The 9-step guide to leaving Spotify
And why it's actually the best thing for your music career
Jul 17, 2025
Alrighty folks, this is going to be a longer one… so before I start, let me (briefly) introduce myself for any new readers…
* deep inhale *
My name is Michael Gilbride, I run a community-funded, artist-owned record label called MAD Records that takes 0% ownership of our artists’ music.
I am also a former corporate bond trader on Wall Street who quit in 2020 (fantastic timing) to become a solo artist.
I launched a solo music career with a project called “telco”, and spent a few years releasing and promoting my music while helping to build the online audio school, Mastering.com.
….and it was around the time I was filming myself lip-syncing my new single on some railroad tracks here in Nashville, TN, that I realized the entire artist thing was utterly f*cked… and so I shut down my music career, left Mastering.com, and started MAD Records instead.
It’s now my mission to help create the music industry that I wish existed when I was promoting my own music… so I spend most of my time working with artists and teaching them how to treat their music careers like a business.
* deep exhale…. I did that all in a single breath…. *
So today I want to talk about leaving Spotify (and the digital streaming platforms - henceforth called “THE DSP’S 🧌”) in general.
I have no idea who this person is.
This isn’t going to be a “Spotify bad” article… even though Spotify indeed bad.
This is an actual guide explaining why Spotify isn’t necessary (or arguably even beneficial) for building a meaningful, profitable artist career.
We’re all going to get to know each other through this extensive 9-step plan…. so buckle in.
Now - let me preface this by saying these aren’t really prescriptive steps, as much as foundational principles you need to understand in order to make this work, but more on that later.
Grab a cup of coffee (or tea for my British freaks)… and let’s get started.
The Spotify Trap
Imagine for a moment that you are Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify.
You’re popping some champagne on your sick yacht (probably), celebrating your new €600 million investment in…….. an AI military defense company?
Weird.
Anyways…
As the CEO of Spotify, you essentially have one goal:
To maximize daily active users (or “DAU’s” as the douche bags call them).
Since Spotify really has only two main revenue streams: subscriptions from paid customers, and ad revenue from their free services… it’s imperative that they maximize their DAU’s so they can sell (and retain) their paid subscribers, and also increase their ad revenue by generating a lot of traffic on their platform.
With me so far? Good.
Now, if your goal is to maximize DAU’s, then your entire marketing strategy revolves around pulling people off of your competitors and driving them to your platform, right?
Now, you’re probably thinking that Spotify’s competitors are Apple Music, TIDAL, etc… right?
Not really.
Spotify, like all digital platforms, is vying for your attention.
Which means that Spotify’s competitors are more than just the other DSP’s 🧌, they’re also competing with Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and anything else you stare at on the toilet instead of listening to the new Justin Bieber album.
So if you’re Daniel Ek… your goal is to maximize DAU’s by finding a CHEAP marketing strategy that pull folks off of your competitors and drives them to your platform, right?
Now, step out of Daniel Ek’s Nike Air Force 1 ‘07 shoes (yes I googled what shoes he wears), and step back into whatever dingy pair of crap shoes you own (kind of joking).
I want you to think about how many artists (maybe even yourself) you’ve seen who are promoting their music on Instagram, TikTok, etc… BEGGING people to go to Spotify to stream their music.
Many of you (including myself) may have even paid for Facebook/Instagram ads that attempt to pull folks off social media and send them to Spotify, right?
Interesting right?
Artists are literally fighting each other to do exactly what Spotify wants for free… and in many cases…. they’re paying out of pocket to do it.
By doing this, Spotify has essentially outsourced its marketing costs to the artists… and as a thank you, they pay them $0.003/stream and add a “1” to their stream count for delivering them a DAU.
You have to admit, it’s pretty savvy right?
Now, we can argue about the morality of all of this… but again, that’s not the purpose of this article.
I simply want you to understand Spotify (and the major DSP’s 🧌) incentives… since that is the first step to replacing them.
Take a sip of coffee, we’re only just starting…
The Hidden War For Data
So before we talk about how to leave Spotify (and the DSP’s 🧌), we need to peel one more layer off this grotesque onion to truly understand their incentives.
We already established the battle for attention taking place between the DSP’s 🧌 and the social media platforms, right?
But the true battle isn’t simply for your attention, it’s for your data.
Apparently this is what data looks like.
Any good businessperson knows that if you truly want to monetize anything, you need to be able to reach your audience directly.
According to SalesForce, it taks 6-8 touchpoint with someone before they're willing to make a purchase… which means that simply interacting with someone once… isn’t enough.
This is why data collection is so effing important.
By collecting your data (email, phone number, etc), these businesses are able to reach you over and over again, establishing their 6-8 touchpoints and eventually monetizing that data by selling you something (a subscription, a product, an advertisement, etc).
