMusic]

Bro can you make a video about the top 5 ways you would recommend for promoting and growing a music profile online ig/tiktok/yt etc?

[@playarabbit]

You gotta keep learning, growing, never stop the just music

[@flamersss]

can you make a video on what type of content music artists can make ?

[@Heyim_Skye]

Love the content, the music, and the knowledge your sharing. Are you combining NDPNDNT and FRDi for Artists?

[@jeffvibesmusic]

I try to find content that will show most authentic myself but at the same time resonate with people and get some good reach. It's not easy for sure, but it's okay, love the journey. Also, my suggestion would be the type of content that will be "yours" might come to you if you just sit back for a minute and just ask yourself like "okay I'm gonna make some content to promote myself/my music now, how I really wanna do it?" Like not thinking about ways of how other people do it, but just try to really understand what you're leaning towards. I haven't still figured it out for myself tho, but just my thoughts, all love👏

[@miray4kriss]

Hi Nick your video is inspiring for an introvert like me plus I make instrumentals music how to do it I try to find a way

[@4rransMirroredDoors]

Hey Nic! Quick question, can you explain how you capture the audio in your TikTok’s? Sometimes you have the computer and the focusrite scarlett but sometimes you have a smaller set up that fits in a fanny pack and that’s the one I’m intrigued about…? Thanks for all this, you make the world a better place 😊

[@MotionGifts]

My brother has went through so many garbage KZbinrs explaining how to grow your music and all are over complicated. This is straight to the point no fat.

[@frdiforartists]

That’s because most people teaching how to make a living making music have never done it.

[@MotionGifts]

@@frdiforartists agreed

[@JulianDoe]

@@frdiforartists "those who can't do, teach. And those who can't teach, teach gym." (Woody Allen)

[@MotionGifts]

@@JulianDoe I like that

[@MiKEY_SANZ]

Nic should sell consultations

[@Za33themusicartist]

could you elaborate in another video on "operating as a business" I think that's the missing piece to my puzzle

[@cloudshaifr]

i just realized bro is the good version of Syndrome from the incredibles, we’re in the good timeline

[@TooDeep2020]

I really would love to make a hit with you and Connor!

[@HiFiJi]

Nic you mention that making a separate channel for things unrelated to your music channel so the algorithm doesn't get confused... I produce ambient electronic/future garage, Lofi soul, and Hip Hop/RnB music, what do you think about multiple genres of music being on the same channel or should each genre I produce be separated into different channels?

[@Riverazofficial]

I also have that question. plus im bilingual. so is it best to have different channels for each language or genre for the algorithm?

[@HiFiJi]

I think being bilingual is a huge advantage, if you released the same content as you do on one channel to your other channel in the other language you will more than likely be able to reach a larger audience...but that's just my thoughts@@Riverazofficial

[@jakeandrew333]

I do the same! Started 2 different beat channels now

[@HiFiJi]

nice brother! what genres do you produce in?@@jakeandrew333

[@matthewsharayko7463]

Hey Nic, thank you for sharing with us your insights through all of these videos. I recently bought your book and was disappointed at how expensive it was for how little added value I received. Basically everything in the book you've said already in interviews. I was hoping for some deeper nuggets of wisdom. As an indie artist, I'm happy to support other artists, but thought I would give you my honest review. Take care and have a happy holiday.

[@Riverazofficial]

is it really necessary to have two separate channels ? Im currently mixing music and couple podcast type of content on my channel so should I start a separate page for music only for the algorithm?

[@frdiforartists]

It’s personal preference, I can only speak from my experience and that’s what I did

[@MotionGifts]

I'm a visual learner and would love to see visual examples (if possible) of music content for future videos.

[@RichardRosiles]

He has a ton of platforms where he has hundreds of videos out already, go look at them

[@Webbstur]

I want to know how many songs you have on Discover Weekly and how many streams and listeners from that

[@frdiforartists]

Last 28 days 10 songs in discover weekly and 139,796 streams total from discover weekly for those 10 songs

[@Webbstur]

@@frdiforartists That's great, because it's only 1 week on discover weekly so if they like the song they gonna add it to their own playlists

[@YEOTTI]

Bang

[@47StillStanding]

There's different layers to this onion baby 😆😆😆

[@JackDenning]

The only real one speaks again! Haha

[@ShinbrigTV]

Being an introvert myself; I'm glad playing at shows and networking FORCED me outta my comfort zone.

[@TheEncouragementKid]

that's awesome dude!

[@joefaulk734]

What your saying is your music doesn’t speak for itself.

[@frdiforartists]

It can, but it’s less likely. The stuff I talk about is what I feel is a more predictable, practical approach to making a living making music. And even if you feel your music speaks for itself, people have to still know it’s there to be able to listen to it. There’s a million songs uploaded to Spotify everyday. For someone’s music to speak for itself isn’t very likely. I’m simply sharing what I feel is more realistic and obtainable. All good either way 🤝 thanks for stopping by the video

[@joefaulk734]

No disrespect. I fuck with you I just feel like people are way more focused on marketing these days than anything else and the music is suffering because of that. But it’s not anyones fault. That’s what the world has come to and artists are just trying to adapt. Everything you saying and doing makes sense I’m just friggin mad at society

[@ericeracleous9404]

In a world where everyone is talented. Nobody is. When everyone is super nobody is. When everyones music is great no ones music is. The problem is anyone can put out music now. Its easy. Its nothing special. That makes every talented person no one special. And thats the shame of it.

[@Legato6669]

It’s not your music that gets you further in this industry. It’s HOW people experience your music. CREATE GOOD MUSIC and HOST YOUR OWN EVENTS. And if no one shows up for your events - book more popular artists to headline (with you being the event organizer and the opening act). PRO TIP: Choose music venues with a solid social media presence and run social media ads when possible. You’ll benefit a lot being tech savvy here. Best of luck ✌️

[@darkskinwhite]

*morTgage*

[@MaikaMaile]

mortkij

[@guycohen14]

Build up

[@frdiforartists]

lol 🤝

[@haskelbosack8475]

"promosm" 🎉