Small Fanbase? No Problem. This Release Strategy Pays Anyway!

Small fanbase? No problem. This drop strategy pays anyway — and it’s the exact system most artists still aren’t using. If you’ve been releasing music the “normal” way — just dropping and hoping it catches — you’re not just losing momentum. You’re losing money. The truth is, you don’t need more fans… You need a better plan.

OK, so you spent weeks preparing a release… You post the link everywhere… and then—crickets. It's not because your music isn't good. It's because your release strategy is built for streams, not sales.

If you want fans to actually buy, support, and share — you need to build anticipation for levels of access, not just drop and disappear.

Most artists drop music like they're throwing darts in the dark — one big release, one big hope, and no real plan for who it's for or how it's sold. You're giving the same product to strangers, superfans, and casual lurkers all at once. That's why it falls flat. You're not selling music — you're sending it into the abyss.

So, what's the point you're getting at, Casey? Well, my point is this... When I started purchasing music again after the CD era, it was last year. I started buying on EVEN, and I'm buying more each year. Somehow, it's bringing back the effect that I got with physical music — so long as I'm a fan of the artist (that's key). However, when I recently got an album, I noticed this artist spaced their releases out across different types of platforms at different times for different fan segment tiers. Light bulbs went off! It's not that I didn't know this was possible; it's just that, as long as I’ve been talking about it, not many people had done it. However, one thing independent artists are coming to a consensus on in the last 9 months is that Spotify will be used for cataloging and promotional benefits, and this will change the value of music for the next 20 years. So, let's jump in!

Tier your releases by fanbase segment.

Most artists think you should put everyone into one basket on the streaming services and it will be alright, but the truth is, as a record label owner, you want to get the most bang for your efforts. You've got to tier your album offering out to different levels of your fanbase. The reason why your music isn't making any money is that you're not really giving people what they want from your music. It boils down to levels of access. Give casual listeners (i.e. browsers) the stream. Give supporters the D2C album at its base level, and give fans the same album with bonus features. Then turn around and promote the premium bonus album features on your social media so potential fans can feel like they're about to miss out on something. This way, everyone in your fan army feels appreciated and, most of all, seen. Serve your customers correctly, and they will serve you!

Use FOMO like the majors do.

If you're just getting going, you may have the belief of dropping the single and saying "out now," but this is a low-level builder of FOMO. In fact, doing that says nothing if fans aren't already aware of you — and if you're watching this, they probably aren't. So, the real reason you're stuck on the easy way out is because you don't know how to sell and promote to create FOMO, anticipation, and urgency. To create FOMO, you want to take the Premium album and express the benefits the superfan will get when they buy and compare it against the cheaper Spotify version, then say it will only be available for a limited time as "pay what you want" — even before you set the price. I bet you just sat up in your seat, didn't you? This is what most creatives don't know how to do. When you do this, you will notice an immediate shift in the urgency of your audience, provided you already have them engaged from the jump!

Turn streaming into a catalog, not a cash grab.

For the last 20 years of streaming, Spotify has held the reins on "you don't need anything else but Spotify." However, this playing field has evened — no pun intended. You can't continue to put every customer into one basket because that is stopping your cash flow. Spotify is a promotional tool and a music market for casual listeners and browsers. That's it. So when you're done running your limited-time runs, you'll finally want to drop your full albums on Spotify for its cataloging mechanisms. Because there are a lot of other sources that feed into Spotify's catalog and other streaming services' catalogs for your music, like Spotify for Business and Pandora for Business, your music can be played in business establishments. This way your music can live on for people doing their due diligence as they find you later. Get the bulk of your cash up front and get the residuals on the back end. Streaming 2.0 is not about the eradication of the streaming services but about the proper usage of them. Even as Spotify is struggling as a company.

Keep It Continuous!

Many artists and new executives believe once you drop, it's over, but that's not true. On the front end of a drop, you've only got one chance at building anticipation, but on the back end of a promotion, you can still scale your offering a bit more before you get into your promotional touring run. If you drop a project, you can create a gap between the Spotify drop and another event that requires a code from the D2C purchase to get access at a discounted rate. This could be, say, a public or digital listening experience, or whatever you want it to be to continue driving sales. You can keep doing this through the D2C album as much as you want, depending on the platform. This way, you'll meet your income goal for the album. Shhh... don't tell anybody I gave you this life-changing game right there.

Stop Doing This.

Many of you guys will go back to the "drop it everywhere and hope it catches" mentality as a release strategy. But that's the exact reason your drops die on arrival. This comes from the industry lie that all exposure is good exposure — so long as your music is on Spotify, someone will eventually find it, right? Wrong. If you keep relying on random drops, you'll keep getting random results — no sales, no momentum, no fan connection. Instead, you need to segment your fanbase, build up anticipation, and stagger your release based on access and demand.

I used to believe streaming services were the main event as well. The same concept exists with my YouTube. I believed if I dropped it here and promoted hard, people would buy. However, that's a partial truth because I got more buyers the moment I created exclusivity and FOMO with products, bonus content, and tiered access. The moment I stopped chasing streams and views and started building desire — sales followed. The same thing can happen for you as well.

Why you need to fix this for your next release.

Artists are waking up to the truth — Spotify isn't the store, it's the radio. Sales happen before the stream. Therefore, if you don't adapt, you'll get buried in the noise. Because fans need value, not just access — and the platforms rewarding that value are already winning. This is the greatest renaissance for music happening right now! If you wait, you'll still be shouting "out now" into the void... while smarter artists are stacking cash and building superfans who pay to listen.

Here’s what you can do!

So what will it be? Keep dropping music and hoping it turns into sales — even though deep down, you know that strategy's been failing you. Or, step into the role of a real music entrepreneur. Build a release strategy that actually brings in money, builds anticipation, and treats every drop like a product — not a post. Test this system on your next drop — tier your offer, stagger the rollout, build the FOMO. Watch what happens when your release becomes an event. Because the real question isn't "should I do this?" It's — how much longer can I afford not to? If you're serious about selling your music — not just streaming it — click the link below and meet me every Monday night at 7:00 PM EST in the Music Money Makers community to make this a reality for you!

Get off the cliff

You may not have fans, but this strategy builds them. If no one's buying now, it's because people don't buy when there's no reason. This plan creates the reason. You don't need to be perfect — just consistent. The truth is — it's not the strategy, your skills, or your resources. It's the fear of failing before you even start. The strategy works because it's a principle. I don't teach tactics. The tools work. And your skills? More than enough. But only if you stop waiting for perfect conditions… and just execute.

What Happens if You Don’t Change

You'll keep wasting your best music on unprofitable drops that no one remembers. You'll doubt yourself and your gifts — because "it didn't work," even though it was the method, not the music. Either you become the artist who sells music intentionally, or you stay the artist who hopes fans care. One path pays. The other drains.

At the End of the Day

Before this video, you were probably dropping music and praying for plays, giving every fan the same version of the drop, and hoping Spotify would do the heavy lifting. Now? You've got the keys to segment your fans, stagger your releases, and actually sell your music. You're not just an artist anymore — you're a strategist. A closer. A movement in motion.