TPS #055: You CAN Pick Your Audience
Author: Andre Mullen - 4 min Read
March 22, 2025
Good morning. In today’s newsletter, I want to talk about my controversial take on building an audience. I’ll also talk about artists generating over $50K on Spotify, YouTube, what folks are saying about audiences.
Forget target audience.
Marketers in the music industry are funny.
As part of marketing strategy, artists are told they need to know who their target audience. In other words, who does the music speaking to? Who does the music serve?
Data platforms such as Chartmetric and DSPs (digital service providers) such as Apple Music and Spotify provide data analytics for artists giving them data on who their demographic is and where they are located.
Don’t get me wrong – having access to data is and can be highly important – especially in this current music climate.
Artists who understand data and how to use it as it relates to their music business may be better for it.
However, I have never given advice about an artist needing to choose a target audience.
In fact, forget target audience.
Artists and their teams who focus on target audience will only find themselves locked into trying to speak to an audience that doesn’t actually care about the artist brand at all.
Let’s talk about it.
Your target audience should choose YOU.
I believe that the target audience should choose you.
This of course is quite the opposite of typical advice you are given as an artist, which generally goes like this:
1. Pick your audience (usually done via data points)
2. Style your music for them (based on their preferences)
3. Continue to serve them (create music that resonates with them)
There are 2 reasons why I don’t like this:
1. You don’t have a “clean” audience. Your music isn’t perfectly fitted into on particular group that you can put your finger on.
2. This approach is like finding a needle in a haystack. Making music for a particular group is what is being done already.
Instead, here is a 3 step approach to having your audience choose you:
1. Find the difference in and with your music
2. Identify the value of that difference
3. Connect that value to the audience(s) who would benefit from it most
The 3 step approach will provide you with the ability to pick a meaningful and engaged audience who will have a greater appreciation and value of your artist brand.
Here’s the framework, step by step:
Step #1: “Find the difference in and with your artist brand”
Everyone loves a good origin story.
And your origin story is crucial in relating to your audience. Your story gives a framework for understanding what your believe, your values, and you and your creativity’s place in the world.
Your story serves as the foundation to build trust with your audience.
When you share your origin story, it can inspire motivation.
Let me give you an example by sketching this out for myself:
(Origin Story) I spent nearly three decades in artist management and I started to get burned out from working with artists directly. So, I stepped away but I found myself consulting up and coming artist managers. Over time, the truth dawned on me that this wasn’t a “thing” and I was quite disappointed because I thought it was. But then I remembered something…
As you can see, the origin story begins to set the tone for you to know how and why I started my journey.
Now, let’s take a look at your belief.
Step #2: “Identify the value of that difference”
Determining value requires you to pay close attention to your audience.
When you focus on those in your audience who engage more, it’s a clear indication they are valuable.
Even if there are a few potential audiences and they sound good, you probably have limited resources, so bringing it down to one or two will be more manageable.
You can do this by simply asking yourself which audience do you agree with most.
Next consider which audience connects with your music more. The logic here is simple, but most artist miss it: the more someone connects with your music, the easier it is to engage and build with them.
Most artist simply go to the big attractive but unmotivated audience because they think their sound is closely related to a bigger, mainstream artist.
Finally, think about who would be easiest for you to market to. Think about similar experiences you may have with the audience. What do you have in common?
All of these factors create a value based on your music connecting with this particular group of people.
Step #3: “Connect that value to the audience(s) who would benefit from it most”
This happens organically and there is no real formula.
Like Step #2, this requires you to pay close attention to the audience as well as consistent engagement.
Once you identify the difference with you and your artist brand and it’s value to a few different audiences, you will find yourself connecting to the audience that your music attracts the most.
Talking and engaging with your audience reveals the value you bring to them and also uncovers the value they see in you.
This value is what moves your audience into becoming fans.
This also is the place where you experience freedom from comparing yourself to other artists and/or defining success by their wins.
This same audience will support you and your artist brand because you talk like them and your music connects with them in ways you may never truly understand.
It is this audience who sees themselves benefitting from you releasing music.
There is an audience for you and your music.
At the end of the day, your creativity, resources, strengths, history are what they are. These are what make YOU who you are. So the idea that you “pick” your audience is kind of a fantasy anyway.
Just be who you are. And the right people will find you.
Hope this helps.
RELATED: Figuring out who your audience is and how you want to engage with them is within your control. New York Magazine’s Music Editor Sam Hockley-Smith sits down with Spotify for Artists to talk about figuring out audiences.
THE LATEST – “speaking of stories…”
• “Money Generating Audiences?”: Music Business Worldwide interviewed Charlie Hellman, Spotify’s Global Head of Music Vertical, to shed more insight on the latest Loud & Clear report showing that 22,100 artists on the platform have generated $50K and what that actually means.
• “New Audience Stat”: Hypebot reports that YouTube Music introduces Monthly Audience – data that shows artists the total number of unique listeners and viewers across all platforms in the last 28 days.
• “Catering to the Wrong Audience”: Digital Music News reports Del Records CEO Angel Del Villar has been found guilty of doing business with a promoter linked to a Mexican drug cartel. Villar is looking at 30 years in prison.
WHAT ARE THEY SAYING about audiences…?
• “When I relied on social media for my income, I constantly feared losing everything overnight. Now email gives me predictable sales and peace of mind. Own your audience.” – @worth_parker
• “…[Mag Rodriguez] saw first hand how evangelizing the platform [EVEN] with the right artist, the right brand, and the right audience could lead to success.” – @heymike
• “Just because the internet connects you to world, doesn’t mean the world is your audience.” – @BarryHefner
✋🏾When you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
1. Schedule a 1:1 Growth Strategy Call with me on growth, strategy, content, and monetization.
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