A Musicians Guide to Making It in 2026

If you're a musician trying to break through, you've probably heard the same things on repeat. Release more, invest more, post more on social media. And

although some of that's true, over the last couple of years, it's become very clear that there are only a handful of ways that artists can actually break through this noise. And with the amount of music that's uploaded to Spotify now,

it's like 150,000 tracks a day. You have

to break through the noise by having a real plan. So, in this video, I'm going

real plan. So, in this video, I'm going to talk about the three main ways that we're seeing artists break through. And

this isn't just based on my personal opinion. I've worked in the music

opinion. I've worked in the music industry for 10 plus years now. I've

owned Burstim music marketing agency for 8 years. And we see artists going

8 years. And we see artists going through the industry, going through their career day in and day out. And

there are very clear signs as to whether an artist is going to break, but also the point at which they are going to break. So, I'm going to talk you through

break. So, I'm going to talk you through that. And this video isn't going to be

that. And this video isn't going to be one of those ones that's highly edited and I'm reading from a teleprompter or anything. It's going to be a long one. I

anything. It's going to be a long one. I

want to walk through these exact things that help analysis break through. Talk

you through real life examples. Talk you

through how you can get to that point and make sure those moments happen for you. I think you'll be surprised with

you. I think you'll be surprised with some of these that I'm going to talk about because if you know anything about Burimo, as a music marketing agency, we specialize in digital marketing. So,

social media, streaming, everything online that gets an artist from zero to 100. And although a lot of that is going

100. And although a lot of that is going to help, some of the things I'm going to mention are very much outside of that.

So, make sure you listen to all of them because you never know which one's going to be the path for you. And one path, one route doesn't suit all. It's why

when we market artists, we can't just copy and paste the same formula. God, I

wish if we could, life would be easier.

But it's very much down to each artist, their skill set, their contacts, the deals that they're in, the budget that they're wanting to invest. It's endless.

So, if you are wanting to work with us and get help in growing your artist career, I'll put a contact form below and you just fill that in and I'll get back to you and we can talk about how we can get you to the next level. But,

let's begin. Let's talk about the ways that you can break as an artist. I'm

going to put this down to three main areas. There are many areas, but these

areas. There are many areas, but these are the three that I'm seeing at the moment and going into 2026 being the most important, being the ones that are making noise, that are making artists

get from those early stages all the way up to charting, selling out big venues.

And the first one, of course, is still going to be social media. I'm going to make notes as I go because it's so much easier to follow through. I'm one of those people that likes to write. So, if

you're the same, hopefully this will be useful. But yes, social media is

useful. But yes, social media is one of the main ways that artists are breaking through right now.

Obviously, this is something where I think artists think you need to be an influencer.

We're not actually seeing that anymore.

The artists that are becoming influencers are kind of getting stuck in that lane. They're really struggling to

that lane. They're really struggling to convert that audience into actual listeners. So there is no longer the

listeners. So there is no longer the need to be a social media influencer for the sake of getting more listeners, which if you're an artist listening to

this, which I hope you are. I don't know what else you'd be doing if you're watching this, I would be relieved. I'd

be over the moon because like this not meaning this absolute win. So yeah,

we're seeing artists that are potentially influencers first trying to release struggling or thinking that being an influencer will sell their music also struggling. The route that we're finding artists are absolutely

smashing on social and then pushing to the next level is having a unique content strategy. So having that USP,

content strategy. So having that USP, this is not something that needs to be crazy. Like the USP can be the music,

crazy. Like the USP can be the music, the USP can be the narrative of the track, but you need to have a USP. And

I've said USP so many times. It means

unique selling point. If you don't know what that is, but as an artist, you should already know this because your USP should be your music. It should be

your brand. It should be your style.

your brand. It should be your style.

