Hey Guys
I hope you have had a nice couple of weeks.
I have been busy with lots of projects (which I think is when I am most enjoying myself tbh).
I didn't even know they had happened...
One of the nice things that has been happening is that I have been getting placements that I didn't even know about #cashback!
This is part and parcel of having a large back catalogue and also a publisher that is always doing the work to push it's music to clients.
These are two of the ones that had landed without me knowing.
I'm not telling you this as a way to boast. I am telling you this because it is one of the amazing things that can happen if you keep pushing your music career and KEEP WRITING MUSIC!
It's so simple but even I forget it sometimes; write music everyday and share it with the world, you never know what is going to happen!
Which reminds me
Getting more streams
I have been releasing my music in various forms for about a decade now. Mostly to crickets to be honest but sometimes something special happens.
I have told you about this already but I want to share again to inspire you to keep pushing your work and sharing your gifts!
Back in august I released a piece of music through my moniker This Shimmering Sky.
It was just the usual release of a single BUT something pretty special happened.
It got picked up by a playlist on Apple Music and has since had millions of streams. To date it has brought in a little over £10,000!
This I am so very happy about and has reignited my interest in streaming as a viable way to bring in more money as a music maker.
I want to compare it to YouTube.
Each week I upload a video on Youtube that usually takes me somewhere between 1-3 hours to produce.
This is pretty much the same amount of time it takes for me to produce a piece of music.
BUT
YouTube has only ever brought in around £1000 for me (in ad revenue). So if I were to look at the 80/20 principle I should drop YouTube and focus on the music right!?
Right (and wrong).
I don't do YouTube for money, I do it to help aspiring composers and producers. I do it as a form of service (for want of a better word).
I believe what you give out comes back to you and that is what the streaming income is for me. Payment for my service.
So I would like to put my hands together and join forces; release more music under different names and show you how I do it on my channel so that you can too.
I have been experimenting with Spotify ads which has been going quite well (not well enough yet though) and plan to keep exploring this as a way to share my work more (see Austin Kleon's book Share Your Work).
This is a pay per impressions campaign which means that it is all about conversions and amount of streams per listener.
I'll keep you posted but for now I have spent £100 to get 4800 streams which would translate into about £20. So the return on investment is not great but I am playing the long game.
I know that once I start to listen to an artist I like I tend to listen little and often; streaming an album or two whilst I am cooking. This probably adds up to hundreds or thousands of streams.
Currently I have 114 new listeners as a result of this ad campaign so if I imagine that each one will listen 100 times over the next few months then the cost per listener will go down.
Quite a bit of number crunching involved but I must admit I quite enjoy it.
Time Off
If you liked Zoolnader then you might enjoy Barb and Star visit Vista Del Mar
I have taken a couple of weeks off my other projects.
You know I am a fan of cutting down and making time to have fun and enjoy your life.
The problem with lots of projects is that they tend to expand.
So I made a conscious choice to cut back for a couple of weeks just so I could enjoy the Easter break with my family a bit more.
I am still producing courses for Protege and of course producing music for Elephant Music but that is all (and this newsletter too).
Make sure you guys make time for fun and create space for ideas and thoughts too.
It is in this space that I realised how much I want to look into producing more music under different monikers and explore building fans with them.
Exciting stuff
One last thing.
Guy has been taking interviews for the next round of Protege students and the places are already being booked up which is incredibly exciting.
If you are interested then send an email to info@protege.school and state your intent to apply for the course.
It is ONLY by application and interview so be sure to bring your A-game!
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