- Hey Mike
- Posts
- Music lives forever
Music lives forever
How Craig David is promoting music that is +25 years old
Mike Epstein
February 06, 2025
Hi,
While so much of the music industry and its marketing efforts are centered around trying to break new artists and new music, it’s easy to forget that you can still promote older music.
The beauty of music in the streaming age is that it lives forever - there’s no expiration date, it doesn’t suddenly just disappear (unless it comes down from streaming platforms). Over the past year, I’ve watched Craig David do an incredible job using modern marketing & content opportunities to promote his older music. I thought it’d be worth taking a look at another awesome example of nostalgia marketing.
This newsletter highlights:
Artist Marketing Workshop hosted by myself and Drew De Leon
Nostalgia marketing with Craig David
Resources for those affected by the California wildfires
10 music industry job roles
Let’s dive in ⬇️
Sign up for the Artist Marketing Playbook 2025 on 2/16
Are you an artist, manager, or someone looking to learn more about music marketing?
We made this for you…I’m partnering up with my good friend and music industry colleague Drew De Leon, The Digilogue, and Grouped to present the Artist Marketing Playbook 2025.
The 3 hour workshop is not only an educational resource (it covers single + album rollout best practices, social media optimization, strategies for building your career, & more) but is also for a good cause - 15% of proceeds will be donated to MusiCares to support those affected by the LA fires and will be matched by Grouped.
Drew & I have a combined more than 15 years of music marketing experience and have worked with artists like Rod Wave, Lil Durk, That Mexican OT, T-Pain, & more. We’re excited to connect with everyone and share our knowledge.
One of the things I’m most excited about in the workshop is how we build an artist from scratch and show you the playbook of marketing them. From streaming platform strategy, social media best practices, & more, it’s all there.
Looking forward to seeing you there.
I’m going to age myself by making this reference (it only makes sense after recently celebrating my birthday last week lol) so bring it on…
Craig David is an R&B singer who gained a ton of fame and popularity in the early 2000s with his UK garage inspired style. Some of his notable claim to fame hits were: “7 Days”, “Fill Me In”, “Rendezvous”, “Walking Away”, & more.
While I was a teenager growing up, Craig David was one of the biggest artists in the world. His music was innovative, catchy, and appealing to a wide audience.
Fast forward 25 years later and he’s still promoting the same music! Haha. It’s a fantastic example of nostalgia marketing and how to never stop calling attention to music you love.
1) Acoustic performances
The pre-promotion campaign began in 2022 with an acoustic performance of one of his biggest hits “7 Days”.
Dubbed the Nova Red Rom sessions, the acoustic performance was actually used to promote a new album called “22” at the time. It’s smart marketing, using one of his biggest songs as the top of his funnel to re-engage his audience, capture their attention, and use that attention to promote new music deeper in the funnel.
2) Impromptu acapella performances
Craig David turned 2024 into a full nostalgia campaign, promoting his older catalog in different ways throughout the year. Most of it was through short form content, almost in the same way that a new artist would promote a recent song.
He started introducing acapella performances of older music on his Instagram to re-promote them - for example, this one while on vacation -
The short form performances were an easy and low lift way (because they were shot on his phone) to create content around the song and promote them.
3) Anniversary celebrations
Craig David used the 24 year anniversary as of “7 Days” as an opportunity for a quick short form acapella performance of the song.
The post went viral, generating 15 million views and 776,000 likes. It received tons of engagement from other artists and fans and became another moment in the song’s history. Anniversary posts like this are a great way to call attention to an existing release.
4) Appearing on new platforms
Not one to use just his own platforms to promote his music, Craig David and his team did a great job at leveraging modern popular platforms to reach new and younger audiences.
For example, he performed “Fill Me In” on Noochie Music’s “Front Porch Freestyle” series.
He also appeared on DJ Ag Online’s stream to promote his music to a new audience.
5) Live performances
Always one to engage with his fans, Craig David continued the momentum with live performances.
last fall he did a live performance of “7 Days” at St. Pancras station in London to a crowd of fans and onlookers.
The post exploded with over +200,000 likes and serving as another viral moment to promote the song.
Not one to keep his promotion to just London, Craig David took his nostalgia marketing overseas and started dropping acapella performances of his songs in different locations on tour. This one was shot in front of the Eiffel Tower while in France.
He also used tour recap videos / live footage as another opportunity to promote the song on socials.
6) The results
The results were profound - he gained 200,000 Instagram followers over the course of 2024 and had weeks where he gained +10,000 at a time from viral posts.
His TikTok gained +300,000 followers in 2024 and his Spotify followers are up almost 7% for 2024 as a whole.
The campaign is an incredible example of the idea that music lives forever - 25 years later and Craig David is showing how to breathe new life into older music using modern day marketing tactics and strategy.
It’s a playbook any artist can point to when looking to engage their fans and continue promoting older music, no matter how long ago it was released.
Thanks for reading, until next time.
California wildfire resources
1) Therapists offering Pro Bono Therapy sessions: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uAMVz8TQMzShQeuEA6kmOP0jyRN7qe1Iiqb6JOLTPqg/edit?gid=303232729#gid=303232729
2) A list of +200 folks in the music industry who need help, along with their names, GoFundMe links, and contact information: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jyJ-NM2qP-iRk1LJ8l3dc7e0M3IhHlo3E7Agvo9JOAQ/edit?gid=0#gid=0
3) GoodRX is offering free telehealth visits with code "LA-GOODRX-CARE": https://www.goodrx.com/care
4) AirBnB and 211LA partnered up to offer free temporary housing: https://care.211cs.org/public-survey/86c5adf88e2a29c103df24ba5f48cd3f6cf9a9171207a15954dbb8b9649429f0
5) The MusiCares Foundation is offering assistance -
If you’ve been working in the music industry for 5+ years and need help, they are offering:
•$1,500 in financial assistance
•$500 in food vouchers
Contact information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone #: 1-800-687-4227
6) Music Spreadsheet - Includes artists, key titles, genres, UPC, GoFundMe links, official artist links, IG links, and some context of how each artist has been impacted.
Music industry job opportunities
1) Marketing Manager - Physical Presents
Salary: Unlisted
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Apply HERE
2) Label/Operations Day-to-Day Manager & Marketing Lead - Anonymous Artist-Owned Company
Salary: Unlisted
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Apply HERE
3) Digital Department Coordinator - Roc Nation
Salary: $52,000 USD - $65,000
Location: New York, NY
Apply HERE
4) Lead Live Event Video Engineer - Vital Show Solutions
Salary: Unlisted
Location: Dallas, TX
Apply HERE
5) Music Internships: LA - Summer 2025 - Warner Bros. Discovery
Salary - $19 Hourly
Location: Burbank, CA
Apply HERE
6) Director, Music Operations - Riot Games
Salary: $236,400 - $354,600
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Apply HERE
7) Localization Project Manager - Spotify
Salary: Unlisted
Location: Stockholm / London
Apply HERE
8) LN Media & Sponsorship || Technical Project Manager - Live Nation
Salary: $80,000 - $90,000
Location: Hollywood, CA
Apply HERE
9) Director of Partnerships - MassiveMusic
Salary: Unlisted
Location: Dubai
Apply HERE
10) Music Manager - Ned's Club Washington
Salary: $80,000
Location: Washington, DC
Apply HERE
What'd you think of this week's newsletter?Your feedback goes a long way. |
Reply