2 MILLION Monthly Listeners With Facebook Ads feat. Jend

Summary

Electronic artist Jend describes a repeatable Meta Ads system for promoting music on Spotify. His main argument is that artists should build a consistent release-and-promotion process rather than depend entirely on social-media virality. He combines paid ads with organic content when practical, but considers ads more controllable and easier to systematize.

Playbook: Test, Learn, and Scale

• Keep a consistent release cycle. Make, release, and promote music regularly enough to learn from each campaign. Jend emphasizes making the process sustainable so promotion does not cause burnout.
• Test multiple creative variations. For a release, he typically tests 8–15 video creatives, sometimes as many as 25. The clips usually use the same song section with different visuals.
  • Use personal footage or stock video, such as club footage, outdoor scenes, or landscapes.
  • Put lyrics over the clip, then show the cover art and track title around the drop or drum entrance.
  • Start with the strongest vocal section or build toward the most energetic moment.
• Structure campaigns for comparison. Put one creative in each ad set, then duplicate the campaign to test a different audience interest. Jend tests one interest at a time to identify which audience performs best, rather than combining interests and obscuring the results.
  • In one example, ad sets were budgeted at about $5 per day each. Jend said he generally avoids going below $4.
  • Placements include Instagram Reels, Stories, and feed.
• Send traffic through a landing page. Ads link to a landing page that routes listeners directly to the track on Spotify. Jend has used ToneDen and was considering alternatives after experiencing tracking problems.
• Optimize for cost per result. Jend and host Andrew Southworth prioritize spend and cost per conversion or result over most secondary ad metrics. They also monitor the landing-page click-through rate from the page to Spotify.
• Front-load testing, then adjust. Jend says he often puts roughly one-third of a campaign budget into day one to test creatives and audiences quickly and generate early listener data. He then shifts spend toward better-performing combinations.
• Scale selectively. Don’t spend the same amount on every release. Reduce or stop spend on weak performers and reserve more budget for promising tracks. Andrew suggests a portfolio mindset: some releases will perform very well, some poorly, and most will fall between those extremes.
• Reduce paid spend once algorithmic momentum appears. Jend usually cuts ads after a song starts receiving meaningful algorithmic distribution, allowing Spotify’s recommendation systems to continue testing it. If a track is still performing strongly, he may keep a small budget—around $5 per day—running.

Metrics, Budgets, and Timelines

• Creative testing: Usually 8–15 creatives per release; occasionally up to 25.
• Ad-set budgets: About $5 per day per creative in the example. Jend said he generally uses at least $4 per day.
• Release budgets: Jend started with roughly $200–$300. He described $400–$1,000 as a useful testing range and said he now spends about $1,000–$4,000 on some tracks. Earlier releases were often in the €600–€1,000 range. Amounts vary with performance and circumstances.
• Reported campaign costs: A breakout track generated conversions at roughly 7–8 cents; another campaign was around 15 cents per conversion in tier-one markets. These are examples from his campaigns, not guaranteed benchmarks.
• Landing-page click-through rate: Jend said he generally sees about 70–85% of landing-page visitors continue to Spotify, with 80–85% as a desired range.
• Breakout track: Jend said one track generated approximately 11,000–16,000 streams in its first two days. It later reached around 100,000 streams per day at its peak, with most later growth attributed to Spotify Radio rather than a major editorial placement or viral social post.
• Campaign duration: For a typical release, he may stop most ads after roughly four weeks, then use Spotify Discovery Mode if available. Strong-performing tracks may remain on a small daily budget.
• Long-term payback: Jend said it took him around 2.5–3 years to earn enough to support himself from music; a collaborator reportedly broke even in about a year. Both emphasized that ad spend may not pay back in the first weeks or months.

Case Studies and Operating Lessons

• “In the Dark”: Jend said the track began with around €3,000–€4,000 in spend and performed strongly enough that he increased the budget. It initially grew more gradually, then gained substantial algorithmic reach several months later. He said it was not driven by a major editorial placement or a viral video.
• “Sun Is Dark”: A collaboration received roughly €4,000–€6,000 in initial spend, but the partners concluded after about a month that it was not performing well enough to justify continuing at the same level. They redirected the budget to future releases. The track continued to get some streams after the ad spend stopped.
• Geographic testing: Jend often targets lower-cost markets such as Brazil and Mexico to collect data more cheaply. He believes early listener data can help Spotify identify an audience and later recommend the music more broadly, including in higher-value markets. He framed this as his experience and belief, not a proven rule.
• Discovery Mode: Jend recommends using Discovery Mode when available, arguing that it can help songs gain Radio exposure. He and Andrew described it as involving a royalty trade-off—roughly a 30% reduction on eligible streams, as they characterized it—and acknowledged that artists may disagree with the arrangement.
• Rights and playlist ads: Get permission when using another artist’s music in an ad for a playlist. Jend recommends contacting independent artists directly; using major-label music without authorization carries legal and platform-policy risks.
• Promotion mix: Organic social posts can complement paid campaigns, but Jend cautions that relying only on frequent short-form videos can take substantial time and energy and may not produce predictable results. He sees paid ads as a more repeatable way to promote each release.

Presenters and Sources

• Andrew Southworth — host and music-marketing and advertising practitioner.
• Jend (also introduced as Nico) — electronic artist and guest; shared his Meta Ads and Spotify promotion experience.
• Examples also referenced Jend’s collaborators Paku and Nosy, as well as Andrew’s own campaign observations and agency clients.