Do ads work for a music artist?

Yes, but it is a different job from selling a product, and treating it like one is why a lot of artist ad spend disappears.

A brand can point an ad at a product page and count orders. An artist is usually buying attention first: a listen, a follow, a video watched to the end, a ticket eventually. Those are further apart, so judging week one by ticket sales tells you nothing useful.

What tends to work is the same thing that works organically, given a budget behind it. The clip that people actually watch is the clip worth spending on, and you generally already know which one that is because it did something on its own first.

The trap is spending to make one release look busy. Numbers that arrive for a fortnight and leave are expensive and change nothing. It is more useful to build an audience that is still there for the next release.

What we would actually do

• Work out what the money is actually buying at this stage, whether that is reach, a fanbase that comes back, or tickets in a specific city.
• Make content for the release rather than repurposing a press shot, and put spend behind the pieces that earn it.
• Keep the social growing between releases, which is the part that decides how the next one lands.
• Tell you when spending is the wrong move, because for some releases it is.

Is this only for artists with a following already?

No, but it is honest to say the money goes further when there is something to build on. With nothing released yet, the first job is usually making things worth showing people.

Can you get me on playlists?

We do not sell playlist placement and we would be careful with anyone who does. What we do is put real attention on the work, which is the thing playlists and everything else follow.

What do you actually measure?

Whatever the release is for. Reach and watch-through early on, saves and follows for a fanbase, ticket sales when there is a date to sell. We agree it before we spend, so nobody moves the goalposts later.