I’m 56 and Using AI to Market My Music

I’ve spent 35 years in the music business, but I’m still learning how to market music in 2026.

Twenty years ago, promoting a record meant getting it played in clubs, building support through mixshows, connecting with radio programmers, and working with record labels.

Today, independent artists have access to tools we couldn’t have imagined back then. We can finish a song, upload it, and make it available around the world almost immediately.

That access is incredible.

But access doesn’t guarantee attention.

Putting a song on Spotify doesn’t mean people will find it, and streams alone aren’t a marketing strategy. Releasing the song is only the beginning. Artists also have to understand content, advertising, audience data, social media, and how to build a direct relationship with listeners.

How I’m Marketing “I Surrender”

With my new song, “I Surrender,” I’ve been approaching the release as both an artist and a student.

I’m running Meta ads, studying my Spotify data, testing different videos, comparing audiences, exploring different countries, and paying attention to which hooks make people stop and listen.

I’m also using AI to help me analyze the results.

AI helps me organize the information, identify patterns in my advertising, compare different approaches, and better understand what may or may not be working. It gives me another perspective before I decide what to test next.

But I still make the decisions.

AI Didn’t Write the Song

I think this distinction is important.

AI didn’t write “I Surrender.”

It didn’t replace the singer, the producers, or the creative process behind the record. The music still came from human experiences, emotions, collaboration, and creative decisions.

I’m using AI after the song is released—to help me understand how people are responding to it.

For me, AI is a marketing and analysis tool. It doesn’t replace my experience. It helps me apply that experience to a music business that operates very differently today.

A Veteran and a Student

After 35 years, I still bring everything I learned from radio, record labels, clubs, remixing, producing, and performing.

But I’m also willing to admit that I don’t know everything about marketing music today.

At 56, I’m a veteran and a student at the same time.

The tools have changed. Instead of waiting for requests at a club or feedback from radio programmers, I’m looking at watch time, click-through rates, audience retention, streams, saves, and geographic data.

But the basic instinct feels familiar.

I’m watching the data on “I Surrender” the same way I’ve always watched the dance floor.

It’s still about paying attention to how people respond—and being willing to adjust when something isn’t connecting.

That may be the biggest lesson I’m learning in this chapter of my career:

Experience still matters, but only if you’re willing to use it with new tools.

Listen to “I Surrender” and join my email list for new music, behind-the-scenes updates, exclusive content, and opportunities to win free tickets at www.djriddler.com.