This Guy’s Advice DESTROYS Musicians Streams

[@Musformation]

Hi, I want to bring as much context as possible to this since that's why I made this video and Nic did reply. If you would like to see his reply it is here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mn2VgYmVd9CFa7M

[@prayerXtantra]

And his stans have rallied together 😂 And it has only reinforced their radicalization!!’😅❤

[@richleisy7857]

Yes - and his reply was gracious in spite of your mean-spirited swipe.

[@prayerXtantra]

@@richleisy7857 a good-faith read on his quick reply was that it seethed with condescension and faux humility, actually

[@romeu3911]

You just want to sell. Your KZbin banner is an add for your "services". You have accomplished nothing compared to Nic. You just want views and take money from people. F you.

[@waynebo248]

I think what he said is you need to scale to what you're capable of, get into a rhythm, and be consistent. He also emphasizes making content around the music. I'm inclined to listen to a guy who is getting over 1 million streams a day. He knows what he's doing. He also pointed out that the more you do, the better and more consistent you get. More hits. Fewer misses. Bottom line is: there is more than one way to do this.

[@Musformation]

You can do whatever you want, I just wanted to bring up all the details so people can make their own decisions.

[@nikkjcrespo]

It's important to note that he has the money to hire producers and mixers for every release, and like Jesse points out, the genre he makes is very sympathetic to amateur/messy releases. So his strategy works great if you 1) have the money 2) have the talent 3) are in a particular genre where that can work 4) you have a solid social media strategy or presense. That's a lot, and even for the dude mentioned, he spent two years grinding before he found his niche and how to make it work for him. If you are taking his advice (or Jesse's, or anyone's) you should expect to follow it for a while, finding what works, and what doesn't. There's context missing in every advice video you watch so always try to read between the lines and nuance of what is being said.

[@MarioMcFly47]

@@nikkjcrespo nic was recording his songs in his car with a laptop and a mic lol

[@SIXOFOFIVESLIMES]

​@@nikkjcrespo he got no help bruh, he is really independent. 😂

[@bludbarbi]

ooo this was really disappointing. I'm sure anyone who has watched all of Nic D's interviews and podcasts could tell you that this wasn't cool. From this video I can tell you haven't deep dived him enough. Too many times he says this is what works for him and every artist needs to find out what works for them. He's simply sharing what he did. The point you are trying to make could probably have been made without being awfully rude.

[@PEERSEEMANN]

Not a cool way of commenting on Nics method. Myself I see value in doing things more quickly and overcoming perfectionism. Perfectionism and relentless standards can be a way of standing in your own way and Nic adresses that. Also thinking from content not from song can be of value.

[@kibiparbz]

Your making the same number of songs either way so the perfectionist point makes no sense and Nic D makes it clear he cares about the business not the music as much as he says in several videos, if you want money and views Nics method might work, if you care about the music itself to a high degree and want dedicated fans and to make an impact jesses is the way that’s why Nic constantly says he thinks of it as a business

[@PEERSEEMANN]

@@kibiparbz I see your point, but overcoming perfectionism can be a value in itself. And it means you can release more. An example: I did a song, writing, composing, mix, master and video in 24 hrs. It performed better than another track I worked on for 6 month with 100 audio tracks ... same what Rick Rubin says about catching the moment, something can feel dated if you wait. But I appreciate you caring about quality. Btw Nic is a GREAT songwriter and he plays that down ...

[@kibiparbz]

@@PEERSEEMANN The performance doesn’t reflect the benefit long term, I could make ten songs act extremly silly and say something very generic and it will pay me but nobody is going to benefit from my music and 10 years down the line nobody will care, you will have many streams and have absolutely no impact on the world, it’s ok to see music as a business but you will never get the results of someone doing it with more care, if I have 2 songs and one is clearly better I’m not going to disrespect a fan by releasing both I’m going to release the one that they will love, and Nic says this too it’s just a business he doesn’t care about the depth of the music, he says it every video and there’s no issue with that but you absolutely will not have the impact on people’s lives that a musician that cares more does

[@PEERSEEMANN]

@@kibiparbz yeah absolutely, fair enough, but to be honest working on a song with 100 tracks for 6 months and nobody cares is painful. There is a line everyone of us will define differently but it can be helpful to question that line. An example: I made a skit I thought was embarrassing, than a highly intellectual friend reached out and wrote it was dope. As Nic says quality is subjective.

[@kibiparbz]

@@PEERSEEMANN this is true, that’s why I think a song every 1-2 months is the warm spot it keeps you from overdoing it while also stopping you from panick releasing, I have been on both sides of the fence currently im in a spot where it’s taking me months but I worked for years releasing tracks that weren’t up to par and only once I started releasing better stuff and only the best less frequently I saw the numbers go up but also the dms, the love the want for live shows and I am extremly concerned that people will take the Gary V method and I have watched my artist friends do it and it just doesn’t end well especially as someone who had many millions of TikTok views the money and numbers are extraordinarily misleading and it took me 5 years to realise I was on the wrong side of the fence, I don’t hate Nic or anything either I’m glad he is succesful but I think you take 100 artists on nics advice and 100 on jesses the results will speak in jesses favour because I watched it first hand and recently my good friend who released a song twice a month just in general not due to nic give up on music because he got that spike and it fed him for years until it didn’t and it was the most depressing thing to watch that light go out

[@pizzamuzza]

Imagine having just 9 tries in a year when you can have 26, who's more likely to succeed? Each time I took months to release it hurt my monthly listeners and the one time I released a lot and posted daily for 4 months I gained over 30k listeners. Nic advice is king, dont disrespect, he literally created connor price.

[@Musformation]

Imagine you paid no attention to what I said and just defended the guy you liked

[@tatertimeofficial]

You are disrespectful as hell man

[@TheGael128]

@@Musformation imagine getting upset over someone expressing their own opinion

[@Dub321]

​@@Musformationyou're an idiot dude

[@User56538]

@@TheGael128imagine saying imagine, bro. Just imagine ! 🌈

[@applejaxx]

9:40 I respectfully disagree with your approach here. Many artists are advised to hold onto songs and refine them until they're perfect. Rather than holding onto songs indefinitely, some artists choose to release them, even if they're not perfect, and learn from the process. Hip-hop music, unlike other genres, doesn't always require live instrumentation, which can speed up the creation process, but it doesn't mean less effort goes into it.

[@Tjmont]

I dunno….he was an independent artist who took himself from nothing to a million streams a day and tens if not hundreds of thousands in revenue a month. So….what hes saying and doing is probably worth listening to.

[@Musformation]

Oh boy

[@Tjmont]

@@Musformation pretty impressive what he’s done. Whether you agree with his strategy or not. Theres always more than one recipe to success.

[@kibiparbz]

@@Tjmontthe thing is he became succesful using jesses strategy and he inadvertently admits that in his new video, so he didn’t become succesful releasing the way he tells us too he did it using jesses method then once he was already succesful changed it that’s a big point people are ignoring

[@Tjmont]

@@kibiparbz i dont think he does. Hes done a few interviews and he breaks down what worked. Basically just loads of tik tok content and very consistent releases is what broke him through. Enough to the point where he doesn’t even write a song until he has content ideas for it.

[@kibiparbz]

@@Tjmont no he said in his new video his first song to blow up was releasing a song a month but only because he sold it to a label, regardless the way he blew up (according to the video he dropped a few hours ago) was releasing a song a month then after it blew up he increased back to two

[@evandonghue2]

Hearing from a guy who has done it is compelling. "Ric D" has done it. I really like Jesse's info but the Williamsburg snark I could do without. Some of us are sitting on deep bodies of work that we have been working on for over a decade. In my case I have 100s of finished songs that I've spent my entire adult life building. I never knew how to release it until recently, thanks to people like Jesse. Thanks btw. I could release a quality track that has been professionally mixed and mastered every 2 weeks for the next 5 years without writing a new one. I don't, and instead do 1 a month because I don't have as much time to make promo videos. That being said, I think both Jesse and "Ric D" mean well. Both appear to me to be honest actors that want to share their knowledge with others in order to help artists. We are blessed to have both of them. I wish that instead of this insufferable snarky attitude that Jesse would have a dialog with "Ric D" and see where they can find common ground. It seems to me that Jesse has a superiority complex for people in fly over states. Its not at all uncommon and it's why many people in metro areas are so disconnected from the rest of the country and imo reality. My humble advice for Jesse is to get over yourself, "Ric D" was gracious in your criticism of him and took the high road by not insulting you or insinuating that you have nefarious motives. Maybe you could learn something about common decency from those hillbilly no nothings from red states.

