He grew 1000s of followers on SoundCloud & grew a FANBASE! 📈

Summary

In this engaging conversation, Kirk, a DJ and producer with over a decade of experience, shares his journey and motivation for joining a course with Data Transmission in January 2021. He discusses the impact of the course on his music production, the significant increase in his SoundCloud followers from 100 to nearly 2100, and the strategies he's implemented to gain momentum and improve his music's visibility. Kirk highlights the importance of organic growth and the value of connecting with real people on platforms like SoundCloud, emphasizing the steady progress he's made in his music career.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker, Kirk, is a DJ and music producer who has been active in the industry for over a decade.
• 🎧 Kirk first started DJing around 10-12 years ago and began producing music a couple of years after that.
• 🤝 Kirk joined a course in January 2021, motivated by the opportunity to engage with the people behind Data Transmission, a channel he respects and has been following for years.
• 🚀 Kirk's main goal from the course was to gain insights on how to better promote his music and put his best foot forward after creating a track.
• 📈 Kirk experienced significant growth in his music production, finishing more tracks in the last year than ever before, and is on track to exceed that this year.
• 📊 Kirk's SoundCloud follower count increased dramatically from 100 to nearly 2100, indicating a substantial increase in his audience and engagement.
• 🔊 The increase in followers and engagement on SoundCloud has led to higher play counts on his tracks, with one track reaching 12,000 plays.
• 🔄 Kirk emphasizes the importance of real engagement, such as reposts and comments, as indicators of genuine interest in his music.
• 📈 Kirk attributes the growth in his fan base to the strategies he learned, which have led to steady and continuous growth across multiple platforms.
• 📝 Kirk mentions using SoundCloud's download gates as a way to increase followers and engagement, requiring users to follow and comment to download tracks.
• 👍 Kirk recommends the course to others, highlighting its value in learning strategies for growing one's music exposure and fan base.

Q & A

Who is the speaker in the transcript?

The speaker in the transcript is Kirk, a DJ and music producer who has been active in the industry for over a decade.

What was Kirk's initial motivation for joining the course?

Kirk's initial motivation for joining the course was the opportunity to communicate with the people behind Data Transmission, a channel he has respected and followed for years, as well as to gain pointers and tips on how to better present his music.

What platform does Kirk primarily use for his music?

Kirk primarily uses SoundCloud for his music, as it has been his platform of choice for finding and streaming music.

How has the course impacted Kirk's music production?

The course has given Kirk more momentum in his music production, leading him to finish more tracks than ever before, both in the previous year and the current one.

What was Kirk's strategy for growing his audience on SoundCloud?

Kirk's strategy involved focusing on SoundCloud, using it as his main platform, and implementing value-driven and organic growth tactics such as download gates that required followers to engage with his content on other platforms as well.

How has Kirk's follower count on SoundCloud changed since starting the course?

Kirk's follower count on SoundCloud has grown from around 100 to close to 2100 since he started the course.

What is the significance of reposts on SoundCloud?

Reposts on SoundCloud are significant as they drive the reach of a track, indicating that more people are sharing and engaging with the music.

What is Kirk's view on the use of the 'promote' button on SoundCloud?

Kirk believes that while the 'promote' button can get plays, it may not necessarily lead to real engagement or traction, as it might be pushing the music to less active or spammy accounts.

How does Kirk differentiate between real engagement and artificial plays on SoundCloud?

Kirk differentiates by looking at the number of reposts and comments. A high number of plays without corresponding reposts or comments can indicate artificial plays.

What was the outcome of Kirk's last track on SoundCloud in terms of plays?

Kirk's last track on SoundCloud achieved 12,000 plays, which he considers amazing.

What advice would Kirk give to others considering taking a similar course?

Kirk would advise others to take the course if they can invest the time and money, as it has provided him with strategies to see a continuous increase in exposure and growth across various platforms.

