As a music industry executive with 15 years of experience, one of the most disappointing things I hear from artists is, “I no longer do music.” It’s especially heartbreaking when that artist has some of the best music I’ve heard in years.
One thing I consistently tell artists is that success is heavily tied to visibility and promotion. Talent alone is rarely enough. Staying visible and actively promoting your music is not optional—it’s a critical part of building a career in the music industry.
Major record labels invest millions of dollars into marketing and promotion to reach global audiences. While independent and emerging artists may not have those resources, the goal should still be to maintain consistent visibility through quality promotion. The good news is that effective marketing doesn’t always have to cost a fortune.
There are many artist promotion companies that charge thousands of dollars for their services, but a high price tag doesn’t automatically mean better results. One company I often recommend is Gorilla Music Group because of their affordability and consistency in helping emerging artists stay visible, plus their proven promotional strategies.
No matter which company or promotional approach you choose, the most important thing is to keep pushing forward. Don’t give up. Many times, the issue isn’t the quality of your music—it’s simply that the right people haven’t heard it yet.
Reply
When I started my music career, I worked for a small label as an intern for free just for the experience. I thought if I learned enough and worked hard enough the label would hire me, but I was wrong.
I learned that the music industry is a who you know industry, and who you know is how you get in. I attended many music industry events around the world and then I met a woman at an award show in Los Angeles, California who was a high up Sony executive. She became my mentor and later offered me my first job at Sony records and the rest is history.
Recording artists can spend 20 years making hit quality music and promoting it with little to no results only to meet the right person who connects them to another key person who signs them and makes them an opening act on tour with a mainstream artist. It can happen just like that!
Whatever darkness you are going through with your music career that is challenging your motivation just remember to keep going and never give up!
Reply
ANNE. W / Blog
Promotion Is Key
As a music industry executive with 15 years of experience, one of the most disappointing things I hear from artists is, “I no longer do music.” It’s especially heartbreaking when that artist has some of the best music I’ve heard in years.
One thing I consistently tell artists is that success is heavily tied to visibility and promotion. Talent alone is rarely enough. Staying visible and actively promoting your music is not optional—it’s a critical part of building a career in the music industry.
Major record labels invest millions of dollars into marketing and promotion to reach global audiences. While independent and emerging artists may not have those resources, the goal should still be to maintain consistent visibility through quality promotion. The good news is that effective marketing doesn’t always have to cost a fortune.
There are many artist promotion companies that charge thousands of dollars for their services, but a high price tag doesn’t automatically mean better results. One company I often recommend is Gorilla Music Group because of their affordability and consistency in helping emerging artists stay visible, plus their proven promotional strategies.
No matter which company or promotional approach you choose, the most important thing is to keep pushing forward. Don’t give up. Many times, the issue isn’t the quality of your music—it’s simply that the right people haven’t heard it yet.
Reply
The reality is that the music industry is broken and they have no one to blame but themselves. Spotify destroyed the music industry with the help of major labels and the industry has no idea what to do. I constantly hear the term "Industry Standard" which by its own definition has destroyed the playing field for independent artist's and bands that can't get there music heard because of "Industry Standard". Example - independent radio wants to hear your stuff, send submissions, you have a studio quality song, mastered, you tag it, but the radio station's algorithm scans your submission and rejects it because it is not up to "Industry Standards". No person even listens to your song, its all done by programs, and even if someone hears your song, they are so far down the chain that it gets rejected. Solo artist's and bands will never get a fair shake in the music industry today. Example - The band Ever Given has a song "Fool" that has gone viral on social media because of daily posting and marketing with over 2M impressions daily at a 5.5% click rate which is off the charts over the "Industry Standards". My point is because they recorded in analog tape and not digital they do not meet radio, record label, music blog, music magazine, so called industry standard. They are punished for spending money to record in an analog neve studio in Nashville, to create the sound that put the alt rock industry on the map. The recordings are spectacular with world class mastering done on tape with no over produced digital sound, compressed plug in heavy padded rooms. My point is that digital recordings and streaming platforms killed the alt rock music industry and anyone trying to do things better and different are never going to get a fair shake - thank you Stevie Fennell
The reality is that the music industry is broken and they have no one to blame but themselves. Spotify destroyed the music industry with the help of major labels and the industry has no idea what to do. I constantly hear the term "Industry Standard" which by its own definition has destroyed the playing field for independent artist's and bands that can't get there music heard because of "Industry Standard". Example - independent radio wants to hear your stuff, send submissions, you have a studio quality song, mastered, you tag it, but the radio station's algorithm scans your submission and rejects it because it is not up to "Industry Standards". No person even listens to your song, its all done by programs, and even if someone hears your song, they are so far down the chain that it gets rejected. Solo artist's and bands will never get a fair shake in the music industry today. Example - The band Ever Given has a song "Fool" that has gone viral on social media because of daily posting and marketing with over 2M impressions daily at a 5.5% click rate which is off the charts over the "Industry Standards". My point is because they recorded in analog tape and not digital they do not meet radio, record label, music blog, music magazine, so called industry standard. They are punished for spending money to record in an analog neve studio in Nashville, to create the sound that put the alt rock industry on the map. The recordings are spectacular with world class mastering done on tape with no over produced digital sound, compressed plug in heavy padded rooms. My point is that digital recordings and streaming platforms killed the alt rock music industry and anyone trying to do things better and different are never going to get a fair shake - thank you Stevie Fennell
The Darkness
When I started my music career, I worked for a small label as an intern for free just for the experience. I thought if I learned enough and worked hard enough the label would hire me, but I was wrong.
I learned that the music industry is a who you know industry, and who you know is how you get in. I attended many music industry events around the world and then I met a woman at an award show in Los Angeles, California who was a high up Sony executive. She became my mentor and later offered me my first job at Sony records and the rest is history.
Recording artists can spend 20 years making hit quality music and promoting it with little to no results only to meet the right person who connects them to another key person who signs them and makes them an opening act on tour with a mainstream artist. It can happen just like that!
Whatever darkness you are going through with your music career that is challenging your motivation just remember to keep going and never give up!
Reply
I like your words, so true. Great testimony!