Today's guest is Lucidious, a hip-hop artist originally from Virginia now living in Los Angeles. I’ve covered him in the book and on the website quite a bit. He has an interesting story from the business perspective. He has over 500,000 monthly listeners on Spotify without any official playlist inclusion, label, or manager. This translates to more than $20,000 per month from streaming revenue.

I brought him onto the show so we could go deeper into his story. We talk about digital marketing and all aspects of his business. We talk about his family. We discuss mental health because a lot of his fans connect with him on a deep level due to their own struggles with mental health. This was a very enriching and inspiring conversation for me to have, and I think you’ll get a lot out of this as well.

Ari's Take Academy: Streaming & Instagram Growth with Lucidious (use code NMB for 10% off): https://aristakeacademy.teachable.com/p/streaming-instagram-growth

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Quick links:

4:10 - About Lucidious

11:39 - What inspired Lucidious to write lyrics? What was the beginning of the journey like? 

17:50 - When did Lucidious begin rapping?

25:48 - How much say Lucidious has in his productions because of his diverse musical tastes

34:46 - What are the marketplaces artists can purchase cleared tracks? 

38:03 - Was Lucidious' first album officially released or just through SoundCloud? How the Lucidious name came to be

54:15 - Gaining popularity through video ad campaigns

1:02:00 - When does Lucidious decide to point the ad campaigns directly to Spotify?

1:04:50 - Messages that Lucidious receives and how he helps those who are struggling

1:15:40 - Where Lucidious draws the line when responding to fans

1:21:47 - Advice for artists who are receiving dark messages from fans - and how to emotionally protect themselves

1:28:47 - Lucidious heading out on his first headline tour

1:42:48 - How Lucidious defines making it in the new music business

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Connect with Ari Herstand:

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Connect with Lucidious:

Website: https://www.lucidiousmusic.com/

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0S8NV7XoWi7arXWSRqI3dS?si=JOwNzVHkT_2m1xkGZsx1LQ

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCA0jmO32RNZBXHXvb34yBrg

SoundCloud:

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