Like you should already know what makes you different as an artist and if you don't go back to the drawing board like start everything from scratch all over again because if you don't know that

like even an agency like ours we work with artists on their brand development as well. So we'll take them from those

as well. So we'll take them from those early stages and help them find who they are as a person and their artistry and how we can bring that to life visually but they kind of have to know too. We

can't just pull it out of thin air. So

that USP has to be brought to life through social media because that is what gets those viral moments. And

what's funny is I've done videos before on how to go viral on Tik Tok and how to get these viral videos. And yes, that's important, but it's actually how you follow up from that viral moment. So

yes, you want to go viral, but it's actually the viral follow-up that's most important there. So really

great example of that is our artists Altega. If you check them out on

Altega. If you check them out on socials, they're consistently getting viral moments. However, the way that

viral moments. However, the way that they followed up from that is being consistent with that content strategy, which is then converting into streams. Another example is an artist we work with, I've spoken about him on the

channel before, called Isaac Butler. We

had a crazy viral video for him. It was

his dad reacting to him performing his track live. And instead of us just being

track live. And instead of us just being like, "Cool, viral moment. let's tell

everyone we got a viral video. We were

like, how can we capitalize on that?

That piece of content and the ads and pushing to DSPs led to huge momentum for him. He signed to a management company

him. He signed to a management company now. He's got a booking agent. He's

now. He's got a booking agent. He's

being offered loads of DRO and label deals. And that was one of his

deals. And that was one of his breakthrough moments, but he followed up on it. It's not just viral moment after

on it. It's not just viral moment after viral moment after viral moment. The

final thing I want to talk about is community building. So community

community building. So community building is kind of not looked at enough. I can't multitask. So let me

enough. I can't multitask. So let me finish writing that. Community building.

So community building obviously that's what social media is for. Social media

is for connecting with your fans with the potential fans. But most people use it for those viral moments. Yes, those

viral moments are important. But the

follow-up is also this community building. Cuz if you can't build that

building. Cuz if you can't build that community, you do not have fans. You

have likes, you have views. They're

pointless. Cuz community is how you get a platinum record. It's how you sell out arenas. It's how you actually make an

arenas. It's how you actually make an income from this because the community are the ones that invest in you. So if

you have likes and views, they're not going to invest in you. So community

building, the best way to community build isn't with these big videos. So

the reals and and the feed post and all this. It's with DMs, replying to

this. It's with DMs, replying to comments, stories, talking to them as if they are human beings and not numbers.

It's the way that you are going to be able to use social media to make this a career and to sustain it. All in all, social media still is one of the key ways that artists are getting discovered

and it's it's going to continue to be the case in 2026, 2027, 2028. Social

media is not going anywhere. Yes, new

things are going to come in, new platforms, but those new platforms are going to be different ways to communicate with fans, different ways to engage a new audience. Next one. This

one is like the polar opposite and is something that it sounds like it's the end goal, but actually for a lot of artists, it's how

we're seeing them go from nothing to very known and it's live.

I think a lot of you watching this are going to be like, well, how the hell am I meant to get live if I haven't got any audience yet?

I've got a few examples of artists we've worked with where live has been the thing that has broken them. So, when I'm talking about live, I'm obviously not talking about arena tours because if you're not that known yet, you're not

going to break through by doing an arena tour. You're going to be playing to like

tour. You're going to be playing to like your mom and your nan. What we're seeing is artists getting support slots, artists doing local small school tours

or pub tours or whatever it is, but building an audience live is mental for how engaged they are. So, obviously,

like I said, not arenas, but if we're looking at school tours, we're looking at support slots

and we're looking for very focused small tours. The reason it needs to be

small tours. The reason it needs to be focused is because if you are focusing on one small, say you've got the UK, I mean take this as any country, USA, whatever, but say you've got the UK. If

you focus on a very small area, so you focus on up north and you look at like Newcastle and those kind of areas, if you go hard touring in those areas, you're going to become so known there.

The word of mouth is going to be insane, which means that it's impossible for people to ignore you. If you come the biggest artist in your town, then your

city, then that region, that county, wherever it is in America, that state, it's so much easier to get bigger and bigger and bigger. Plus, all of these

are building your live portfolio. This

makes all of this, the EPK, the live portfolio stuff is going to be insane.