Outlines

00:00

🎧 DJ Kirk's Journey and Motivation for Joining the Course

Kirk, a DJ and producer with over a decade of experience, introduces himself and shares his journey in music production and DJing. He joined the course in January 2021, motivated by his respect for the course creators and the opportunity to gain insights into the music industry. Kirk's main goal was to learn how to better present his music to the right audience and to understand the strategies behind successful music promotion, including social media tactics.

05:00

📈 Building Momentum and Growing an Audience on SoundCloud

Kirk discusses the significant growth he has experienced since joining the course, particularly on SoundCloud. Initially having just a hundred followers, he has now grown his audience to nearly 2100, attributing this to increased engagement and activity on his page. He emphasizes the importance of organic growth and value-driven content, as well as the effectiveness of using SoundCloud's repost feature to expand reach. Kirk also mentions the challenges of distinguishing between real engagement and artificial boosts, highlighting the importance of genuine user interaction.

10:03

🔑 Strategies for Continuous Growth and Fan Engagement

In this paragraph, Kirk reflects on the strategies he has implemented to achieve continuous growth in his fan base across various platforms. He credits the course with providing him with the tools to steadily increase his exposure and mentions the importance of focusing on one platform at a time to ensure quality engagement. Kirk also talks about the benefits of using download gates to encourage followership and interaction, such as comments and reposts, which are key indicators of genuine interest in his music.

Keywords

💡Producer

A producer in the context of this video script refers to someone who creates and arranges music. The individual named Kirk has been producing music for a long time, indicating his role in the music industry. The script mentions Kirk's journey from DJing to music production, emphasizing the producer's importance in creating music content.

💡DJing

DJing is the act of playing recorded music for an audience, often involving mixing tracks to create a seamless flow of music. Kirk mentions that he got into DJing about 10 to 12 years ago before moving on to music production. DJing is a foundational skill that led to his current role as a music producer.

💡SoundCloud

SoundCloud is a digital platform for music streaming and distribution. It is highlighted in the script as Kirk's preferred platform for finding and streaming music. The script discusses how Kirk has grown his SoundCloud following and uses it as a primary channel for engaging with his audience and sharing his music.

💡Data Transmission

Data Transmission appears to be a music-related channel or brand that Kirk has followed and respected for years. It is implied that Data Transmission has influenced Kirk's music journey, and he joined a course associated with it to learn strategies for improving his music promotion and networking.

💡Course

The course mentioned in the script seems to be a learning opportunity focused on music promotion and industry insights. Kirk joined this course to gain knowledge on how to better present his music to the industry and to learn strategies for growing his audience and improving his online presence.

💡Momentum

Momentum, in this context, refers to the increasing pace or impact of Kirk's music production and release. After participating in the course, Kirk reports having gained more momentum, finishing more music than ever before, indicating a boost in his productivity and creative output.

💡Followers

Followers are individuals who choose to receive updates or content from a particular artist or account on social media platforms. The script discusses the growth of Kirk's followers on SoundCloud, which is a measure of his increasing popularity and audience engagement.

💡Demo

A demo, short for demonstration, is a sample of a musician's work used to showcase their talent to others, such as record labels or industry professionals. Kirk mentions learning how to better send demos as part of the course, highlighting the importance of presenting music professionally to gain recognition.

💡Social Media

Social media platforms are online channels used for social networking and content sharing. Kirk discusses using social media, particularly Instagram, as part of his strategy to grow his audience and increase his music's exposure, indicating the role of social media in modern music promotion.

💡Hype Edit

Hype Edit seems to be a tool or service mentioned in the script that can be used to promote music on platforms like SoundCloud. Kirk discusses the effectiveness of Hype Edit in gaining plays but also the importance of distinguishing between real engagement and artificial boosts in numbers.

💡Reposts

A repost on platforms like SoundCloud refers to when a user shares another user's track. Kirk notes that the number of reposts is a significant factor in a track's reach and popularity, as it indicates real engagement and interest from the community.

