Last week, I came across an interesting question. Someone asked: What is better for independent artists that are starting out? To release quality content on a slow but consistent basis? Or to push out new stuff as fast as you can?

Although this question depends on a multitude of factors, I strongly believe that quality always beats quantity over time.

Not only on the outside but also on the inside. Let's take a look at some of the factors.

Who are you?

Who you are has a heavy impact on how you feel and think about this question.

What have you experienced in your life? Where are you currently with your personal life and music career? What's your mindset? What's your typical behavior like? What are your good and bad habits?

There's much more but you get the point.

It's important to know who you are because you want to make considerate decisions. These considerate decisions lead to consistent results.

Once you know who you are you find out what fits for yourself.

That one mistake many artists make

A big mistake many artists make is to think that every written production needs to get released. They are dead wrong.

Writing and producing music doesn't mean that you have to release it.

As I said before, I'm a huge fan of quality over quantity. About 40,000 new releases are added to Spotify every day.

If you want to stand out, blindly pushing new stuff into the world could be devastating to your music career.

Without seeing the big picture, you feel lost, confused, and demotivated in no time.

So what to release then?

It's not about releasing all the time. Yes, the algorithms favor people who do. But it's not only about the algorithms.

First, your followers are humans. And they know that you're human, too. So if you manage to communicate this the right way, they know exactly what to expect and how often.

Do they want a release every other week? Probably not.

Do they want regular weekly content? Probably yes.

I don't have to tell you that regular weekly content can be your thoughts, ideas, or other relevant stuff.

It doesn't have to be proper releases!

So if you're an artist that writes and produces lots of pieces use that to your advantage. Tell your followers about it by sharing snippets of your current works. People love behind the scene footage.

When to release? (and why)

For you as an independent artist, there are only two reasons to release your music in 2021 and beyond. Songs that truly mean something to you and songs that offer a huge proven potential to your audience.

Once you're in the groove of publishing consistent content to your specific audience, you're ahead of the curve. Because compared to other artists in "the same boat", you have a huge advantage.

You can see and analyze the reaction of your audience.

Do they like what they hear? Do they want more? Is it a large number of people saying this? Can you validate your analytics?

If so, turn this production into a record and build a proper release strategy for it. Better take all the time you need to dive deep into promoting a particular release. Because with great releases, you market your brand in the long haul.

The incredible side effect when writing and producing songs

When you write and produce a lot of music you get better at your craft and closer to your true artistic identity. This in turn helps you niching down with your marketing and growing your loyal fanbase.

Once you've built more momentum (and money's finally coming in) you can revisit your backlog. There will be all these great ideas that didn't make it in the first place.

With a little more work and love, you might turn them into great-sounding pieces. Next, you can release them as singles or even as an album.

Though, never forget to check whether they follow one of the two reasons.

Now it's your turn

Of course, this is only my opinion based on my experience and personal taste.

What you do in the end must be your intentional choice.

Make absolutely sure to know what you want in the long haul, who you are, and what chunked-down next step will bring you closer to where you wanna be someday.

What's your take on this?

I'd love to read (and reply to) your message.