A lot of artists wait until they are the next big thing to do any of this and then that means when they pay their first show it's dog If you can get

any of these, you're good to go. But it

sounds very easy, doesn't it? Let's talk

about how that happens. So this is very much who you know. This you make it happen. So, a lot easier, a little bit

happen. So, a lot easier, a little bit harder, but you just need one person on your side. One person that's supporting

your side. One person that's supporting you can make the world of difference.

How do you get that one person, you may ask? Yes. So, we've worked with a lot of

ask? Yes. So, we've worked with a lot of artists with their goal to be getting a booking agent. So, we've made the plan

booking agent. So, we've made the plan surrounding that. We've said, "Okay,

surrounding that. We've said, "Okay, booking agents here, you're here. What

do we do to fill in these gaps?" There

are a few things. one industry

credibility. So, let's just make a little subheading. A booking agent.

little subheading. A booking agent.

I mean, you can totally do some of this yourself. It's just very hard. A lot

yourself. It's just very hard. A lot

easier. Booking agent, you need credibility. How do you get credibility?

credibility. How do you get credibility?

Are the taste makers getting behind you?

So that's press, that's editors, uh DSPs, radio.

If anyone else can think of any taste makers, drop it in the comments. I

cannot remember any for the life of me.

But these are the main areas. You want

to get other taste makers supporting you so that when a booking agent looks you up, they're like, "Damn, that artist is really liked by the industry and people

I know really like them." Another thing, sorry it's socials again, but if you've got a load of press from, I don't know,

Wonderland Billboard Pitchfork Enemy like some really great press behind you and you've been put on some Spotify editorials, you're getting a few spot

plays on radio and industry people are starting to see you come up on their for you page and their feed and whatever. a

booking agent is a lot more likely to give you attention. So, how we do this is one, get our publicists to do press campaigns, two, work on content strategies that are likely to get pushed out because if it gets in front of the

right person, that's all it needs. And

then other industry credibility things like getting your streams up cuz you know that booking agents are going to look at that. But at the end of the day, they just want proof that you are likely

to get better in time with your live shows, that you're likely to build an audience. Like they trust that your

audience. Like they trust that your brand is solid enough to do that. And

they want someone that can work. Like

all of this, last one included as well, is proof to the industry and to fans that you're going to release consistently and you're an artist they can get behind. Because

actually I'm I'm talking about booking agent here, but I none of this actually includes a label. None of it means that you need to have a label, a dro deal, anything like that. Even management,

sometimes they help along the journey.

Like if you're selling out, like this small tour ends up getting like a lot bigger. A manager is probably going to

bigger. A manager is probably going to help with like organizing and admin. If

you're getting loads of brand deals from social, a manager is definitely going to help there. And then the final one when

help there. And then the final one when we get to that a label could help there.

But all of these are could maybe ifs.

All of like this stuff is yeah 100%. If

you can do this stuff you're going to get to the next level. Final one. This

one is a bit random. I think people are going to think like I think I've mentioned it before but maybe not a crazy amount.

collabs. So, you know how I mentioned here about support slots? Support slots

are like one a great way to show how talented you are as a musician because if you're actually talented, you can pay a sick show. You're kind of stealing someone's audience.

Same thing here. Like if you can get a collab with a big big artist, you are able to take their audience which makes like every step of the journey so much easier because you have

the foundations built by having a core audience from someone else. And when I say collabs, it can be a producer, it

can be another artist, it can be a rapper, it can be a content collab. So,

music and content collab.

A good example of a content collab is we work with an artist called Blakey who came to us with uh a budget for influencers. And I actually don't always

influencers. And I actually don't always recommend influencer marketing to artists. I think a lot of the time it's

artists. I think a lot of the time it's kind of throwing darts at a dart board with your eyes crossed after you spun around a million times. Like, you don't.

It's very hit or miss. And if you spent that money on ads, you probably would have got a more direct return. However,

in this situation, the track was quite Tik Tok friendly, you could call it.

Like it was super catchy. It had that chorus that you could see going viral on social. Uh we have some great influencer

social. Uh we have some great influencer contacts, but these influencer contacts are very music focused. We had a influencer who's basically an old lady

that like mixes in her kitchen. She like

plays with sauce pins and stuff. She did

a video using his track and it just blew up. We then used that as ads because

up. We then used that as ads because people recognize that influencer and from there the track did crazy numbers.