Highlights

Introduction of the DJ's real name as Kirk and his journey into DJing and music production over a decade ago.

Kirk's motivation for joining the course was to engage with the respected Data Transmission channel and gain insights on promoting music.

Kirk's experience with SoundCloud, starting with 100 followers and growing to nearly 2100 through strategic engagement.

The importance of SoundCloud as Kirk's primary platform for music discovery and streaming.

Kirk's strategy of focusing on one platform at a time, starting with SoundCloud, to build a strong foundation of followers.

The impact of the course on Kirk's music production momentum, leading to the completion of more tracks than ever before.

Kirk's use of download gates on SoundCloud to increase engagement and followers across platforms.

The organic growth of Kirk's SoundCloud following and the value of real engagement versus hype.

The significance of reposts on SoundCloud as a driver for reach and engagement.

Kirk's observation of the difference between real engagement and automated plays, and the importance of genuine interaction.

The role of comments as a metric for gauging the authenticity of engagement on SoundCloud.

Kirk's experience with Hype Edit and its evolution to a more user-friendly tool for track promotion.

The importance of a steady growth strategy in social media and music platforms rather than sporadic increases.

Kirk's recommendation of the course for producers looking to learn strategies for continuous growth and exposure.

The value of the course in providing actionable strategies that can be applied to various platforms for growth.

Kirk's personal growth and the steady increase in his fan base across multiple platforms as a result of the course.

