Tdiii Talk

For the past week, I have been testing two new ad sets inside of my Spotify Growth Campaign with Facebook ads. With both new ad sets, I opted to incorporate lookalike audience expansion as well as detailed targeting expansion.  While I've had mixed results with these audience targeting features in the past, this time around, they were a hit. I even managed to pull off an accidental Discover Weekly push!  This is an inside look at how I structured these new ad sets and how the results fared compared to the existing ad set that I've been using to grow my audience on Spotify.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Dropping a new track brings a lot of steps with it, not least of which is scheduling your Facebook ads to start on release day.  But how do you create the campaign when the link to your new song isn't available on Spotify?  Well, rest assured, there's a way.  Let's walk through my method for building your ToneDen link and scheduling your Facebook ad campaign in advance of your Spotify release so you can take full advantage of release day.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

If your Facebook ad account has gotten banned even though you're pretty sure you've done nothing wrong, don't worry, you're not alone. This is happening to a lot of people right now.  Whether you're trying to get Spotify followers, promote a new release, or trigger the Spotify algorithms for Release Radar and Discover Weekly, you need your Facebook ad account to be up and running.  If Facebook has flagged you for policy violations and shut down your ad account, there may be some steps we can take to ensure it doesn't happen again.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Targeting your Spotify audience using Facebook ads can be a tall order. I've tested all sorts of tactics and strategies to grow my followers on Spotify and increase my stream count.  For the past couple of months, I've been testing the concept of Spotify Trigger Cities alongside my existing ad set that's been targeting all available Spotify territories. I also added in a second ad set that pulled the best countries from my Spotify for Artists data to create what I'm calling a Spotify Trigger Countries ad set.  I ran this experiment on Facebook for the past two months, and these are my results.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Making the switch from trying to get on Spotify playlists through platforms like SubmitHub and Playlist Push to using Facebook ads for direct marketing to your Spotify audience can be a bit overwhelming at first, especially when it comes to targeting and getting your Facebook ads to work well.  Rest assured the beginning is the hardest part. As you continue forward, you can use custom audiences and lookalike audiences to improve the effectiveness of your conversion ads and drive more traffic to your Spotify profile for less.  More Spotify streams, more Spotify followers, and more Spotify playlist placements.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

The realm of non-fungible tokens is still a relatively new venture for most of us, and there are still lots of questions about the space.  The most frequent question I've gotten is about how to sell your music as an NFT. If you've ever wondered how to do it, this is the video for you.  Let's walk through how to sell your music as a non-fungible token (and much more).  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Facebook ads are the only paid advertising I use to promote my music on Spotify. And when it comes to Facebook ads, I specifically use two types of campaigns: a growth campaign and a release campaign.  This is the breakdown of each campaign type, how they differ, and what they accomplish.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

The life of the modern musician is a complex web of platforms and content, and it can be tough to keep track of it all, especially when you're trying to run a business.  It's critical to know where you're headed and how you're going to get there.  Enter: The Artist Flywheel.  The Artist Flywheel is a concept I use to organize my business, increase my leverage, and grow my income as an artist and content creator.  It has helped me tremendously. I think it will help you too.  This is The Artist Flywheel - How to Build Your Business.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Spotify playlisting is a widely popular method of marketing your music, and even though I focus exclusively on Facebook ads to promote my music at this point, I still get asked about playlisting a lot.  And the truth is, I don't hate it. I just think most people are going about it the wrong way.  Here's how we can take advantage of Spotify playlists the right way.  This is how Spotify playlists actually work.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

The concept of trigger cities for Spotify is something I'm just recently learning about, but the concept is fascinating.  These are cities all across the globe that offer a lower cost to advertise coupled with a higher rate of engagement. In short, these cities are filled with people who are hungry for new music.  This is a breakdown of Spotify trigger cities, what they are, and how they work.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Last week, Square announced their acquisition of TIDAL, the streaming platform owned by Jay-Z. This news comes on the back of Square's CEO, Jack Dorsey, partnering with Jay-Z on the creation of a 500 Bitcoin trust.  I think it's safe to say something is up.  Square just bought TIDAL (and a ton of Bitcoin), and it's time to figure out what all this means.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

This year's Spotify Stream On event brought a lot of great announcements with it. From Canvas to Hi-Fi audio, we have a lot to look forward to this year.  But some things caught my attention more than others. This is a rundown of some of the more notable features we can expect to see from Spotify in 2021, and, specifically, the three I am most excited about (and I think you should be too).  Spotify Stream On: what to expect in 2021. Watch the original video on my YouTube channel. Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought!

There is more than one way to promote your music on Spotify. Some opt for submitting to playlists. Others prefer paid advertising on Facebook and Instagram.  But is one better than the other? And if so, why?  Let's break it down: Facebook ads vs Spotify playlists. Who wins, and why?  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Bitcoin, and blockchain technology in general, is one of the most transformative things to come along in the last decade. It has impacted the financial industry on a global scale, to the tune of trillions of dollars.  But what happens when blockchain technology inevitably expands into other areas?  More specifically, what about the music business?  These are three ways I think blockchain technology could fundamentally alter the way we create, distribute, and ultimately, earn money from, music.  This is how Bitcoin could break the music business.  Learn more about the concepts from this episode: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Ethereum, Smart Contracts, Non-Fungible Tokens.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

I released my song "Lions" on January 15th, 2021. In the three and a half weeks since its release, it has amassed just shy of 40,000 streams.  Wow.  This has been, by far, my most successful release to date. So, naturally, I'm going to share with you exactly how I did it.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

I know there are a lot of you out there who are concerned about the upcoming changes to Facebook ads as a result of Apple's iOS 14.  First, let me say this: everything is going to be fine.  In fact, bringing your ad manager up to compliance is not as scary as you might think.  This is your guide to keep your ads working with Facebook ads and iOS 14–a step by step walkthrough.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel.  Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought! 

Finding your audience can be tough, especially when you're first starting out. And it can be even more difficult to keep up with the constant demand for content across all the various platforms that now exist.  But there is a way to grow your fanbase that produces results and won't lead to burnout.  Find your fans on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more. These are five tips that work!  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel. Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought!

Marketing your music is a tough game. It requires lots of research and testing. But even then, it doesn't always pay off.  In 2020, I spent $2500 testing all sorts of methods to reach an audience with my music. Some worked. Some didn't.  This is how I spent $2500 on Spotify music marketing in 2020, and here's what happened.  Watch the original video on my YouTube channel. Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought!

The music industry has experienced a fundamental shift within the past five years. We now consume, share, and create music completely differently than we ever have before.  As independent artists, it is important that we continually adapt to the landscape of our market.  Music used to be held to a different form of creation and release than most of the other platforms we know and love.  But that's changed.  It's time to start thinking of music as content. Watch the original video on my YouTube channel. Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought!

A common sentiment I hear across creative communities is that you need to "stay in your lane".  Nope. Disagree.  Now, more than ever is the time to NOT stay in your lane, to get out of your comfort zone and take chances on what you love.  It is only by testing, trying, failing, and learning, by hitting publish on a bunch of different content, that we are able to truly identify the intersection of what we're good at and what we love.  So this year, in 2021, take chances, get out of your comfort zone, and don't stay in your lane. Watch the original video on my YouTube channel. Like this episode? Hit me up on Twitter (@tomdupreeiii) and let me know what you thought!