The build-it-and-they-will-come method doesn’t work.

The old-school methodology went like this:

Record album > do press and radio plugging > get publicity > sell music.

That no longer works in isolation.

The way people discover music has fractured and expanded. So you can’t just wait for listeners to come to you. You have to go to them.

It’s about raising awareness of artists’ work wherever people engage in dialogues about music.

The different devices, platforms, and social media they use. The different publics they interact with, from print journalists to YouTube channel owners to social influencers and playlisters.

It doesn’t matter if it’s the first release by a brand-new artist or a hotly awaited album by an established heritage act. The more visible a release is, the more people will hear it.