It did so well. Great example of like a a content collab. However, you can do this without it being paid quite often if you can add value to the creator.

Something unique, something like the idea, any way that you can add value that is increasing their views. And it

might be that you actually have this already, like you've got a decent social media following. So you can say to them,

media following. So you can say to them, I've got a good following, you've got a good following, let's make something happen. But one of the main ones is

happen. But one of the main ones is music. So if you can get a collab with

music. So if you can get a collab with an artist that has a decent music following, so fan base, listenership, whatever it is, that can be the thing

that gets you from zero to 100. The

collab is what can get you. The radio

play, the streams, especially if they've been on editorials before, the fans on social, it can be that stepping stone and just

like the support slots, it acts as a way to steal someone else's audience, but in a way that's like ethically okay. So, how

do you get to that point?

This is when labels can be useful.

Labels, managers, anyone that you're working with, distributors that have contacts with other artists are going to make this very, very easy to do.

Lawyers, honestly, anyone that you have a relationship with in the industry that can put you with another artist is going to be a gamecher. And we've done this for a few of our artists before. When

they say they're looking for a collab or if we know anyone, we put them with the right artists if we've worked with them for some time because we know them personally. We know that they're going

personally. We know that they're going to be great to work with. At the end of the day, we're a marketing agency. So,

we get artists heard. So, how do we get them to the position where they can get collabs? We put them in the position

collabs? We put them in the position where artists want to collab with them.

And the way you're going to do that is, I mean, all of this, the socials, sometimes a bit live if you can, but

streams. This is going to massively help you there. If you have streams that are

you there. If you have streams that are solid, if you have basically have something that people want, if you have streams, if you have a social following, if you can sell out crazy venues, people are going to want to collab with you.

So, these are the three ways that I'm seeing artists break through at the moment and will continue to break through moving forward. And the reason I'm so confident on the fact that especially these two are going to be the

main ways that artists are breaking through is because of this this huge AI hype. And I don't even think it's a

hype. And I don't even think it's a hype. It's going to be the new norm. If

hype. It's going to be the new norm. If

AI is how people people are consuming music that's made by AI and people are seeing AI content on social, people don't know what to trust anymore. People

don't know what's real, what's not.

They're lacking human interaction. So,

having live shows where they can see that artist up close. They can be in a room with hundreds of thousands of other people, even just hundreds if you're in these early stages.

having artists they know collaborating with another artist, they're immediately going to trust that artist. Building

trust and again even here community building like we're in this point now where people are craving

real human interaction. And if you can do that by playing live, by collabing with an artist they know and love, by creating content that feels real, or even engaging with them, like sending

them, this is one, this is like a tip that I actually haven't said in I don't know if I've ever said this, voice notes. Send voice notes to your fans. If

notes. Send voice notes to your fans. If

you can send them a voice note in response to their DMs, what for me, I find that so much quicker. If someone

DMs us on Instagram right now, I will most probably reply to you in a voice note cuz I find it so much quicker. That

is perfect for community building. Think

of those sort of things. That's what

people are lacking. Those are my three.

But what's interesting is I Yeah, I don't think it's labels. Even the last couple of years, I haven't seen it be labels. Like just because an artist has

labels. Like just because an artist has been signed doesn't mean they're going to break through because you should see the amount of artists that get signed now. it's such a huge amount that they

now. it's such a huge amount that they need to they kind of need proof that it's going to work one of these or they take a shot in the dark. They hope for the best. Don't invest a huge amount

the best. Don't invest a huge amount into them and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work. You don't want to be that

doesn't work. You don't want to be that artist. So, look at these three. Think

artist. So, look at these three. Think

about how you can get there. And if you want help with that, like I said in this video, we do this. It's our day job.

We've taken artists from nothing to something within months. So, if you want help with that, link in the description.

You can hit the link. You can fill in the form. I'll take a listen. We'll

the form. I'll take a listen. We'll

discuss what we can do together. In the

meantime, subscribe, hit the like button if you haven't already, and I'll see you in the next