[@Musformation]

Ric was very gracious and my New Yorker attitude isn’t for everyone and I am very comfortable with that. You unfortunately gotta make what you wanna see and I did and am fine with that 🤷‍♂️

[@evandonghue2]

@@Musformation I'm originally from the LA area so I've been exposed to many people that share your style. At the end of the day I know it's kind of an act and obviously it's working for you. I also believe that under that is a guy that genuinely wants to help artists and push music forward into a new era that hopefully creates better music for everyone. So thanks again for what you do.

[@henrikofficialmusic]

I gotta disagree pretty heavily here. Definitely think there’s more than one way to pursue being an artist. Im sure your strategies can work better for some artists but Ric G also has great info for other artists. Personally I followed Ric Gs strategies to a T and it grew me from less than 100k to over 5 million monthlies on Spotify in less than a year. Thanks a lot Ric G!

[@valdi7777]

I've been a follower of yours for 3 years now, and I've used some of your strategies, also I have very good performing music videos because of following your advice. What I really don't like is you calling stupid someone who just tries to simplify things for us artists. I was overwhelmed by all the informartion concerning music releases, and "Ric's" perspective made me take a breath and dont get stressed about thinks not working out in the industry. I respect both of you but I feel insulting someone who's just trying to help is not the way. Sorry.

[@Musformation]

I don’t call him stupid. I call the advice is poorly thought out. My vibe is aggressive for some but I considered this and stand by it

[@KawaiiSteez]

We were treated with Kendrick vs Drake and now we have this. What a time to be alive

[@Musformation]

Lol

[@prod.jakekarno1765]

Ah man you beat me to it, was literally about to comment the same🤣

[@KawaiiSteez]

@@prod.jakekarno1765 lol that's mad funny

[@Dbznation2055]

Keep telling the truth brother

[@tyronecriss23]

Kruger Effect as a Musician Be Like… When the ego is low: Every musician is great. How are they able to do all this? When the ego is high: I am the one who knocks.

[@Musformation]

Lol

[@thealternatenow]

2 glaring contradictions in this analysis of Nic D. 1. If Nic took your advice of a 6-8 week release schedule then the first song to cut through for him isn’t getting released until 2027!! He’d still be diligently promoting those earlier songs that just might not have been the one to resonate! 2. You mentioned theb10’s of thousands of streams less popular tracks might get compared to the few that get millions like they shouldn’t be released, Wouldn’t a catalogue with a few big songs be well supplemented by a larger number that are doing at least something? It only needs a small spike for a large number of songs to add up to substantial additional streams! Nic is an honest independent artists who advocates for action over procrastination. He doesn’t claim to have a magic pill for any artist but shares what has worked for him and several contemporaries. His response to your video shows the quality person he is. I think you owe him apology!!! Despite this, some of your advice is awesome.

[@Musformation]

Funny all these favorable Nic comments coming in at the same time? Seems like Astro turf to me. As for your points like I said in the video I wanted to give context for what Nic says it’s indisputable it worked for him but it’s not for everyone and wanted to give the full context. 2. I refute this in the video why I disagree no need to reiterate

[@thealternatenow]

No astro turf laying that I’ve been part of! I’d say several people watched his response video at a similar time and like me, felt compelled to comment. You make a great case for the release strategy you recommend! But it is cheapened by attempting to discredit a different strategy that also can and has worked for some artists.

[@Musformation]

I had not realized he made a video at the time my apologies

[@AlexStanilla]

Nic also literally states in his response video he promoted his first song that really blew up for 2 months. Thats what Jesses video is about, initially breaking in, now that Nic has an audience he can fart every hour and people will say its their new favorite song. Not the most effective method tho for new artists building a fanbase.

[@grandpaneg6959]

@@AlexStanillaI’d imagine he still promotes music that’s months old now as he’s got the money to do it. Nothing would’ve changed. If you’ve seen people like Andrew Southworth talk about this stuff they all say that it depends on the song. Sometimes they’ll promote a song for longer if it’s doing well so I’d imagine that what Nic did and it may have been the exception and not the rule

[@_legrand_]

nice vid jesse! I have some friends from both sides of this perspective, and i have some critiques to what you’re saying here. First of all, releasing every 2 weeks is a viable option, and new artists CAN do it to find success. Here are the advantages that comes with it: 1: Having more songs to choose from means your tiktok will feel less stale. 30-60 videos for a single release will get repetitive and fans will get annoyed. Releasing biweekly doesn’t necessarily mean promoting biweekly; you can pick and choose what songs to keep promoting based off of how they perform 2: Making more songs helps you improve faster. Research has shown this again and again. Sure, song #315 could’ve been better if I invested a week into making it, but by the end of a year, the person who made 315 songs will be more skilled than the person who made 10. The songs by the end will sound better even though they didn’t take as long to make. it’s a matter of how humans learn and grow. 3: Time and effort does not equal quality. I’ve found that the quality of my songs plateau and start to decrease as I spend more time on it. My most successful songs were all made in under 10 hours of studio time. Many of my least successful songs took days or weeks. Committing to invest more time in a track does not guarantee that it will sound better than if you hammered it out in a single afternoon. That being said, I myself release closer to every 4-6 weeks, and here are the advantages i’ve found with it: 1: Releasing a little less gives you more time to come up with creative ways to market your song. Yes your socials will feel a little repetitive, and yes, you’ll have angry commenters yelling at you for milking your music (as if that isn’t my whole point for having social media). But spending that extra time coming up with new and interesting ways to promote your releases has definitely paid off for me. 2: If you don’t pull inspiration from enough sources, you might find yourself reusing the same melodies, rhythms, and chords if you release biweekly. 3: When you release less, the attention of your fans is divided over less songs. this means that your fans will think a lot more about your lyrics and small details. So lore is more powerful with less frequent releases. Overall, I think that making biweekly music, or even weekly music, is objectively a good thing to do. Whether you release it or not depends on what you want from your music career.

[@HeyPich]

This is a pretty immature way to critique someone Jesse. Just because someone gives advice that contradicts yours, doesn’t mean you should attack their brand. There are multiple ways to go about releasing music, and just because one method is yours doesn’t make it better. I and many others like your regular content, so i hope Nic’s response leads to you posting less of this crap.

[@Musformation]

“Attack their brand” making a few jokes that total a few seconds of a 20 minute video where I discuss ideas. I put things in context in a fun and playful way if you don’t like it that’s fine but this is getting ridiculous to say I attacked. If I attacked I would gone a lot harder

[@HeyPich]

@@Musformation dude, the video is literally called “This guy’s advice DESTROYS musicians streams”. We know what you’re doing.

[@iamnatejames]

Jesse, I see you responding with contempt to everyone defending Nic in the comments as though the world is out to get you. Broski, you can’t post a video disrespecting someone and then get mad that people defend them. If you want to call someone out, have the balls to allow others to call you out too. I’d delete this one if I was you my man.

