Budget 7 minute read
When to raise or cut the promotion budget of a release
Budget follows evidence
Most independent releases get a fixed promotion budget decided before release day. A better approach is to commit a small amount to every release for the first days, then move the rest toward whichever track is responding.
Read the first week
Popularity appears about two days after release. By day five to seven you can see the shape: a release climbing faster than your previous ones at the same age is converting listeners into repeat plays, which is exactly what paid traffic needs to pay back.
When to raise it
Raise the budget when the track is ahead of your own catalog and at or above the middle of its genre for its age. Promotion works by adding listeners to something that already holds them; it rarely rescues a song that does not.
When to cut it
If after ten days a release sits in the bottom fifth of your catalog for its age and below the genre median, stop. Keep the money for the next release, or put it behind an older track that still grades well. Record a budget for each song so you can look back at which spend moved the score.