Transcripts

right for those that don't know who you

are can you just introduce yourself tell

us about yourself and yeah go for it

yeah sure um so wait for me that's

that's my producer name my DJ name um my

actual name is Kirk been producing for a

pretty long time um I first got into

DJing probably 10 11 maybe 12 years ago

and then after that started producing

started trying to make music probably

like a year or two after I started DJing

then you joined me in the January 2021

do you remember the motivation for

joining us on the course yeah I mean I I

think the my big the biggest motivation

honestly of I'll just be frank about it

was like I've been using data

transmission like your SoundCloud pages

and been engaging and taking in music

from you all for years like just ever

since when did you guys start when did

like data transmission officially start

200

we're 15 in February yeah oh that's

right yeah so like I can imagine when I

got into got to Dan diry and those like

I was I was you know stumbling upon

stuff coming from data transmission

right and so just for like so long I

just used and gotten so many so much

great music and so much great content

from you all I was like whoa like an

opportunity to talk to the guy and you

know kind of communicate with a guy who

runs this Channel that I have a huge

amount of respect for that was like my

initial motivation and then I was like

oh okay but also I'll get all these like

great pointers and tips out of it so

like yeah I think the main thing too

like that was the main reason why I was

initially interested right and then out

of it to really kind of gaining some

perspective on how to how to better send

demos how to basically put your best

foot forward after you've spent all this

time making the song right now it's like

getting it in front of eyeballs and ears

and that sort of stuff so yeah and then

everything that comes with it too you

know all all the strategies and social

media and stuff but yeah the main thing

was just like I had always just uh you

guys had given me so much over a

lifetime of like listening to music I

was like let me get in here and actually

meet these people I think that would be

really

cool oh that's cool oh that's cool oh

that's cool D all the listen there's

tons of stuff that I got from the course

but my main goal or my main driver was

just like hey can I meet with these data

transmission people once a week for you

know a couple months here that was the

coolest part to me oh that's cool I

didn't realize that soon as we started

the course what have you got out of it

what what have you implemented what have

you been using what has kind of really

helped you yeah um I mean I think the

biggest thing has been I I've I've I've

garnered like a ton so much more

momentum um I know you guys don't

necessarily directly like help with the

production aspect for but for some

reason you know after going through

through and and getting that sort of

stuff and maybe it's it's a it's a it's

a it's a result um from seeing a lot

more activity on the music that I'm

making and that I'm releasing perhaps

that provides a lot more inspiration for

me to keep going for me to make music so

last year I finished more music than

I've ever finished um this year I'm

already like I think last year so last

year I finished I think between like 25

and 30 tracks already this year I've

already finished 20 like I'm just just

on an absolute tear so like the momentum

I've been able to get from that and then

two like I mean the biggest thing you

can see it right on my SoundCloud too

when I started with you I think I had

like a hundred followers on Soundcloud

and I know it's not like the best

platform out there but for me I for me

it's really important to me uh I I like

SoundCloud a lot because it's always

been my kind of platform that I've used

to find music and to stream music and so

I've gone from like a 100 followers I

think on that when I started with you to

now I'm close to 2100 right so now I

actually have like daily activity on

that and also like producers reaching

out to me on there sending music

downloading music making connections all

that sort of stuff because of that and

so yeah I mean there there's been plenty

of stuff I've gotten from Instagram I'm

still lagging behind on like other

social media things but I'm somebody who

works really well on focus and so when I

started with uh with blueprint I I I

kind of basically set it my goal I was

like let me I want to focus on one

platform really getting that going and

that was SoundCloud for me again for

Better or For Worse you know because

soundcloud's not the top platform when

it comes to streaming but I said I just

want to kind of give this my attention

and my focus and now looking looking at

it it's just like yeah I got a ton of

activity from it and now from like the

different things that I've learned I'm

gaining followers through Instagram and

through Spotify and through other

platforms because of like the strategy

on Soundcloud it's slow moving but it's

it's it's it's more organic it's more

like value driven right I have my

download Gates where somebody if

somebody wants to download a track oh go

follow me on Spotify follow me on

Soundcloud write a comment that sort of

stuff so yeah I think probably I need to

get like the Instagram content game up

but again that's just like that's going

to be that's going to take another

alignment of focus you know maybe after

a couple months of really just doing my

thing on Soundcloud let's say maybe when

I get to 200 followers I can say okay

let me um Let me let me go and just

focus on Instagram for the next six

months that sort of stuff that's cool

yeah Ian that last that last track got

12,000 play what's that that that last

track got 12 it's at 12,000 plays which

is amazing yeah no again it's like that

that stuff is just it um that's

happening now you know because I got you

know close to 2100 followers on this

there right back when it was you know

100 or even 500 you know I would post a

track and you'd be lucky to get like 100

or 200 plays but now because I'm just I

have so much more activity on the page

and things are happening you know the

music just gets pushed out to so many

more people you know you put a track

like that out which you don't expect to

get much from it activity wise and then

sometimes something just pops off you

know cuz the right person maybe maybe

the right person finds it they repost it

and they have 50,000 followers right and

then all of a sudden all you know 20% of

