Integrating promotion into the creative process as an artist

Executive overview

Most artists treat promotion as separate from their art — something uncomfortable to hand off or ignore. The problem: without a unified vision, neither side works. Promotion done right is an extension of the art itself.

Treating marketing as another creative instrument — not a commercial — is what builds lasting audience connection.

The moment artists have to take ownership

• Early in a career, it's easy to offload business to a manager and just make art.
• When that structure falls apart, most artists have no compass for the business side.
• Writing a clear vision statement — "why am I doing this?" — is what makes both the art and the business coherent.
• John Mark McMillan's vision: curate transcendent moments where people can have a conversation with God about their place in the world.
• Having a vision means every decision — creative or strategic — has a filter.

Why music is hard to market using conventional product logic

• Most products sell by solving a clear problem; a song's value is internal and emotional.
• Music functions as a way people practice not being alone — it signals identity and connection.
• When people share a song online, they're not recommending it; they're saying "this is who I am."
• Artists are meaning-makers: they help people articulate feelings they couldn't express themselves.

Writing with the door shut, promoting with it open

• In the early writing phase, ignore the audience — not to exclude them, but to serve them better.
• The audience wants to believe the artist has something important to say, not that they're engineering what people want.
• If a song matters to the artist, there's a reasonable chance it matters to someone like them.
• Once the work is done, shift modes: ask why it matters to the audience and who it matters to.
• Stephen King's framing applies: first draft with the door shut, second draft with the door open.

Attention vs. connection

• Getting attention is necessary but not sufficient — a viral moment is just a slightly bigger brick, not the wall.
• Many artists make commercials for themselves; nobody goes online looking for something to buy.
• The goal is to create connection that makes people carry the music through their lives — to weddings, funerals, important moments.
• In a streaming world, one listen means nothing; you need thousands of plays over years.

Making social media an instrument, not an afterthought

• Treat every post as part of a larger story the album is telling, not a promotional announcement.
• Vulnerability works better than impressiveness — sharing a genuine, slightly embarrassing moment drew hundreds of comments from people with similar experiences.
• Music playing in a carousel background ties the social story directly to the album itself.
• The question to ask: how is this marketing an extension of the art?

Control vs. surrender in writing

• Songs written purely for an audience tend to be controlled and don't resonate.
• McMillan's most-loved songs came from a period of personal loss — no car, no job, no relationship — when he wrote only for himself.
• Surrender in the early stages (letting the song tell you what it is) produces work that connects at a subconscious level.
• There's a later phase where some control is needed to frame and finish the work, but the best songs begin in mystery.

The amateur-to-pro shift in relating to an audience

• Early discomfort with fans is rooted in insecurity and the feeling that they've mistaken you for someone you're not.
• Over time, it becomes clear that fans aren't elevating the artist — they're expressing that the work mattered to them.
• Being amateur is making it about yourself; going pro means recognising it's about the shared connection.
• The artist's role when someone says thank you is simply: "I see you."