Let me illustrate this with an example.
Let’s say you want to buy a pair of……. Nike Air Force 1’s (after you saw a major music/military mogul looking fresh in a similar pair in a magazine).
So you scan the Nike QR code in the magazine, and you’re brought to their online store (how nifty).
Immediately, you are met with a pop-up that offers you 10% off your purchase in exchange for your email.
No brainer, right? You enter your email.
After shopping around for a few minutes, you come to your senses and realize that $130 is too much for slave-labor shoes… and you leave the website and start watching Love Island instead.
You hear an alert on your computer:
It’s an email from Nike:
“Hey [FIRST NAME]…. you left some items in your cart…. this limited edition style is selling out quick!”
You ignore it and return to your reality trash.
Your computer alerts again:
“OMG…. these Air Force 1’s are sooooooooooo lonely without you…. don’t you want to come hang out with them…… 🥺 - Nike”
Frustrated, you close your laptop and head downstairs for a snack.
Your phone buzzes.
“You’d look SOOOOOO HOT in these Air Force 1’s…… we’re waiting for you [FIRST NAME]……. check out by clicking HERE. ❤️ Nike”
You glance over at your crap-ass pair of Sketchers in the corner and think to yourself…. “I really would look hot in some new shoes”….
Before you have a chance to think, you click the link in the email where your cart is already saved, and you checkout with one double click on your Apple Pay.
You pour some cereal and head back to bed to watch 12 island weirdo’s kiss each other on the mouth.
~~~~
Now… you laugh, but this is actually how it works.
Maybe it’s less FLIRTATIOUS…. but this repeated interaction is the key to monetizing digital attention.
(OMG my wifi just died at the coffee shop and when I signed back in, they literally offered me 10% off to sign up for their newsletter. Good for them….)
So for Spotify, the DSP’s 🧌 , and any online business to actually monetize…. they need to collect data.
This is very important.
Now… let’s talk about why understanding this can help you leave the DSP’s 🧌 forever.
Why Streams Are Worthless
Alrighty… the waitress just refilled my coffee for a 14th time…. so I’m finally waking up.
By now you should be starting have a pretty clear picture of how the DSP’s 🧌 make money, and what your role in that process is.
But you should’ve also realized something.
In the war for data… you probably noticed that no one is sharing that data with you.
Instagram/Facebook/Meta/WHATEVER doesn’t share the data on who clicked your ad promoting your new single, right?
And Spotify doesn’t share the data on who is streaming your music, right?
Why is that? You were a good little artist….
Well, the reason they don’t share the data is because if they DID…
… you could build your own music career without them.
Think about it… right now when you send someone to Spotify to stream your music, you have no idea who they actually are.
Even if they love your music… there’s no way to contact them about future releases, shows you’re playing, merch, etc… unless of course you pay for more ads.
So for the price of $.003/stream, you’re forfeiting the ability to actually build a database of fans that you can actually monetize over the course of your music career.
Imagine if, instead of sending everyone to Spotify, you sent them to your email list instead….. like Nike!
Let’s say you collect 500 emails over a few months time, and you decide you’re going to play a live show and tickets cost $20.
Even if only 2.5% of your mailing list actually buys a ticket (12.5 people….. one of them is only 3 feet tall)…. that means you’d generate $250, or the equivalent of 83,000 streams….. without paying a dime for ads.
And better yet, you’re building a direct relationship with your fans instead of intermediating everything through the DSP’s.
Now imagine growing that mailing list to 1,000 fans…. 10,000 fans…. or…… dare I say it?……. 100,000 fans!
Instead of aimlessly releasing music into the ether, you’d be able to actually build on your successes, and create a direct pipeline to communicate and monetize your fanbase… for the cost of an email provider.
And this isn’t hyperbolic… it’s exactly how I built MAD Records and pay my mortgage every month.
While everyone else is chasing virality and vanity metrics by spending sh**loads of money on ads, playlist promotion, etc…
You should be building a direct-to-fan strategy.
And now…. I’m going to tell you exactly how to do that:
What actually is a funnel?
You’ve probably heard countless marketing bros (I refuse to admit that I’m one of them) talk about bUiLDinG YoUR FuNNEl…… right?
But what does that actually mean?
Well, I’ll save you the $9,999 online marketing course and explain it quickly right now.
Essentially, a funnel is a fun way of describing exactly the marketing process I outlined earlier.
It’s a way of creating awareness with a potential customer, and then building trust with that person until they’re willing to actually make a purchase.
As we already discussed, it takes repeated interactions with someone before they’re willing to make a purchase (or take a desired action).
Well, it’s the same in the digital space.
