Independent synthwave artist Jay Diggs has 75,000 followers on Instagram thanks to his remixes of pop songs and pop culture. He joins The Business of Sound podcast to explain how he’s now leveraging that fandom to promote his debut album of original songs.
Do you ever hear a song and wonder what it would sound like in a different style? Maybe a gangsta rap version of “Livin’ on a Prayer?” Or “Tiny Dancer” as an extreme metal jam? How about an EDM spin on “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough?”
Jay Diggs (jaydiggs.com/) does this on a weekly basis, turning those ideas into real songs. Jay’s synth-heavy, funk-flexing versions of hits by Justin Bieber, Cardi B, the Ghostbusters and Pokemon theme songs, gets him tons of recognition and kudos from his online fandom AND from major hitmakers like DJ Khaled and Cardi B (!!!)
But he’s not just a remix master. After playing and producing music for other artists, Jay went on a journey to discover HIS sound. The result is his debut album, Jams, a synthwave record full of 80’s and 90’s R&B influences. He used his social media following to promote the album – gaining more than 300,000 listens in over 90 countries and accumulating over 35,000 monthly listeners so far.
Jay joins Decibel’s CEO, Jeromy Sonne, on The Business of Sound to discuss building a music career on social media, the ups and downs of being an independent musician, and what things like NFTs mean for the future of the music industry. Listen or watch the full episode here:
Listen to the episode on Spotify, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, or Stitcher.
You can learn more about Jay and buy his music on his website.
You can also follow him on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music.