[@Musformation]

I say this not meaning to be mean or mysterious, I think you may want to think a little bit more about the game I’m playing here and about a video I made a few before this and how it plays into that. Also for the record I respond to the thoughtful ones with thought and the thoughtless ones with their same energy. But I know exactly what I am doing and why I’m doing it and everything is playing out just fine for me 🤷‍♂️

[@ynghendricks8168]

I don't get your hate on Nick, I've been watching your channel for a few years and I like Nicks take with releasing more music I also read his book and it's more about you giving your all for this music thing and working your ass off to start your career! your 6-8 week suggestion gets people lazy in my opinion, they do less shit because they know 'I have a lot of time until my next single, I'll write maybe 2 songs in the next 6-8 weeks'' Just my take, I like his angle. Almost all popular songs a mediocre songs but the listener doesn't care at long as its a decent song

[@vaaleef]

I agree

[@kibiparbz]

That’s the thing tho the listener does care, if you want to be a business it’s fine but if you care about your music it’s the equivalent of made in china

[@prayerXtantra]

If you’re making 60-200 TikToks, 2 music videos, alternate versions, collabs , remixes and all the other promotional shit that goes along with a 6-8 week strategy there still ain’t enough time in the day. And I mean, as an aside, ric has his fans, don’t get me wrong, but he’s an absolute joke amongst music nerds and aficionados; he’s actually not very likeable to many people, I know it is sad and hurtful to hear the unvarnished truth.

[@kibiparbz]

@@prayerXtantra I won’t comment on Nic Specifically but what I will agree with whole heartedly is that he is a businessman first and a musician second and I agree with all your points I myself am struggling just releasing a song and promo every 2 months even without any music videos or alt versions

[@Cresce_Music]

To me Nic D is dope and he's doing great things to help independent artists, I get some of your points for sure but I don't think he deserves to be made fun of while a lot of what he says makes perfect sense and he's actually helping a lot of artists get out of this mindset of waiting for that "one" song to change their life

[@Musformation]

That’s fine I stand by what I did

[@Cresce_Music]

@@MusformationAs you should! I bought your book which im reading right now and it has a lot of valuable insights, IMO so does his! Thankful for all the value

[@CyrusZerbe]

“I’m not going to be calling anyone out by name”. *Includes photo of the person as the thumbnail*

[@Musformation]

I think that ship has sailed

[@CyrusZerbe]

@@Musformation just feels disingenuous.

[@Musformation]

@@CyrusZerbe things change as do thumbnails also if you know who he is already it defeats the point of hiding and it’s blurred

[@CyrusZerbe]

@@Musformation then don’t “hide” it (which you’re not, but acting like you are). Again, feels disingenuous and indirect.

[@CyrusZerbe]

@@Musformation 🚩

[@DreamingWhileAwakeMusic]

I think it's funny that you mention people are so upset, but you seem very upset in the video calling people idiots, delusional and such. It's your opinion, but not fact, and releasing music frequently is good for not only the algorithm, but so producers can get real practice releasing songs. As we get better our music gets better and often times we change artists throughout our career or retract our songs which is actually quite easy. Releasing a few songs a year in the start of your career as a producer is bad advice in my opinion, you should be making hundreds / thousands of songs and releasing at least every 2 weeks, otherwise you will never get fast and good in your daw, and 1 fast and talented producer (like a programmer) can output 100x the amount of music than someone continually polishing songs that they have no way of getting good at because they will have never made enough songs in their short lives... A producer making 50 songs a year is getting way better faster than a producer producing 10 songs a year. The release process with advertising and that sort of thing requires a certain amount of burnt waffles to get it right, so you should be learning how not to burn them, not perfecting them when you still haven't figured out how to make the correct batter to go into the waffle maker. Nic D is a talented guy and he is fast (and outsources), and has a process, how did he develop that? With tons of iterations with which comes speed and skill - like anything in life. I encourage new producers to release at least 2-4 songs per month on Spotify, along with Social Media content, because you are spreading your odds and you don't really know what is going to be a hit when you are producing, you also don't know what sounds good until its been out there for awhile. Again you need to do it many many times to get better it isn't as easy as just taking a lot of time to make a few great songs, especially in the beginning. You will also get bored and give up if you are only working on a handful of songs, don't take it from me, take it from the 95% of people who simply quit at this game. You shouldn't be scared of putting out "mid material" or "crap material" I'm sorry, that is not how we look at this and it comes across negatively - and Jesse it doesn't help many of us that already have an expected level of imposter-syndrome already working against us, music is beautiful and we look at this as an evolution that changes over time as we achieve mastery over this life-long endeavor. You cannot know the limitations of the cave until you have left the cave, or become better as a producer to even be good enough to hear what sounds good let alone make something good in the beginning. I agree with much of what you say, and I have learned a lot from your channel, but I disagree with the fundamental tenets of this video.

[@Musformation]

Just to be clear a lot of what you are arguing against are not things I said. I said you should be making those 20 songs but not RELEASING THEM and instead drawing from them. I call the bad ideas delusional and ridiculous because this is a device that works for retention and arguing in a dramatic way gets my ways spread, do you think I want to talk like this? And yeah I disagree with the rest of what you said but its all in there and in future and past videos.

[@DreamingWhileAwakeMusic]

​@@Musformation Apologies if i built any straw men it wasn't my intent - I do feel like releasing them is what helps us understand things more beyond the music like advertising and how spotify's various algorithms work. I dont totally disagree what you are pointing out in your video and I am starting to slow down myself and go for quality, but I'm glad I'm getting a lot of songs out there I'm not releasing them all under my main artist I'm using alts. They aren't bad songs just that the mixes aren't very good, and I've mastered some of them with limited success but it gives me satisfaction to release them even though they are what you would call "mid material". It could also be like you said genres come into play.

[@jackvernian7779]

Couldn't have put it better myself, thank you for expressing your point of view, fully agree with you there.

[@gdoll1999]

Your video is great, as is Nic D’s classy response. One point that I think is being overlooked is that some artists are buying exclusive or non-exclusive beats. Someone else has done the painful work of perfecting the music before it ever reaches the vocalist. I think Nic D talked about this in one of his videos: he’s got someone who (at least sometimes) makes beats for him, someone who mixes, someone who masters, which allows him to focus on laying down creative vocal tracks. Thus his output is high. So I think because of his teamwork, his songs are as strong as if he’d spent 6-8 weeks alone on each one. And he’s killing it, deservedly so. A lot of people with good day jobs could benefit from this strategy if they don’t mind removing themselves from a few layers of the creative process. Also I think I’ve watched enough of your videos, Jesse, to know that this video was designed to elicit exactly the kind of reaction you’re getting, so good work.😂

[@Musformation]

Yes I actually had a lot of this in my script but didn’t want to make a 30 minute video. If I’m being honest the response I wanted would have been a lot more intelligent than most of these comments but I appreciate this one

[@IamVitalucci]

The amount of effort you put into being nasty to someone you’ve never met is crazy. Never liked your content much anyway but this pretty much seals the deal for me. I’d gamble you can’t find a person alive that has seen nic disrespect anyone the way you disrespect him here.

[@Musformation]

Nasty is an interesting term for what was in this video

[@IamVitalucci]

@@Musformation you practically called him a liar. Instead of saying his name and referencing him directly you had “actors” pretty much make fun of him while attempting to discredit him. If you don’t think this video was in poor taste or “nasty” as I said before then you further prove my original point.

[@Musformation]

@IamVitalucci I didn’t practically call him a liar I said numerous times he left out context that’s important which is a valid argument. I explained why I had an actor play them because KZbin allows people you use in a video to copyright claim videos this is a way around him. It wasn’t to discredit it was to discuss which is why I had them speak the way he did when he said it.

[@prayerXtantra]

@@IamVitalucci ric D is an internet famous dude, in the public arena, very much putting his thoughts and opinions out there. To be spoofed a la Saturday night live should be a badge of honour! C’mon now

[@theseanrivers]

@@Musformation COWARD

[@SilvermainMusic]

I have a folder with almost 200 abandoned ideas and false starts, exactly as your diagram showed. Because of the genre of music I enjoy writing, putting together a final product can be a month or more of solid, focused work. Thank you for helping spread the word that QUALITY, not just quantity, is king.