You need to create a moment of awareness, collect their information, and then build a relationship with that person before asking them actually purchase something.
That process is called funneling, and a good funnel consists of four main parts:
Top-Of-Funnel: TOFU
The Opt-In
Middle-Of-Funnel: MOFU
Bottom-Of-Funnel: BOFU
Each part of the funnel serves a different role, and by the time they reach the BOFU, that person should be ready and willing to actually purchase something from you (tickets, merch, a vinyl, etc).
If you can create a functioning funnel, you won’t need the DSP’s 🧌 at all…. or at the very least, you’ll be able to objectively measure how useful they are in building your music career.
So… let’s build your funnel.
More coffee please.
Step One: TOFU
Holy moly, this is a long article… if you’re still reading please comment a 🧌 so I know that someone actually made it this far.
ALRIGHTYYYYYY, let’s start at the top.
Your top-of-funnel (or TOFU) strategy is designed to do one thing: create a moment of awareness.
We’re not interested in selling anything (yet)… we simply want to get people to notice us (how sad?).
So a good top-of-funnel strategy is anything that puts you (and your music) in front of a new audience and creates a moment of awareness.
This can be:
Playing covers at a local bar
Busking on the street
Creating content on social media
Handing out free band stickers at a coffee shop
Taping flyers to telephone polls
Again, we’re just trying to create a moment of awareness.
To use our previous Air Force 1 shoe example, seeing Daniel Ek wearing them in a magazine would technically be that initial “moment of awareness”.
If you look around, you’ll see plenty of TOFU strategies at work….
Billboards, business cards…. THESE GUYS:
Again, everyone is vying for attention, and a good top-of-funnel strategy simply focuses on capturing your attention.
Deciding on a top-of-funnel strategy depends entirely on your particular set of skills and strengths.
If your core strength is live performance… then maybe your TOFU strategy is busking in a popular area or relentlessly touring.
If you’re good at making content, then maybe social media is your preferred TOFU strategy.
There is no right answer; it all depends on what will best capture the audience’s attention. Anyone who tells you that has to look a specific way is usually just selling a course teaching you that method.
Developing a good TOFU strategy takes time, a lot of testing, and repeated failure.
If you’re going to attempt it, be ready to fail.
Let’s move on.
Step Two: The Opt-In
Now, if you’ve been taking notes… you remember that attention isn’t the endgame.
We want the data.
So a good top of funnel strategy must be followed with an opt-in.
(Simply put, an opt-in is when someone shares their information with you and agrees to let you continue marketing to them.)
In our Nike example, the opt-in was the 10% off pop-up that asked for your email address, but opt-ins can also look like:
A sign up sheet at a free concert
A free vocal lesson that is booked via email
A free month at the local gym if you create an account
A free tax consultation when you sign up for H&R Block
A young, brilliant, incredibly handsome writer asking you to subscribe to his Substack since this article is so helpful 👇
You’ll notice that usually there is something of value on the other side of the opt-in that is worth sharing your information for.
The purpose of the opt-in is to convert as many people as possible from your TOFU strategy into your internal database, so you can continue building your relationship with them.
The percentage of people who opt-in from your TOFU strategy is called your opt-in rate, and this can vary depending on how compelling whatever it is you’re offering is.
Again, this requires critical thinking, an objective analysis of what you can offer of value, a lot of testing, and more failure.
If you’re starting to feel overwhelmed, don’t worry. This is all WAY easier than it sounds. For now, just focus on understanding the concepts.
We can focus on implementing below and in future articles (now that you’re subscribed…………. you’re subscribed right?)
Step Three: MOFU
I’m pretty sure something in my knee just tore literally from sitting down, WTF?
Ok moving on.
Once we’ve collected someone’s information, then the dance begins.
At this point, the goal is to build a relationship with that person…
In the Nike example, this was the excessive (and overtly sexual) emails reminding you how badly you wanted that pair of shoes…
But in reality, a good MOFU strategy is something that builds trust with your audience and establishes those 6-8 touchpoints we discussed earlier, using the contact info they shared in the opt-in.
A good MOFU strategy can be:
A weekly newsletter (like this)
Unreleased music, demos, and behind the scenes content
Testimonials from existing customers
A free concert for folks on your email list
A merch giveaway
You can get as creative as you’d like with your MOFU… you’re simply trying to build a relationship with your audience.
You’re still not asking for anything… you’re just building trust.
Again, if this seems like a lot… don’t worry about implementing. I’ll discuss this at the end.
For now, just learn the concepts.
Don’t make me say it again!!!
Step Four: BOFU
Ahhhh finally… we’ve reached the bottom of the funnel… where good things happen.
At this point, if done properly… you should’ve:
Created a moment of awareness with someone, captured their information, and established 6-8 touchpoints by providing value and building trust.
