A $20 video course for artists tired of releasing into the void.
You finished the song. You uploaded it to Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and the rest of the streaming platforms.
Now what?
Most music marketing advice falls into one of two categories: it tells you to make endless short-form content and hope something works, or it pushes shady playlisting tactics that can damage your credibility and put your music at risk. This course takes a different approach. This is a one-hour practical video course that shows you how to release your music, identify your target audience, and start driving real listeners to your songs using legitimate marketing strategies.
For just $20, you’ll learn how to stop guessing and start building a repeatable promotion system for your music.
You’ll learn how to use legitimate promotion tools from platforms like Spotify, Google, YouTube, and Meta to reach real listeners and collect useful data. Instead of guessing who your audience is, you’ll learn how to test, measure, and refine your audience over time. Instead of chasing followers, you’ll focus on what actually matters: listeners and streams.
Built from real music marketing experience.
This course is taught using the same system behind more than 14,000,000 streams and campaigns deployed for 400+ recording artists and musicians. It comes from real-world experience, not theory.
The course breaks down how advertising, collaborations, release strategy, and audience data can help artists move from hoping people find their music to actively putting their songs in front of potential listeners.
Growth is never guaranteed. You can’t force anyone to love your music. But you can give your release a much better chance by learning how to reach the right people, on the right platforms, with the right strategy.
What You’ll Learn
Inside the course, you’ll learn how to:
- Schedule and prepare your release properly
- Claim and use your Spotify for Artists dashboard
- Pitch your release through Spotify for Artists
- Decide which marketing platform fits your budget and goals
- Understand the difference between Meta Ads, YouTube Ads, and Spotify advertising tools
- Use advertising to find your “most valuable listener”
- Avoid fake playlisting and illegitimate streaming tactics
- Promote your music without damaging your data or breaking platform rules
- Use listener behavior to improve future campaigns
- Build a realistic path toward your first 100+ listeners
Course Breakdown
Learn how to promote your music without fake streams, shady playlisting, or guesswork.
This course is built for independent artists who want to grow their listeners the right way. You’ll learn how to use trusted advertising platforms, audience targeting, release planning, and listener data to get your music in front of the people most likely to care. The goal is not to chase vanity metrics. The goal is to help you get more real people listening to your music, understand who those listeners are, and build a stronger foundation for future releases.
This course covers six topics in addition to showing ad campaign setup.
1. Preparing Your Music for Release
Before you promote your music, you need to make sure your release is properly set up. You’ll learn how to choose a distributor, schedule your release, claim Spotify for Artists, and submit your song for editorial playlist consideration when eligible.
2. Understanding Your Music Marketing Goals
Not every campaign should have the same goal. You’ll learn how to decide whether you want to grow on Spotify specifically, build listeners across platforms, or use YouTube at a smaller budget.
3. Choosing the Right Advertising Platform
The course explains when to use Meta Ads, YouTube Ads, Spotify Ad Studio, Marquee, and Showcase based on your budget, audience, and goals. You’ll learn why different platforms work better for different situations and how to avoid wasting money on the wrong setup.
4. Finding Your Most Valuable Listener
Your best listener is not “everyone.” You’ll learn how to use advertising campaign and streaming platform data to identify the people most likely to listen through your songs, come back for future releases, and become real fans over time.
5. Avoiding Fake Streams and Risky Promotion
The course shows you why fake playlisting and illegitimate stream services can hurt your music career, while legitimate advertising keeps your growth clean, trackable, and platform-safe.
6. Building Toward Your First 100 Listeners
You’ll learn practical strategies for using small budgets, collaborations, YouTube promotion, Meta Ads, and Spotify tools to start building real listener momentum.
Course Breakdown
Learn how to promote your music without fake streams, shady playlisting, or guesswork.
This course is built for independent artists who want to grow their listeners the right way. You’ll learn how to use trusted advertising platforms, audience targeting, release planning, and listener data to get your music in front of the people most likely to care. The goal is not to chase vanity metrics. The goal is to help you get more real people listening to your music, understand who those listeners are, and build a stronger foundation for future releases.
This course covers six topics in addition to showing ad campaign setup.
1. Preparing Your Music for Release
Before you promote your music, you need to make sure your release is properly set up. You’ll learn how to choose a distributor, schedule your release, claim Spotify for Artists, and submit your song for editorial playlist consideration when eligible.
2. Understanding Your Music Marketing Goals
Not every campaign should have the same goal. You’ll learn how to decide whether you want to grow on Spotify specifically, build listeners across platforms, or use YouTube at a smaller budget.
3. Choosing the Right Advertising Platform
The course explains when to use Meta Ads, YouTube Ads, Spotify Ad Studio, Marquee, and Showcase based on your budget, audience, and goals. You’ll learn why different platforms work better for different situations and how to avoid wasting money on the wrong setup.
4. Finding Your Most Valuable Listener
Your best listener is not “everyone.” You’ll learn how to use advertising campaign and streaming platform data to identify the people most likely to listen through your songs, come back for future releases, and become real fans over time.
