How Todd Snider built independence as a music artist with Digital Star
- $1M+in direct merchandise sales, from an audience he owns
- 118,000+subscribers Todd reaches directly
- 900%+return on the ad campaigns we managed
“For a long time I was just making songs, playing shows, and hoping the rest would work itself out. Digital Star helps me with the business side of things. Now I feel good about how the music lives in the world. I’ve got my own studio, shop, and label, and a way to share the music with the people who want it. And I get to do it my way.”
Todd Snider · Independent Artist
Todd Snider spent 30 years building a catalog and a loyal following. What he needed was a way to turn that into real independence. Digital Star became the operating system behind his business, supporting strategy, creative direction, web development, and direct-to-fan marketing so Todd could fully own how his work lived in the world.
Over more than a decade, Digital Star supported 24+ album releases, built 20+ custom websites and Shopify stores, and managed all advertising in-house. We developed the bundle strategy that turned free music into meaningful revenue, helped place three albums in the Top 50 charts, and built an owned audience of 118,000+ subscribers that drove over $1M in direct merchandise sales.
A business on his terms
When touring paused, free livestreams from The Purple Building exceeded $20,000 per episode in tips. For his 30th anniversary, Todd re-recorded his entire catalog and released it for free, pairing each drop with limited bundles that sold out in hours and generated hundreds of thousands in revenue. The result was a business that worked on his terms, on or off the road.
- 24+album releases supported
- 20+custom websites and Shopify stores
- 3albums in the Top 50 charts
A fanbase he owns
We worked with Aimless, Inc. on a long-term plan built on direct fan distribution. The music became the way new listeners found Todd, and the relationship with each fan lived in a system he owned and could track. Behind the scenes, we handled every step, from release plans to ad targeting and tuning.
Our approach
We rebuilt the digital setup, moving from scattered custom builds to one WordPress and Shopify system. Store inventory fed Google and Meta, which turned social platforms into direct sales channels. Email and messaging ran through Mailchimp and ManyChat, with an automated series that gave fans real value and earned their loyalty over time. For the 30th anniversary, Todd re-recorded his entire studio catalog at The Purple Building, and it went out free, one release a month, each paired with a limited bundle.
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