[@Musformation]

Quality is truly rewarded

[@HuntersGalaxy]

I hate the way that you sneak diss if I catch flight it’s gonna be direct 💯

[@CyrusZerbe]

Yup.

[@Musformation]

Everyone we got a tough guy in the comments be careful!

[@HuntersGalaxy]

@@Musformation It’s not about being tough it’s about being mature, and nothing about this response is mature. Just look at Nic’s response versus what you said, hell, look at how you replied to me. Everything about it lacks maturity, and it’s just icing on the cake that you’re sneak dissing and didn’t even say his name, I just can’t respect someone who carries themselves like that. You need to man up and apologize to Nic for this disrespectful video

[@Musformation]

@HuntersGalaxy lol ok

[@wearethegraes]

Ok… obviously a music industry marketer who is making a living doing the opposite of what “Ric” is doing is going to have an issue with how he does things. I’ve been watching both parties for years and have been able to take away what a I NEED from both. A whole ass video to say he’s wrong is insane. Considering what he did WORKED. We are folk singer/songwriters so obviously we aren’t putting out a song a week or even a song a month because we aren’t rapping to instrumentals we bought from a producer. Duh. However, we have just implemented some of his strategies to promote the music we already had out that we sorta left dry out while we create more music. Neither side is wrong. He’s giving practical advice for artists who may not have a budget to make high quality work or budgets to hire a marketer such as yourself. “Here’s an alternative solution that could help you get closer to your goals”. He also has the numbers to back up what he’s saying. I’ve always enjoyed your content and have gotten a ton of value from your videos also. Making a video calling someone an idiot is wildly disrespectful when he’s only come from a place of sharing what he did as an independent artist in the hopes that it would help other artists. I can relate with him more than you. I’m not a marketer nor can I afford one. I am an independent artist with little to no money with songs I do believe are good looking to make a living off them. If a dude with what you’re saying is shitty music is making $4k a month, then me making half that with shittier music at least gets me something. 🤷🏾‍♂️

[@Kirzy]

He’s making closer to 4k a day

[@wearethegraes]

@@Kirzy dudes absolutely killing it

[@Supergoldfl]

Listen it’s one thing to disagree, it’s another thing to be condescending & an asshole.

[@Musformation]

🤷‍♂️

[@Supergoldfl]

At least we can agree on something

[@tonyroguemusic]

It’s basically the same as Russ method. And Russ method works too. Idk why you would make fun of him just because you didint agree with some of his points seems kinda like your reaching too far to get some views

[@Musformation]

Hmmm 19.5 minutes of making points 30 seconds of jokes. Really smart assessment you got here

[@tonyroguemusic]

​@@Musformation Is this a marketing play? It kinda feels like fake beef because I don't get how anyone could hate on nic's content I've gotten into over 2K user playlists on Spotify in the past month from doing nic's Strat.

[@ProduceGuitarPop]

Jesse, I love you. I've bought both of your books and regularly encourage people to buy them/check out you channel. having said all of that, I don't feel like this was the way to address this

[@Musformation]

While I appreciate that, I notice a very funny thing, not one person degraded the approach before the response. The conversation provoked has been elevated and frankly I have yet to see a single interrogation of what I did wrong that’s the least bit thoughtful and just have been told it’s wrong. So I’m good here until someone shows me otherwise which I am open to happening but it’s going to have be more than “that wasn’t how you should do it” “you’re a hater” or “uncalled for”

[@ProduceGuitarPop]

@@Musformation I’ll just right out my thoughts (can’t speak for everyone else) (1) for me i didn’t see this was happening until nick dropped his video, so that’s why i’m writing this now (2) Overall I think it’s starting with what you said at 0:43 “not good and not helping musicians”. For that belief, this feels like a very overly harsh response. This isn’t just “I disagree with this approach”, this is hiring actors and using words like “idiot” to be disparaging. You say the actors are for copyright reasons but it’s hard to not feel like that’s just something you wanted to do, since there’s no history (to my knowledge) of Nic or Adam using copyright to silence critique. So all of that culminates in a video that feels like a “takedown piece” against influencers you disagree with instead of addressing the actual strategy and why it’s objectively wrong. (3) There’s a lot of bad faith arguments against objections that Nic either covers in his book or on the NDPNDNT Podcast. He’s said several times publicly before you try doing what he’s doing you need to ask “what are your goals” and that his approach is for people who want to make music their full time thing asap. He’s never said his way is the only way, so this kind of video doesn’t come across as “taking down the fake gurus” as much as shouting at some stranger in the food court to “F*** Off!” because they didn’t get in line for the same restaurant as you. (4) my biggest issue with your video is that you don’t really address any of the other people in Nic’s circle who’ve used his approach and have gotten decent results with it. You mention Connor as his (sidekick), but there's a whole group of people who are using his approach and it’s working really well for them. Me and several artists in my super small scene of local musicians in Olympia Wa have tried his approach and it’s had very positive results in as short of time as a month. If you think that there’s an issue with it long term I could see that, but the fact that it’s working for a lot of other people kind of shows that it is a valid strat for some, making this video title (in my opinion) extremely hyperbolic. Which makes all of the other previous elements feel even more unnecessary I don’t think you meant it to come off that way. I think that similar to how Anthony fantano is harsh because he has to listen to every terrible record that comes out, you probably have to deal with every piece of terrible music industry advice on the internet. but when you have someone like Nic who’s been giving his personal advice away to indie artists for free for the past 3 years (the book only recently came out) it felt like you could've easily made a video that just addressed your concerns. You probably don’t remember but we chatted in Instagram dms a month ago before this video came out and some of the things you said there make me feel like there is a level of personal gripe you have with him outside of his music advice that seeped into this video. Still will continue to watch your stuff, will still read your books, but felt like i should let you know that even some of your fans/customers don’t agree with you here

[@lowpassparty]

I've been completely fascinated over how literally every music marketing channel on this platform has been TRIPPING over each other to interview "Ric G" or to regurgitate his content almost word for word over the past 6 months... so you can be very well assured i found this video quite amusing and entertaining lmao

[@Musformation]

Whole lot of of clout goblins out there

[@prayerXtantra]

Yeah. And in the interviews I’ve seen, he’s like the cool guy in the room of nerds, which kinda says a lot. It’s like “in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king” kinda thing.

[@pikachu-hs5zz]

that's why a great producer-artist relationship a la lana x rick nowels or lana x jack antonoff is a lifesaver for most artists

[@joegautrey_music]

The music industry today in a nutshell with this video. If someone makes a success out of themselves with their own method you can guarantee someone is going to hate on it. It’s a shame cause I enjoy watching this channel but this video could have been made with less salt

[@sanban6766]

Nah, he’s right. These guys like Nic D ruin everything.

[@joegautrey_music]

@@sanban6766 how so ?

[@grandpaneg6959]

@@sanban6766You people are confusing it’s like you wanna be broke for the rest of your life. It’s like the people who buy those tiktok courses and then advocate for the people because they’ve invested money in them despite the fact it’s a clear scam. Bros just trying to share what worked for him. It may not work for you, frankly who gives a fuck find something else to do then

[@KawaiiSteez]

A key thing about this video and this strategy is it REALLY allows you to develop your songs. When I stared doing this it really helped me understand when a song is finished but also helped me push out the best song I could make

[@Musformation]

Love that

[@mutanthorrorshow]

Has anyone here tried his TikTok recommendation of releasing 30 to 60 post of the same song?

[@Durkhead]

I was wondering if i should start promoting on tiktok since iv had small success with little effort by promoting on discord also should i be making shorter songs because ppl no have tiktock youtube short brains and wont listen longer than a full min

[@l0strobot]

@@Durkhead Yes, you should. Make 20-40 seconds shorts and post consistently(at least 1 short every couple of days). Don't be spammy either, make sure each short is unique in its own way. Also be entertaining or the algo's wont push you.

