One of the internet's most trusted voices on music marketing since 2017.
Usually thoughtful, often rambling, always written by humans. Subscribe here.
Spotify’s Discovery Mode Explained (2025)
Here’s the pitch: If you turn on Spotify’s Discovery Mode for a song, that song will be placed more frequently in personalized playlists (like Radio, Autoplay, and Mixes). Hypothetically, this means more
Spotify Is the Devil: A Review of Liz Pelly’s Mood Machine
Spotify is the devil. This is, more or less, the premise of Liz Pelly’s recent book Mood Machine. The book made a few waves in advance of its January publication, thanks
I Spent $6,000 Building Playlists on Spotify. Here’s What I Learned.
I’ve run ads for 36 playlists over the past couple of months. You may remember that I launched this as a service around the end of January. The premise is that artists
12-Step Song Release Checklist (2025)
Let’s be real: releasing a song in 2025 can feel like throwing it into the digital void and hoping the algorithm gods take mercy. You’ve put your heart and soul
Spotify’s $5 Billion Question: Is Streaming Helping or Hurting Artists?
The people have spoken. Last week, on the heels of promoting my email-list-building challenge, I asked this list a simple question: What should I write about? Well, you guys came
You Pick the Topic, I Bring the Words – Deal?
I wrote a bunch of words about email marketing last week. Some people might say I wrote too many words about email marketing last week. To that I’d reply: You’re