5. Avoiding Fake Streams and Risky Promotion
The course shows you why fake playlisting and illegitimate stream services can hurt your music career, while legitimate advertising keeps your growth clean, trackable, and platform-safe.
6. Building Toward Your First 100 Listeners
You’ll learn practical strategies for using small budgets, collaborations, YouTube promotion, Meta Ads, and Spotify tools to start building real listener momentum.
This Course Is for You If…
You’re an independent artist who:
- Has released music but struggles to get consistent listeners
- Is preparing for an upcoming single, EP, or album release
- Wants to grow on Spotify, YouTube, or multiple streaming platforms
- Feels overwhelmed by ads, dashboards, and marketing tools
- Wants to avoid fake streams and risky playlist promotion
- Is tired of relying only on organic posts
- Wants a simple, affordable starting point for music marketing
- This course is especially useful if you are trying to get your first 100 listeners, test your audience, or create a repeatable process for promoting future releases.
Learn the Basics of Music Marketing for Only $20
You don’t need a label budget to start learning how music marketing works.
For $20, this course gives you a clear, practical introduction to releasing and promoting your music with a real strategy.
Whether you’re preparing your first single or trying to get more people to hear your next release, this course will help you stop guessing and start marketing with intention.
Get Clear Takeaways
By the end of the course, you’ll have a clearer understanding of:
- How to release your music with promotion in mind
- Which platforms are best for your budget
- How to target potential listeners
- How to use ads without breaking Spotify or YouTube rules
- How to measure whether people are actually engaging with your music
- How to think beyond one release and build long-term listener growth
- You’ll also understand why getting listeners is only the first step — and how future releases, retargeting, and consistent output can help turn those listeners into fans.
Reviews
Here is what our clients have to say about us.
(DCR) has been extremely helpful for my career in the past months. I was able to work on collaborations with other artists, book shows and have blogs written about my music. I am very satisfied.
— Tatiana Maia
(DCR) is very knowledgeable at the set of skills required ... able to pivot in situations to improve the brand image ... He's one message away, recommend him for any artist trying to expand their brand! Consistent and willing to adjust. 10/10 recommend for anyone looking for artist marketing.
— Kavai
DCR has been a strong logistic resource and management partner. Highly recommend for any artists looking for support with social media management and other fundamental aspects of artistry.
— Chris Borelli
DCR is a great full spectrum agency for emerging artists navigating through the music industry in this new digital age riddled with scams and misinformation. They offer complete transparency for all of their services and deliver on their commitments every time.
— Rodger Edmonds IV
(DCR) is a great music management company, flexible and genuinely interested in (its artists’) needs and growth.
— TyStringz
Edward has been nothing but helpful from the start! For all things social media, I know Ed and the DCR team have me covered. I’m happy I stumbled upon DCR to help me grow and expand all my socials from Google, (Instagram), TikTok, (and) more!
— Anthony Taboada
Edward is a great resource. He knows a lot about how to successfully market music, in a way that very few people do.
It had been such a pleasure to work with Downers Club for the past 4 months. This team has provided the skills, support, and collaborative approach to bring my music and e-commerce web site to like.
I highly recommend Downers Club as a support for all inspiring artists.
— Kelly "Bobby Adams" Barr
Professional, quality services, collaborative ... It's clear DCR really cares about their clients' success ...
— Hayden Margolis
Edward did a fantastic job for us. He quickly jumped in, understood our objectives and got the work done with high quality. He improved our SEO and got our Google Ads optimized in record time. He is a pleasure to work with – very organized and great communication.
— Teri E.
Very good at what (they do), and goes in depth on what you need as an artist and how and where to market. Highly recommend!
— Justin E.
Edward was super helpful! He provided a lot of useful information for navigating the next steps of my career in music. He gave thoughtful feedback and had great insight for organizing a music release plan. He was very easy to talk to, and I would definitely recommend!
Edward was very helpful with his music marketing services. He was very clear with his work deadlines and accomplishments. He’s worth working with for sure!
Ed is extremely helpful and organized. He knows what he is about and does excellent work. Highly recommend.
Recognized for excellence.
We're proud to have been honored for our work helping artists and organizations elevate their brands.
#1 Digital Marketing Agency in Washington D.C.
Top 101 Music Startups To Watch For In 2021
Top 101 Management Consulting Startups of 2020
#9 Ad Agency Business Consulting Company in Washington D.C.
#24 Small Business Business Consulting Company in Washington D.C.
Top 20 Small Business Consulting Firms in the Arlington Area
Founded by a music marketing expert.
DCR was founded in 2019 by musician, marketing professional, and entrepreneur Edward Scheindlin. Edward brings 10+ years of experience in music, digital marketing, and emerging technologies to the table.
After witnessing countless artists experience the same frustrations and pitfalls, waste time and money, and struggle to make heads or tails of the complicated music industry, Edward created DCR to give all artists the tools and support they need to excel.