[@Dracaveli]

I had a song get attention after posting it 20 or so times. Now i post content for that same song and it always does well now that the data has been collected, platforms know who to put it in front of.

[@thisisdrixy]

i understand, nic d's method has helped me with "getting out of my own way." i used to sit on a song for months because i wanted it to be "perfect." i was miserable and not growing at all. nic d's method has helped me grow a lot but thats just me. i understand how it wouldnt work for most artist who don't have access to that much studio time or the song suffers cause they feel rushed. i dont think theres a right or wrong way, great discussion!

[@Dizzy808]

agree

[@mwillmusicsoul]

Yeah. A lot of what you're saying Ric G hasn't told us, he actually has over multiple videos. It's clear you only skimmed through what he's actually shared with us, all which he says he gets in really more depth about in his book. But as far as what you're saying he's not saying?? That's false.

[@TomCasey]

Respectfully, after working with signed and unsigned artists (and my own music) for well over 10 years. The number one thing holding people back from success...is themselves. Nic's method creates momentum. 99% pf artists simply don't release enough music - or they lack confidence and lack follow through. Make music, make content, make a connection to your audience. It's not about a certain number of releases per time frame, it's about momentum, activity and SOCIAL media.

[@oatmilkangel]

Truth. Flow state and getting into the habit of releasing, dealing with negative comments, actually FINISHING songs instead of leaving them as demos etc. Is essential to success.

[@edmlv]

Very interesting video Jesse. My key insight of your video would be "release as much amazing music as you can" following this method: create tons of music but don't release all your music unless the quality is at as high as posible on the music genre you wanna compite and you're willing to promote it 6 weeks or more with at least 30 pieces of content with your earwom section. Am I missing something?

[@Musformation]

Well done

[@edmlv]

@@Musformation Thanks! What about testing songs to let "the market" tell you which ones are the best? (based on video views, comments, etc) It might seem like a teaser but at the same time you might know which song to actually finish.

[@itstristanwells]

it’s either artists are providing timeless music or passive music. nothing in between

[@vincentizghra6144]

As someone who takes years to finish some songs due to genres and matching the level of detail I want(also being pretty bad at it, but able to hear when I'm bad, usually not really knowing why), this was extremely comforting to hear. I can never release the jazzy fusion tunes that I want if I'd limit myself to one week. I've spent months trying to find the voicings I want in a(to me) important piano part, or trying to dumb down the overly melodic shit I often end up with if I write too freely. To me each song is essentially a big learning experience, and I try as best as I can to be self-critical without beating myself senseless(which I often do). There's some kind of balance here for sure. But I couldn't release things that I weren't at least liking myself. Having high standards in listening to legends for over 20 years, it feels a disservice to all listeners to release things that aren't as close to great as I can possibly get, even if that's not that great.

[@PowellLumor]

You’ll never meet a hater doing better than you ~ David Goggins

[@Musformation]

The second you’re discussing haters rather than ideas everyone can see who is the moron in a situation

[@MyBurnerAccount]

@@Musformation "when you're arguing with a fool, onlookers may NOT be able to tell the difference" - Mark Twain

[@PowellLumor]

@@Musformation if that makes you sleep well at night, sure buddy

[@AlexDanson]

The approach they’re describing seems to have undertones of “how to trick millions of people into listening to your music even if it sucks”. I like your message pushing things back to focusing on quality and artistry. There’s far too much fast food music today. I’d rather listen to music that was created with the goal of creating great music, not something designed as a TikTok soundtrack tbh. But maybe that’s just me!

[@Musformation]

Yep!

[@kibiparbz]

The cannon has fired

[@yourbandisabusiness]

I respect the hustle but from the interviews I've seen with "Ric G" it seems music was a vehicle for him. I remember him saying if it wasn't music then it would have been something else.

[@Musformation]

🤷‍♂️

[@OfficialJoash]

Its good to have another point of video with this. Especially because the time it takes to promote one song, it's just not enough to pivot.

[@Musformation]

Yep

[@guilhermelazzari760]

I really like the advice "RICK G" gives, but I agree with you that it's not realistic to release every two weeks. It's easy for him because he buy beats. 6 to 8 weeks is really the sweet spot.

[@Musformation]

Just trying to give context so yall can figure out what’s best.

[@guilhermelazzari760]

@@Musformation Another thing to put into consideration: this guy was already a very crafted video maker. Most of us struggle a lot to make good video content (that's the greatest challenge for me anyway)

[@Prenticetherapper]

"I am the name behind many big artists" why didn't you name the artists who you are behind or helped.

[@Musformation]

They were right there on the screen dawg

[@gabeanspach]

Tearing others down is not the way. Having opposing opinions is okay. This may be your way of sparking controversy for clicks. Or trying to pull numbers. Or even trying to make yourself look more credible by bringing someone else down. This is exactly what makes the music business a place that tears down the art, and reinforces toxicity. You may have not meant to be “mean” as you said in a previous comment. But this is downright spitting on someone’s name. Whether you see it that way or not doesn’t change the fact you are tearing someone else down for personal gain. This isn’t about “ric G” for me. This is about having common decency and treating a human being with the respect they deserve. And posting this video with such targeted hate proves this was not about the betterment of artists, but about ego. Some of the information you share is good. But you are not sharing it in a healthy, or constructive way. If I were you I would take this video down and rethink your branding strategy and reframe your mindset more positively

[@Musformation]

Targeted hate lol.

[@officialWWM]

Watching all these gurus giving conflicting advice is mind boggling. I think I’ll just go it alone and do it my own way…

[@Musformation]

We’ve always been conflicting and people have needed to choose their own path. Also gurus 🤮

[@officialWWM]

@@Musformation you may not like the word “guru” but that’s how people view experts on anything!

[@Musformation]

@officialWWM I’m aware just gives me the ick

[@raynefelix]

Here before the apology video 💀

[@Musformation]

lol nope

[@HaddonMusic]

I understand where you’re coming from, but for YEARS I would spend countless hours on songs and upload them to streaming services to be completely ignored. Last summer I decided to begin the Nic D method and I’ve grown from basically 0 to 50k listeners on Spotify. At the end of the day, I would rather do music for a living and have to sacrifice a tiny bit of the art than have a day job where I get to devote even less time to my passion. I feel like his philosophy boils down to this: it’s often better to get the reps in of light weights than just focus on breaking your heavier weight records

[@Musformation]

Funny a flood of Nic D people coming to this video all within twenty minutes of each other. Feels like Astro turf to me.

[@HaddonMusic]

@@Musformation he made a video about it, so I thought I’d check yours out. Watched your whole video. I’m always open to new perspectives. Thanks for the warm welcome 😂

[@ArlinGodwin]