Finally, you can ask for something.
You can usually spot a BOFU if there is a CTA, or “call-to-action”.
In our Nike example, this was the final phone notification that said “check out by clicking here”, but a CTA can be anything like:
Sign up by clicking here
Join before this discount expires
Get tickets before they sell out
Order more cake before the Love Island finale you slob (a personalized ad for me)
If the rest of the funnel was implemented properly… a certain percentage of your audience will actually do the thing you’re asking them to.
This is called your conversion rate, and it’s usually super low.
But with practice, it won’t be 0.
There are a bunch of ways to improve conversion rate…. by creating urgency, scarcity, exclusivity… but the best way is improve conversion rate is to sell something people actually want.
But if you’ve actually built a relationship with your audience in your MOFU, then they should actually give a sh** about you, and your music.
Don’t give up on me yet, we’re almost there.
Step Nine: Implementation
My coffee is empty.
The waitress is clearly annoyed with me.
It’s almost time to leave.
But first, let’s address actually implementing what we’ve discussed.
You’re probably asking right now:
“Yeah man this is all lovely stuff about funnels… but where does MY MUSIC fit in to this whole process?”
And my answer to that, most unsatisfyingly, is “it depends”.
In the traditional DSP 🧌 model, “your music” sits at the bottom of your funnel. It’s basically “the product” you’re selling for $0.003/stream.
But your music can fit in anywhere in this funnel, depending on your strategy.
For example, instead of putting my music at the bottom of my funnel, let’s imagine I use it during my opt-in instead. For example:
“Sign up for my email list and get a private link to my new single for free.”
Now, I know.
“FREE MUSIC?! BUT I NEED TO MAKE A LIVI-”
Stay with me for a moment.
If giving away your music “for free” results in an opt-in rate of 25% at your live shows… and a measly 2.5% of the folks who opt-in buy a $20 ticket to your show…
That means for every 1000 people you get in front of:
250 people (25% opt in rate) opt-in to your mailing list.
6.25 people (2.5% sale rate) buy a $20 ticket.
That means you make $125 for every 250 people who opt in to your email list.
So in this case, you’re making $0.50 per person by giving away your music “for free”.
And while that may not sound like much, it’s the equivalent of each person streaming your song 166 times.
So in this case, “your music” is better monetized as part of your opt-in… and tickets are a better product for the bottom of your funnel.
Now I know, this may seem a little tricky at first.
You’ll notice that there isn’t a checklist you can print out… everything I’ve discussed is simply highlighting the underlying concepts behind the process.
And that is for a reason.
How you implement this process depends entirely on your unique circumstances, strengths, personality, values, and a whole lot more.
Some folks will feel comfortable building their TOFU strategy on TikTok…. some will despise that.
There is no cookie cutter approach, and again, anyone who says there is usually just sells a course that teaches that specific approach.
Implementation requires critical thinking, testing, and repeated failure, and unfortunately there is no way around that.
It’s the very reason why so many artists quit.
HOWEVER.
While I can’t teach you exactly how to implement this….
I can show you.
After a brief existential crisis, and a few long conversations with my wife, I’ve decided that I’m going to resurrect my artist project, “telco”.
And I’m going to rebuild it from scratch using this exact process… and document the entire thing.
I’m going to delete my old Spotify (and DSP 🧌 accounts), and build an artist career using non-traditional platforms like SubStack.
Every week, I’ll meet with the other artists on our label and share what I’ve learned, and I’ll record those meetings and send them to subscribers on our paid tier.
I’ll then donate all of my SubStack proceeds to the other artists on our community-funded label, MAD Records, to help build their careers.
I’ve taught this approach for years, but it’s easy to tell other people what to do.
So starting on August 1st, I’m going to put my money where my mouth is, and implement this in real time… documenting all of my successes (and inevitable failures).
And for the low, low, low price of $8/month, you can join me on the journey by becoming a paid subscriber for our Substack.
Again, 100% of Substack revenue will be used to fund 0% deals for artists signed to our label.
I’m simply here to teach and push myself to create some great art like I always dreamed of.
This journey starts on August 1st… and I’d love to have you along for the ride.
WAIT A SECOND! Has this whole thing just been one elaborate funnel….?
TOFU: “let me (briefly) introduce myself for any new readers…
Opt-In: “now that you’re subscribed…………. you’re subscribed right?”
MOFU: “We’re all going to get to know each other through this extensive 9-step plan….”
BOFU: “And for the low, low, low price of $8/month, you can join me on the journey by becoming a paid subscriber for our Substack.”
You see? The training has already begun.
Do you wish to continue?
Subscribe to the MAD Records Monologue for more.
🫡⚔️