those 50,000 are now listening to your

to your music so yeah the biggest thing

and that's what I wanted to really

Target was just kind of like my

SoundCloud because that's always been

that's always been my platform ever

since I yeah me too I I Love SoundCloud

I love it it's even though buy and funky

and it has its it has its great Parts it

has its not so great Parts I still love

it it's just it's it's just it's where

everything makes sense

yeah I was looking I was looking at that

I was looking at that I was looking at

that track whilst we were listening to

that that last track SE said it said 324

reposts and I was looking through the

repost and there wasn't it's all really

like track PE just you can see it's real

people it's real people that got like

100 100 followers 80 followers 50

followers and because of that massive

repost it's just got those thousands of

players which is what which is what you

have to do with SoundCloud which is

amazing which is show as it works yeah

that's the name of the game and yeah I'm

glad that there's actual profile

pictures and you know a couple blue

check marks people it's like okay these

aren't just you know hey nothing against

hype edit right because hyp edit is a a

super powerful tool um and and used

properly it's it's been able to get me a

lot of where I am on Soundcloud but

sometimes that promote button that you

can use on there I've just I just

haven't necessarily seen TR you get you

get traction you get plays you get that

sort of stuff but you know when you look

at the profiles that are coming in I

know I I imagine you know hyp hype it

isn't doing anything mischievous or

whatever right um but I think the way it

gets pushed out might be just to a lot

of kind of you know not Super Active

accounts or kind of just like spammy

accounts that sort of stuff so yeah but

you know that it is you know when it is

good to see when you look into that

activity and be like oh that's a real

person you know versus oh it's just a

you know how what does SoundCloud do

they just put like the first the name

the U if you don't have a profile

picture they just put like the first

letter of your name and then like a

color in the back if you see a lot of

those you're like it doesn't look like

getting actual real engagement from this

you know yeah and the the one is also is

when you get loads of you get loads of

plays but there isn't there isn't

reposts or there isn't there isn't

repost because the repost is really the

driver of anything like the more repost

you get the more reach you get so if you

youve got loads of players but no repost

and there's definitely a gauge of like

are they real are they not are they

exactly yeah when you've got when you've

got you know hundreds of repost that's

that's what's that's what's pushing the

track which is amazing yeah comments

have to come too and you know but the

thing is too like you know with comments

you can set up that as a download gate

right I can't I can't quite remember the

but I mean I I I was I think the the the

major point I'm trying to make is if you

have 50,000 plays and only two comments

it's pretty obvious what's going on yeah

do you know also people don't put the

comments on when they're using hyped it

and and I always think the comments

having the comments pay for the premium

yeah you get all the little you get all

the little squares along the wave and if

you when you go when I'm when you're

scrolling down at SoundCloud and you see

a track and it's got all the little

people's faces on the on the wave

especially when it says free download

you're like all those people have

comment is that means all those people

have free download have downloaded

it yeah

yeah through the Hoops to make it happen

you and sometimes it can be like I've

downloaded hundreds of tracks thousands

off and sometimes there's I mean they

hyped edits made it a lot better it's a

lot of like one click and it's done now

but I remember back in the day when they

were first still figuring things out and

sometimes people would set up like a

multiple multiple step gate and there

would be times where like I'm on like

the four step and I'm like better be

after this step because I'm getting

freaking

annoyed follow me on Facebook Instagram

and it's like now it's a lot easier you

know like they they make it more of a

one two step but yeah but it means like

if somebody goes through that they're

they're jumping through the Hoops

they're they're taking a couple minutes

to to to get through those hoops and to

get to that track so it's like for me

that's actual engagement you know and

that means my track is in the iTunes or

it's in the tractor or in their um

record box whatever it is uh if you

could stop up working with us and of

course and would you recommend just

others yeah I mean I definitely yeah if

you can if you can put in the time and

and the uh the investment dollar is

definitely do it because I think the

biggest thing is you know if you've been

producer for a couple years you're

you're definitely putting a tremendous

amount of time and effort into making

your music right and it's just like you

spend days months tweaking adjusting

making songs doing the best you can to

be creative and then for you to just

like take that

hand it to a label that's not really

going to do anything for you and get

close to zero activity via social or

Spotify or whatever it just it just does

like a total disservice to yourself with

your course I was just again there was

it wasn't every single piece I took and

I was like boom let's go and you know I

blew up on social media but it was just

a few different pieces that I was able

to take and grow my fan base within a

few different platforms and I'm still

growing that fan base and and now I see

steady growth too it's not like I get

like little spurts you know which which

used to happen where it was like I would

get 100 plays here two follows there or

whatever it is it's like every day I'm

going into my platforms and i' I've

gained this and I've gained that it's

like it's just a steady slope of things

going up right so yeah if if you want to

just really learn uh you know some

strategy on on how to get uh to that

point where you're just seeing

continuous increase in in your exposure

and in your growth that's where you're

going to be able to do it and you can

take any piece that you want whether

whether that's Instagram whether that's

SoundCloud Spotify Facebook whatever

whatever piece you want to be able to

grow in you know that's that's one thing

I was able to to get from the course

yeah Wicked