I like Nic D. As a person. Cool guy. Works very hard. He's smart. You can learn a lot from him...I've read his book several times but...I too noticed a lot missing. The story is incomplete. I kept hearing about and reading about all these supposed short (vertical?) videos he made that were NOT about his music. In fact this was a VERY BIG PLOT POINT IN HIS STORY...video clips not about music. Content he calls it. But I can't find any of THOSE clips. What I can find are countless short clips of the hooky parts of his song with him lip-synching them or maybe doing them live even...and those clips ARE definitely about his music and definitely show case his music. Albeit with a donkey or tractor in the background. But supposedly there were all these other clips...about stuff...not music...that showed our boy Nic D in various situations and people loved him so much without hearing any of his not-great music (let's be honest FINE APPLE is hyper cringe-inducing beyond all possible measure!). The legend is that Nic was loved first for making content. Then later he made content "AROUND HIS MUSIC"...he would even think of something mundane like "gasoline" or some other nothing idea...and create a song of sorts around that idea. But regardless of the story, and the myth-making I have a theory about Nic D's success which nobody but nobody has brought up as far as I know. Maybe this is because I'm gay. And maybe straight men are so totally unaware of what I'm about to write that they won't believe me. Straight men, sad to say, seem to be unaware of most of what's going on in the known universe...But I bet women GET what I'm about to tell you totally, 1,000%. And here it is: NIC D IS HOT. That's it. He is good-looking. He has a beautiful square jaw, incredibly thick gorgeous hair...he has stunningly white teeth...he has sexy eyes...the whole package when taken together is "Wow this guy could sing the freakin phone book backward in ancient Greek and people would stream his music." It's just a theory. But if the guy who sings FINE APPLE looked like Ed Sheeran...you would never have heard of him in a trillion years and he wouldn't be doing a million streams a day. My theory is that Nic D is "blowing up" as a music artist...because he's hot. That's it. That's why what he's doing is not terribly repeatable. There just aren't a lot of guys in the world who look like him. And the ones who do are models or actors. A few are singers. But face it: he doesn't look like Ed Sheeran. He looks like a supermodel and he has a very passable voice and makes cute, ridiculous songs that nobody will remember and he doesn't care because he's banking thousands and thousands of dollars every single day, 365 days a year. And good for him. I wish him nothing but success. But Jesse is right about pretty much everything he says about "RICK G" in this video. And I would ad---if you don't LOOK like this guy...then you better actually have some real, serious, undeniable musical talent.

[@Musformation]

Well this comment took this discussion in a whole other direction I was not expecting!

[@oatmilkangel]

and what about connor price? or the guy from crash adams? not saying either of them are ugly or looks are everything but they are certainly not the driving factor in nics success given looking at his music video views vs his streams.

[@lizzie_calisto]

This was so good, and for me, as a new artist and with my first release, I've been working to promote my first song, and it's a lot of work. I hope my listeners (even though there are only less than 100) appreciate the one song for a while, and the visuals, content, music video, etc. that I've created around this one song. A few have told me they can't wait for my second release, and that's what I am hoping to create! I love your content. Thank you Jesse for all the work you put into your long form YT vids.

[@Musformation]

❤️

[@aryanshuklaa]

I was looking up for this video Thanks Jesse !!! I have a ques. If I've got a release so should I only push that particular song from each piece of content, basically every reel is on that particular song ?? (yes, I said reel because tiktok is ban here in my country) Or I can upload some of the peices of content on my other ones ??

[@Musformation]

Some of other songs too works great

[@FedericoGompertz]

Very interesting video Jesse! What about testing songs to let "the market" tell you which ones are the best? (based on video views, comments, etc) It might seem like a teaser but at the same time you might know which song to actually finish.

[@Musformation]

I think this is largely a bit of bullshit since most people its very neglibile results the myth is its 1000 views consistently vs 10 on others or one goes viral and the rest are middling. In all reality its usually 800, 500 vs 475 so its not a big enough sample size to tell. I do think a lot of artists do well trying stuff out on soundcloud the hell they go through is years of people leaking and discussing premature versions.

[@oatmilkangel]

Great points in this video, but it's going under the assumption that someone is starting + finishing this music within the span of 2 weeks, when I think what is much more common is artists have a real fear of releasing music and already have a catalog of of mostly finished songs they've worked on for months, maybe years, that just need some refinement before release. Also one thing going unaddressed is that we often don't know what "good" is to possible listeners. In the dunning kruger effect you mentioned, if someone is just beginning they can spend months on a song and still not know what "good" is. A lot of artists in interviews say it was the song they almost didn't release cause they didn't think it was good enough that ended up being their biggest hit. Idk, just some food for thought. Your perspective is great, but there is something to be said for just getting songs out there and getting into the momentum of recording, releasing, making content, getting into flow state and overcoming creative paralysis, and then like you said slowing down once something starts to gain traction. I think the advice "Ric" gives is probably more to push the artists who've had beats or songs sitting on their hard drive into action, not unlike Gary V who says to post all the time etc, which in reality is more just to light a fire under you to get going!

[@Musformation]

Something I cut for time is how to know what’s good. There’s ways people get good answers on that that work well that labels use. I’ve discussed it before. Even if they’ve culled that music for 4 years it’s still not very effective in the long term to do 26 songs.

[@socialbacon7552]

how concerned should we about getting added to bot heavy playlists on spotify? Is there any way to avoid it? I am about to start up and planning to do what it takes, concerned about tracks getting removed with this bot issue Im hearing about

[@Musformation]

The only way I know is to avoid the distrokid wheel of playlists

[@SarahBo]

As someone in country music…. Thank you. The less country rap songs that get put out, the better. Please discourage artists from releasing frequently 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 maybe the next video you could suggest like once per year

[@Musformation]

Lol

[@JoniSandez]

Love, appreciate, respect, and hardcore study both of these guys currently so this video was hard to watch lol… bought his book and will say I’ll be sticking to your method just because 60 day method just makes more sense to me... I can remember hating new songs on the radio and ending up loving them later. What’s your opinion on Rick saying not every song deserves a Music video? 😩

[@Musformation]

Totally appreciate that. I have kinda said it but it’s very convenient for him and I’m gonna make a video on it. But what you see if the industry and the smarter people in it have shifted to is you kinda make a real low budget music video and if the song pops off you make a good one and I’m moving to shift my release strategy to that

[@producermind9030]

I don’t know if u had to do the video like this but hey.. I do get your point. I also get Nik D point. I think both can work. The real important factor is writing good songs! U can try everything but if the song is 💩 nothing is happening. Trying is better than doing nothing and being consistent because it can literally take years to make it.

[@2phase965]

I really like your contents bro. You really do give great advice. When i found you i honestly thought you were gonna be like so many of the gurus that tell me how to make money from my music but they themselves dont make money from their music. Instead they make money by charging and selling artists to "review" their track or some other bs on how to make money from your music that they just regurgitated from someone who actually knows wtf theyre talking about. I appreciate all the the game you have given for free. Ill be sure to thank you when i blow up lol.

[@Musformation]

Appreciated

[@FLANNELZERO]

I watched the interview you're referencing without knowing who he was and when i heard him say he has 100's of songs just sitting there waiting and how he releases a song a week my first thought was... This can't be high caliber, well crafted songs, and sure enough, Simplistic, generic pop with lyrics that have no depth, writing songs no one will remember a year from now... Great, well crafted songs take time. This video was much needed and something musicians needed to hear.

[@oatmilkangel]

and some people spend years writing those same exact type of songs.... better to put them all out and maybe one of them will hit, instead of waiting years and promoting one for months and getting angry it doesn't hit lol

[@Musformation]

@oatmilkangel dear god yeah maybe your mid song will hit when 60,000 songs are uploaded a day. Or maybe if you actually learn to craft a song and take the time to make it more exceptional it will stand out and not just be another mid pos no one cares about

[@pikachu-hs5zz]

How about releasing an EP that’s 10 out of 10 but is not my style anymore just to get it out the way? Before i go on to stuff that represents me better

[@jackvernian7779]

fuck it, release it.

[@FLANNELZERO]

The level of how spot on this video is is amazing. If you're just writing bullshit music that have no complexity and/or are rapping over pre-made beats you can put out a song every week or 2. But if you're crafting out complex songs that are quality, then a song every two weeks isn't viable. Quality or quantity? Pick one.

[@AlexStanilla]

so I watched the response video to this and if I'm wrong he basically says that you're correct? He says that he put a song out in January 2021 and it did okay but with consistent promotion by April it was doing really well. April is 8+weeks after January, no? Also, from what I understand Ric G had a super successful podcast before he even started releasing music so he already had a great jumping off point. Anyone of his videos and you'll see comments like "isn't this the guy from the podcast?" It does seem like he's created a network of parasocial relationships which is cool but I feel like that's more from him showing his personality on a podcast than any sort of musical success he's had.

