Episode 103: Laura Kidd has been a fully independent artist for a long time – and her recent "Obey Robots" project managed to hit the UK albums chart at #14 (ahead of Artic Monkeys and Lewis Capaldi and just behind ABBA and Fleetwood Mac). It’s a hugely impressive achievement for a DIY/indie artist - so how did she do it? In this podcast she explains to Joe Sparrow how she used email, YouTube videos and Facebook ads to get chart success. She also talks about her deliberate choice to ignore fame, and how she instead looked to build a slow-burn, direct-to-fan “nano-community" that supports her work – and this is what she now considers “success.” Laura also explains why someone who is not concerned with the traditional concept of success decided to aim for chart success, how being completely DIY is a “terrifying” concept, how it can be hard to let go of the reins, and how she now considers herself a 'community artist’.It’s a fascinating conversation for anyone working in music marketing – and especially for DIY artists looking to cut through.

The Obey Robots project: https://shop.penfriend.rocks/collections/obey-robots

Laura's Penfriend YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/penfriendrocks

Music choice: Kid A by Radiohead

Most bananas snapped in one minute: https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/most-bananas-snapped-in-one-minute

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