Why No-one Is Finding Your Music: Essential Advice for Young Music Producers
You’ve just uploaded your latest track to Spotify via DistroKid. You hit publish, you wait… and nothing happens.
You might think you just need to “be patient.”
You see people on social media saying you can’t ‘chase the algorithm’.
Long videos on Youtube overwhelm you with paid sponsorships and too much information.
But here’s the real truth:
Uploading your track isn’t promotion. And if you’re not actively building your presence, no one’s going to find your music - no matter how good it is.
Let’s break it down.
there is a 1/100 million chance someone discovers your music organically on Spotify (image source: Music Business Worldwide)
The Spotify Flood: Why Uploading Isn’t Enough
Over 120,000 songs are uploaded to Spotify every day. That’s one new track every second.
With that level of saturation, you can’t just drop a track and hope someone stumbles across it.
Spotify’s algorithm is designed to surface content that’s already getting attention elsewhere - especially on social media.
If you’re not actively promoting, you’re never going to show up in key playlists like:
Discover Weekly, Hot New Music, Fresh Finds, Daily Mix, Rising Stars, Radio
+ genre-specific recommended & editorial playlists.
Spotify isn’t a discovery platform.
It’s a hosting platform.
But can’t people just find my music on Spotify organically?
No.
There’s less than a 1 in 100,000,000 chance that a user on Spotify stumbles upon your track. About 3x less likely than getting struck by lightning…
The average Spotify user listens to only ~40 unique artists per week. You have to compete with 11 million active artists on the platform (source: FlyPaper)
Posting ≠ Promotion
One of the biggest mistakes young producers make is thinking that posting a song on Instagram once is enough.
It’s not.
90% of Gen Z music discovery happens through social media first.
If you’re only using one platform, you’re missing most of your audience.
On average, every social media user needs to see you 3-10 times a week to remember you.
It takes up to 30 repetitions of a song via passive listening to make it memorable.
TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and even Discord are where your listeners are actually hanging out. Without multi-platform content, you’re practically invisible.
Posts don’t ‘just hit’ on the algorithms either.
And anyone who is telling you this isn’t being truthful.
Spotify follows the same principle - songs don’t just ‘blow up’.
The data that goes into the big playlist placements is all to do with you and how you present yourself.
TikTok for the last 3 year has a higher engagement rate than any other social media platforms. (source: SocialInsider)
TikTok vs. Instagram
Instagram has recently become a very poor tool for promotion, especially within niche genres.
This is because Instagram has highly specialised algorithms, which creates narrow ‘artists only’ ‘closed’ networks of users. Most of your engagement in these ‘artist only’ circles will be other artists - not real organic fans/listeners.
“Why is no one finding my music” is a question thousands of artists are Googling right now. You’re not alone.
Spotify may be making more profit, but labels and artists are increasing moving away from the platform (source: MIDIA Research)
Show the Process, Not Just the Product
People don’t just want to hear your track.
They want to see how you made it.
And we’re not talking a screen-recorded FL Studio session with a trippy video filter on it…
We’d recommend including in your videos:
Your beat-building workflow
Gear breakdowns
Sampling tricks
Favourite samples
Music history (artist bios, famous events, festival horror stories, culture defining music moments)
Public beat-making sessions (like ‘beats in the wild’)
Behind-the-scenes photos of studio sessions
Behind-the-scenes setting up music video/live event
Pre-writing practices
This is the content that stops people scrolling.
‘Relevant’ content is actually the least enjoyable to Social Media users - people would rather see something funny or creative (source: GWI)
If you’re just starting out (~1000 followers), start on TikTok.
TikTok has the highest engagement rate, highest daily usage and lowest ‘cost-per-click’ of Paid Ads across all major social media platforms.
Instagram is the second most useful for music producers & artists.
But, Instagram has an aging community.
It’s great for making connections and promoting products.
But not for growing a long-term, engaged following of listeners & fans.
People are 5x more likely to interact with you on Tiktok. Also, people spend around 3.5x longer on the TikTok app per day too.
People spend 4x longer on TikTok than on Instagram per day. (Source: UKOM via IPSOS)
Build Your Community: Don’t Wait for Them to Find You
If you’re not actively involved in producer communities, you’re missing the fastest growth path.
These spaces are where collabs, feedback loops, and real supportive communities are built.
By finding likeminded people online, you can collaborate on writing, promotion and get instant feedback on your ideas.
Don’t know where to begin? Googling “producer community on Discord” is a good place to start!
Multi-Platform or No Platform
Relying on a single social channel is limiting your reach.
You should:
Post beat snippets on TikTok
Upload breakdowns to YouTube Shorts
Engage on Discord servers
Re-share content on Instagram and Twitter/X
The more places you exist, the easier it is for people to discover you.
Regularly using a Discord across mutiple servers to promote your music is a form on Omnichannel marketing (source: Sinch)
Key Action Steps
Don’t just upload—actively promote.
2. Be visible on multiple platforms.
3. Show your face and your process.
4. Join Discord and talk to your scene.
5. Stay consistent—post often.
Your music deserves to be heard.
But in 2025, if you’re not promoting smart, you’re invisible.