[@TrapboChad]

I noticed that too

[@AlexStanilla]

@@TrapboChad i feel like nic d is the rick rubin of indie artists, just kinda passionately states the obvious but never really makes a point or has anything tangibly useful to offer 😅

[@iamnicd]

Just to clarify, I put the song out in January 2021 and it did ok. I did not constantly promote it, I posted a couple/few videos about it and then stopped promoting it. I then released more music and then started promoting that song again around early May of 2021. What I’ve written to you here is also exactly what I said in my response video. Hope this helps clarify. 🤝

[@iamnicd]

Also, I have been pursuing music as a career since January 2019, and have been making music since I was 13. Nearly 20 years now. I started the podcast in 2021. I have spoken about the podcast and my music career working to help each other but I never cross promoted the 2 which is why you see people saying “is this the dude from the podcast” because I never told the fans of the podcast I make music.

[@TrapboChad]

@@iamnicd say less bro

[@genuinefreewilly5706]

It was the CEO of Spotify who initially doubled down releasing often. There is something to immediacy, many of the most brilliant music was captured in one take. Pushing turds around on a plate and garnishing them for months on end, makes no sense, neither does it make sense, even if its decent. Be it young or older musicians, I don't think it's wise to put off and finish a track, with the time available.

[@Musformation]

You do realize the majority of the biggest artists in every genre take their time and what the Spotify CEO said was not releasing an album yearly and instead releasing more often over all

[@genuinefreewilly5706]

@@Musformation ​ @Musformation To quote verbatim.... 'You can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough. The artists today that are making it realise that it’s about creating a continuous engagement with their fans. It is about putting the work in, about the storytelling around the album, and about keeping a continuous dialogue with your fans.' 2020. At least Eck rightly or wrong put in a time frame. The most tiny effort should be at least one decent single a month released. That is cutting it close to one album a year. A complete album could take longer Of course production musicians are into far higher volume. More than 200 to 1500 cues a year is possible. I envy that output and its on Spotify and makes coin Taste is completely subjective

[@tayloreh]

The problem is theres a 'banger' in streaming sense, and then in an album sense, and tracks that serve a great purpose for the arc of an album dont necessarily appear great out of that context. I hate being robbed of the chance to really take ppl on a journey where I can meaningfully affect ppl, which is why live is my priority. Nevertheless, streaming and streaming promo is a necessary and dehumanizing evil. One that also funds war machines. So thats fun.

[@mbr2523]

Ive rec about 8 new songs in the last 5 weeks. Ive been watching your videos the past 2 weeks. I havent made my profile pages yet but i will soon. Just gotta get some pics and short clips for my tiktok and ig. I gotta do my graphics as well.

[@melodypudding]

God I’m so grateful to have found this channel and this video. Thank you-!

[@Musformation]

Hell yeah

[@yungspoiler]

jesse what are your thoughts on fans now complaining about artist posting the same song on tik tok/reels even for just one 30 days, and i even here people saying it about artists who are super small too, so its not even that they got over saturated :(

[@Musformation]

They’ve always complained and fans complain about everything in every era. It’s the same way for me they complain about click bait titles. We can’t help what works and the rules these platforms make us live under

[@Djsatile]

Y’all it’s no certain formula and just work on your craft stay consistent and let god do the rest

[@LORENNACORRAL]

I actually understand both sides.. I think maybe it all comes down to quality and mayyybe genre, but I think you can take some advice from both!

[@Musformation]

Appreciated dose of sanity in this mad house of a comment section

[@Masterlordrx]

i appreciate the midwest emo shoutout, could you do a dedicated video to it ?

[@Musformation]

I’ve done a cheat code on it in the member feed

[@thenicknash]

it is not hard to make 26 good or even great songs in a year in pretty much any genre. 16-20 hours a song is more than enough time. Even if you have a full-time job thats 1/1.5 hours a day with a 2 week release schedule. Maybe another 30 min a day for content.

[@Musformation]

Please see Dunning Kruger curve portion of the video and think about where you are on it

[@thenicknash]

@@Musformation where does 1.1 million monthly listeners, 500 million streams, and 10 years of music experience get me?

[@Musformation]

@thenicknash a lack of humility that like I said not a thing that is feasible in most genres

[@thenicknash]

​@@Musformation ah yes because glaring humility is what you displayed in this video. honestly brother it kinda sounds like you're just frustrated that people don't like you or your artists music so you've convinced yourself that numbers and success of music doesn't actually matter and that your ear is just so detailed that its a gift from God in order to cope with that.

[@AlexSaheli]

Ty ty Tho what about Rj Pasin? The guy releases guitr loops every day with "sampleit tag. Maybe that is some of a unique strat I guess. I release weekly but only when I myself like the end result and when it's been polished

[@Musformation]

Much different thats trying to get collabs.

[@joeyholli]

I couldn’t imagine coming after someone that’s doing 1000 times better than you. Even worse that you came with a lack of factual information. Str8 geek right here.

[@Musformation]

Hmmm I present facts in the video and 1,000 times more successful than me? You really are the one lacking facts

[@joeyholli]

@@Musformation well several of your facts are completely wrong. I noticed all of the comments disagreeing with you seem to be getting to you. Maybe the volume of comments should show you that this video was indeed ignorant, misinformed, and disrespectful. There are plenty of ways to skin a cat, no need to start a music marketing beef because you want attention. Furthermore, you decided to disrespect the fan base on top of it all. This video was stupid, you’re subconsciously well aware of that. Hit the gym or something man.

[@Staykool777]

I think this is a healthy debate. For me the takeaway is to not follow either Jesse or Nic blindly, but to gather the good information coming from both and find out what works for you.

[@arigumora]

This is real. I did the two song a month high volume thing for a little and ended up just deleting all the songs and starting fresh cause I just felt like I was sacrificing my musicianship and who I rele am as an artist to try and make a high volume of songs. The songs were def still high quality cause I’ve been doing this for a while but it was generic music that didn’t make me excited. The music I actually like to listen to is more complicated and simply can’t be made that quick.

[@Musformation]

Really appreciate the thought in this

[@swiift-official]

Team Nic. He makes music himself and has experienced everything

[@Musformation]

Another person who clearly watched the video.

[@Craigadammusic]

Jesse thanks for all the stuff you put out! It’s so clear you are passionate and genuinely care and want to help.

[@Musformation]

Ty

[@_Ghostlike_]

Addressing your own fans as idiots and dummies and essentially making your video into a dis track is a really good way to get views but a really bad way to cultivate a growing/happy fanbase in my opinion of course. “Not calling out nic out” in the video then pinning his reply in the comments is a bit strange lol just call him out and be honest with yourself and your fans. Essentially what you’re not understanding is the simplicity of Nic’s advice and how it comes down to two key components: 1. if you write more you develop your craft and improve quicker. Any songwriter wants to improve at their craft, and this is an excellent way to achieve the results you want as a successful musician. 2. If you release more you get the opportunity to see what things ppl connect with vs what you need to improve in your own creative process. Write more. Release more. Don’t be the one who is holding yourself back from achieving success.

[@Musformation]

While you think you get it I assure you the data shows other wise. When there’s countless comments mentioning him not linking it seems ridiculous. 1. The system I describe says to do the same 2. Is addressed in the video and your point brings nothing new to discuss.

[@_Ghostlike_]

@@Musformation ok 👍 I’m not here to start a battle with you. I pointed out things you touch on but do not emphasize the importance of in your video. That is all. I also bring up your hostile way of addressing your own fans who are actually coming to view your videos. The negativity and disgust in your response to me is seeping. Regardless, it’s pretty clear you’re loving this engagement and it doesn’t matter if it’s positive or negative. I hope you achieve what you set out to achieve with this.

[@Musformation]

@_Ghostlike_ I have 😎

[@rafspain1099]

Welcome to 2024 😂 this is nonsense, pro producers/musicians can finish songs fast af, not everybody is a emo alternative band 🙃

[@currentcontentco]

paying actors to avoid copyright is hilarious

[@Musformation]

I’ve been burned before when my video got struck down further using footage so

[@currentcontentco]

@@Musformation maaaan whatever happened to fair use smh, great call tho Rick G can’t touch thisss

[@Musformation]

@currentcontentco KZbin sadly really allows anyone to flag very needlessly

[@BrayanRodriguez21]

kinda disrespectful, don't you think? I hope I never have to shit on someone else's work to be successful.

