Musicians: How To Avoid Buzz Marketing Danger Loops
Are You Stuck in Buzz Marketing Danger Loops?
In my new book, From Buzz to Bond, I explore why so many independent artists fall into the trap of Buzz Marketing, pouring time and money into vanity metrics that don’t translate into real fan relationships. One of the most deceptive and addictive traps is Buzz Marketing Danger Loops.
These loops feel productive, even exciting, because they inflate numbers and trigger dopamine hits—but they leave you spinning your wheels with no real progress. You might find yourself paying for streams, chasing TikTok trends, or running ads that generate engagement but no actual superfans.
The result? A distorted sense of your audience, wasted resources, and an ongoing cycle that takes you further from your goals.
This excerpt from From Buzz to Bond breaks down how Buzz Marketing Danger Loops work, why they are so tempting, and—most importantly—how to break free so you can start building the kind of fanbase that lasts.
You may have become addicted to the dopamine hits caused by Buzz Marketing Danger Loops, and this has warped your sense of true fandom.
Something awful takes over in your overwhelm and desire for as many people as possible to hear your music. This can be fueled by looking at others’ Spotify and social numbers or by lousy advice you may have read about what counts in today’s landscape.
I like to call this awful thing a Buzz Marketing Danger Loop. These can be endless, like the proverbial dog chasing its tail, and they create another problem, which is they give you dopamine hits as they inflate your numbers, which can feel good; however,
TikTok Doesn’t Care If You Build An Audience
Following trends and sounds is usually not a way for potential fans to see and understand that you are a musician.. You may get a viral moment on TikTok, but catching viral moments won’t quickly or directly help you build a bonded fanbase.
Facebook & IG Also Don’t Care
Zuck doesn’t care about letting your followers on Facebook or Instagram see your posts. He also doesn’t care about the mental health of teen girls or our collective civil society. That’s not where he makes money. Facebook and Instagram make money by mining your personal information for data points. The more data points you share, the more data they have to target ads they sell. Facebook posted $160 billion in advertising revenue in 2024, and that’s what they care about!
Short-Term ROI
When you spend ad dollars running Meta ads to drive streams on Spotify, you pay for impressions, not relationships. Even if your campaign is targeted—say, “Nashville-based indie folk listeners”—most clicks result in one-off streams. Without a direct way to capture that fan (email, social follow, etc.), they’re likely gone after one listen.
The Repeat Touchpoint Problem
Spotify and TikTok give you limited data. You can’t effectively retarget or even know who they are unless they take an extra step (like following you directly). This makes it hard to create the repeated touchpoints needed to cultivate superfans; I’ll get to that later.
Ads Are Likely Creating Geographic Mismatches:
Imagine you live in Nashville and want to get booked in local clubs. This means you need to get the attention of local club bookers.
Cheap ad targeting will cause a mismatch between your real-world desires and where your streams are coming from.
For example:
- Ads might attract listeners in South America because the CPM (cost per thousand impressions) is more affordable there.
- These streams boost vanity metrics but don’t help build a local audience who might attend your shows or buy your merch.
- It won’t be hard for a local Nashville promoter to smell a rat—all they need to do is look at your Spotify profile, and they will see that you have few to no fans in Nashville.
You Could Get Riddled With Bots or Banned From Spotify
Many playlisting services use pay-to-play tactics that result in bots or disengaged listeners. Even if streams go up, these may not be real fans interacting with you. Worse, Spotify’s algorithm might deprioritize your track if it detects low engagement (like skips). Even worse, your Spotify account could get riddled with bots, and you will have a problem that is hard to undo. Then Spotify will punish you, and you could get a strike against you.
Danger Loop IRL Scenario:
I know an artist who, after months of paying for Spotify Danger Loops, was left with a significant number of streams in South America. Seduced by this data, he decided to record tracks in Spanish (he is not a Spanish Speaker, and this was not part of his brand) because he became convinced that his fan base was there. Then he paid for more ads to promote the Spanish song, and you guessed it – created ANOTHER Buzz Marketing Danger Loop.
See how these loops lead to warped perception and cause you to focus on the wrong things?
To Summarize
Danger Loops have created a vicious cycle. You might expect one viral moment to build a fanbase, but it won’t, and this is why Buzz Marketing is deceiving.
Want to know the antidote? It’s called Bond Marketing.
Order From Buzz to Bond Now & Get an Exclusive Invite!
Preorder From Buzz to Bond today and get an exclusive invitation to the official virtual release party on Monday, April 14, at 8 PM!
This special event will feature a live discussion, behind-the-scenes insights, and a Q&A where you can ask me anything about the book, music marketing, and breaking free from the Buzz Marketing trap.
Lock in your order now and be part of the celebration!
