How weeknd gained attention on youtube in his really early days?

kwonjz

New member
Recently I'm struggling to gain some subscribers and view on my youtube channel for free beats, but I realized it's not that easy..

I mean, even when I hang out on youtube, like when I search some things, always videos with high views(at least 10k) pop up. So I don't see any ways videos with very low views like mine can be seen by many people..

However, I was always intrigued by the story how weeknd got success on youtube, but now it makes me wondered..

Here's the story according to research I've done: He uploaded 3 songs including "What you need" on youtube at December 2010, and 3 months later, Pitchfork(music magazine) reposted the songs and 2 weeks later Drake reposted it.

But here's what I'm wondering.

He didn't have any subscribers at all before he posted the videos, no one knew who he was back then, and titles of the songs or description of the video don't include any keyworks that might help just random audience find it. But how the heck did his videos draw attention? As far as I know, Pitchfork don't even take demos from unknown artists...


What do you guys think? Has anyone here witnessed the process back then?
 
Dont know about Weekend, but youtube wasnt THAT big back in 2010 generally. You didnt have 10000 covers of the same song which all had millions of views.

So it was pretty easy to get noticed by others back then, especially if your output was on a top-tier level. Also, i think that Weekend already had some connections to Drake beforehand.
 
There are two different types of products.

One where you have to sell it and promote it.
One where it sells and promotes itself.

His music sold itself, he did not need to much of anything because the work was extraordinary. Your music needs to be so deep, so talented, so unique and different to the point where it speaks for itself. Not many people can do that, only those who put in endless amount of hours and sacrifice. I know the answer you probably want to hear is "he performed into local venues, networked at clubs, advertised online, blogs, forums, repost for repost, etc etc". Do you think all that would've worked if his music was "okay"? You need to make a song (a beat in your case) where people can say "its a hit" and not just its "nice". His album before Trilogy which was titled "The Noise" was garbage, it was his struggle. But when he made "Echoes Of Silence", every comment during that time said "needs to be exposed, amazing talent, the next one up...". YOU need to make something that will get people to think that, then it will become easier for you, the struggle would be lost and birth will begin.
 
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