[@currentcontentco]

@@BrayanRodriguez21 Jesse is just adding context that is necessary for the advice of these artists to be effective

[@gh0ul.nin9]

I finally finished v2.0 of Don’t Go yesterday. I checked how much time I logged into it and since when: 52 hours since 4/23/2023 💀

[@Musformation]

Seems right

[@gh0ul.nin9]

@@Musformation Can you tell I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my music?

[@fnord_lander]

I have been producing for a long time now and think I’ve gotten pretty good. There’s still that like… 5% that separates the average pro, or great producer from the “world class” types. 😢 maybe one day I’ll get there but at least I can hear those details now ❤ Thanks Jesse! You’re videos are always so informative and fun to watch

[@Musformation]

Much appreciated

[@chancegreenisdead]

Spoiler Alert: None of the music promo methods actually "work" or at least none of the most popular strategies differ enough to say one is significantly "better" than the rest. Why? Because the entire streaming apparatus is empirically controlled fixed or faked by the streaming companies and major labels who have enough money power and resources to pay any artist they want to the top.. I worked w Brockhampton in the ASF early years.. they blew up (pre algorithm era) because their music/content/marketing were all unique creative and authentic. (Also they were like 20 people deep which helps lol) ..but NOT because they had a perfectly timed release plan. Just be creative/authentic with your own plan based on what all these guys suggest. (no disrespect to Jesse, i've learned a lot from him over the years !) ❤

[@Yungnicholas]

Doesn’t posting 30-60 TikTok’s of the same sound in a row become repetitive in an annoying way ?

[@Musformation]

Nope it’s literally what the people who are blowing up are doing. I show this every week on my member streams and showed it in a public one a few weeks ago

[@robin_92tt79]

Also, this person is one of the greatest independant artists I have ever come across in an allround approach.

[@truenottrue]

Genuine question: who have you worked with that actually blew up in the last 5 years, Jesse?

[@Musformation]

There’s a list right in the video and plenty not on the list. I only put artists publicly that mention my work since people then say “Jesse Cannon is the only reason you blew up” but those have mentioned me working with them. There’s also some people in the comments of my videos like the community one who are happy to brag and tell their stories of growth

[@truenottrue]

@@Musformation I saw the list! But the big names I spotted in there actually blew up at least 10 years ago, isn't that the the case? Knowing how fast this crazy industry changes, I'm just curious to find out who blew up using some of those new methods.

[@Musformation]

@truenottrue go to the bottom of the list plenty there with millions of monthly listens from post 2020. Chapel Roan and Ava Max and some others will be added to that list whenever I make a new intro sequence this summer.

[@truenottrue]

​@@Musformation Thanks, Jesse! I've been doing a lot of research lately and am trying to single out some patterns in recent up and coming artists. That was super helpful.

[@AbbeeRambles]

As someone who has been watching for years, I really appreciate that Incel Hypebeast continues to be in the videos

[@Musformation]

You’re making me rethink my pivot to Slumlord Influencer

[@adambeatbot]

@@Musformationthey can both exist in the cannon multiverse but Incel is og

[@heavymetalnewsdesk]

See, one way to get around this, would be to just print a million of your own disks and give them away. Cause If you just post it for free, you still have the same problem, no one listens because no one knows who you are, can't get played cause 1 company owns all the radio stations... I decided it's basically hopeless without playing live

[@DaWizeDeciple]

Just sounds like you're gatekeeping. Admit it fam, the more independent artist release the bigger problem we become to the industry guys. Nic D and other non-industry dudes are a problem to these industry cat. If it weren't so, you would have would have just made a video without references these other guys...

[@Musformation]

I’d ask if you have a brain injury since I literally wrote the book they teach in colleges on how independent artists outrun majors and make videos to help indie artists but clearly you’re not working with a full deck here.

[@DaWizeDeciple]

@@Musformation You're acting like clown fam! your video would have been great had you not acted like a child making fun of other artist. You're saying I'm not working with a deck of cards and you can't even see the what kind of perception your video is giving. I never heard of you until I saw this video and you just look like a hater.

[@torinancemusic]

I love your channel but that earworm graphic I wasn’t ready for this morning 😂

[@LaynoProd]

so many gems on that earworm era section around 13:00 taking notes for my upcoming album and content rollout strategy, thanks Jesse! 🙏🏽💎 with gratitude, LaynoProd 👨🏽‍🎨

[@Musformation]

Love that

[@gianigiordano3856]

Hey jesse, thank you so much for that really needed video, also, i was ondering, whole long to you take to answer your availabilities for marketing videos calls? I've already completed the form and wait impatently to take my music journe yto the next level !

[@Musformation]

Weird we usually write back in 1 say

[@EdoCFH]

Hi Jesse, I'm quite sure the video you are mentioning is coming from A.I. YT channel. The same artist we're talking about seems to have streams botted according to the number of streams x fake playlist he's on (a lot) x spotify playlist he's in (very few or none). That video is total BS. is like having math lessons from a teacher who cheated on the exams ahahah.

[@Musformation]

lol I’ll look into that

[@librationmusic]

lmfao this was well done. I watched a lot of the 'Ric G' videos and interviews earlier this year and it's interesting but it's not my style as an artist in terms of a race to catalogue and shitting out content. No favorite band or artist of mine does that. One useful takeaway for me from 'Ric' videos, was to try and visualize the messaging of the songs or potential content as I'm writing them vs after they are done. At the same time when I write music I'm just jamming shit out and seeing what happens vs thinking of what TikTok I need to make. And Get Your Freak On is some Timbaland greatness.

[@Musformation]

Funny enough I think that advice needs a lot of context too

[@librationmusic]

@@Musformation For sure. It's a delicate balance between the artistry & marketing. Gotta keep it genuine and true to yourself imo. I don't know shit tho lol

[@ItsQueViolette]

Ric G hahaha righttt nice

[@redcurrantrecords]

I remember the old saying your only as good as your last release, this is still partly true, as you can loose fans on a bad release

[@Musformation]

I actually think the update is your only as good as your last few relwases but I’m gonna make a short on it

[@dermotmcgeemusic]

Hey Jesse, really enjoyed this video. Been following you for a while now. What is your opinion on releasing a bunch of covers on TikTok, Instagram etc… before releasing a single to try and get the algorithm to notice you before you start pushing your own stuff? I have fallen for the rRik G stuff also. Cheers for clearing it up

[@Musformation]

That works way better for established artists rather than those who are unknown since anyone who listens isn’t able to listen to the song and get hooked

[@dermotmcgeemusic]

@@Musformation thanks so much for the reply man. So for small artists you’d suggest taking the hit on lower views/streams first the first release and trust the process that consistent sustained promotion will kick in eventually? (Assuming the songs and content is good of course.😱)

[@mikenchrist]

Oh shit, Jesse hiring Actors now. We going major !

[@Musformation]

It’s over for you hos once I hit my Mr Beast era

[@CoreyLennox]

Glad you made this Jesse. I binge watched a ton of Rik’s stuff, and I like his mentality about just getting things done and not letting excuses stop you, but it is good to know I don’t have to sacrifice quality and start releasing 24 songs a year.

[@Musformation]

Appreciated

[@CoreyLennox]

@@Musformation I also wanted to ask, when you mention behind the scenes content… I assume that’s also supposed to include your “hook” right? So is it like a montage with the music over it? Or is it talking about the song, with the song in the background? I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around that one.

[@Musformation]

@CoreyLennox song in the background I’m sure if you watch more creators you’ll see it. I see it nearly daily

[@CoreyLennox]

@@Musformation I’ll keep an eye peeled. Thanks for everything you do man!