# It’s a playlist, not an album
  

## Welcome to the behind-the-scenes

This post is a collection of everything I did to create _This Digital Mess I
've Made._ Right beneath this text, you'll find individual links to each of
the song backgrounds. Below that, I go over the different marketing tactics I
tried out, as well as the origins of the idea.

## Song Commentaries

[Barnyard Rhapsody](https://yiction.com/barnyard-rhapsody/)

[Sweepstakes](https://yiction.com/sweepstakes/)

[Beach Psychosis](https://yiction.com/beach-psychosis/)

[Cancelling My Subscription](https://yiction.com/cancelling-my-subscription/)

[Glitch Sashimi](https://yiction.com/glitch-sashimi/)

[Mouse Party](https://yiction.com/mouse-party/)

[This Digital Mess I've Made](https://yiction.com/this-digital-mess-ive-made/)

## Mockup hype marketing

My friend [Bryce](https://twitter.com/Finding_Niemi) let me use his
placeit.net account for making mockups. I then used Affinity Designer (my
preferred photoshop knockoff) to put captions over the people wearing my album
covers on their shirts. They turned out really well in my opinion.

The comments are actually from real people. I texted some friends and asked
them which song they wanted to listen to, providing only the titles. I
specifically requested that they send me honest reactions to the music. In my
opinion, being open and honest about the quality of my music is a huge
benefit. Yes, it's not professional quality yet. But that's because I'm still
an amateur. Might as well be open about the process, right?

![](https://yiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/necessary-
cows-1024x1024.jpg) ![](https://yiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/real-
comments-slide-2-1024x1024.jpg) ![](https://yiction.com/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/digitalexplanation-slide3-real-1024x1024.jpg)
![](https://yiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/glitch-sashimi-
slide-4-1-1024x1024.jpg) ![](https://yiction.com/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/part5-albumdrop-1-1024x1024.jpg)
![](https://yiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/FINAL-
SLIDE-1-1024x1024.jpg)  

* * *

## Teaser video marketing

I love making self-aware-ironic videos like this. It gives me a chance to
experiment with the different features of Final Cut while injecting my sense
of humor into something that people might watch (and enjoy).

  

* * *

## Playlist

![this digital mess I've made playlist cover](https://yiction.com/wp-
content/uploads/2020/09/digital-playlist-cover-1024x1024.jpg)

I was going to create and use a mashup album cover like for the _This Digital
Mess I 've Made_ SONG. However, I thought the bitmoji fit that song too well
(and how often do you get the chance to put your strange bitmoji onto an album
cover?). So I ended up using this for the playlist cover instead.

I had the idea for "playlist as an album" on July 25, 2020:

> Spotify's main library section is playlists. Instead of releasing an album,
> artists should release each song as a single, aggregate them into a
> playlist, then promote the playlist like an album. Plus then you can do
> different cover art for each one (which is fun)
>
> — David Smith (@slimdaveyy) [July 26,
> 2020](https://twitter.com/slimdaveyy/status/1287228588798939137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Look, employers, I followed through on one of my ideas!