Episode 4 (ft. Amber Horsburgh): Why marketing music to strangers, not to existing fans, is more profitable

Music-marketing consultant Amber Horsburgh joins this episode to discuss why marketing music to strangers—i.e. to people who don't know who you are yet—is more profitable than catering only to existing fans. What are the limitations of Kevin Kelly's widely-cited "1,000 True Fans" theory in the context of artists trying to scale their brands? Why do record labels fall into the "content is king" trap and spend so little of their marketing budgets on reach and distribution, compared to other industries? How can artists engineer demand for their work and cater to lighter and more casual listeners without diluting the integrity of their core product and creative vision? After answering these and many other questions, we provide forward-looking as well as cynical takes on the recent news about Bandsintown acquiring media sites Hypebot and Music Think Tank.