We were lucky to catch up with Kevin Alexander recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Kevin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

Like a lot of people I found myself with a lot of free time during the pandemic. My kid’s schooling had shifted online, and as the reality of another year of learning by Chromebook hit, I decided I, too, would take classes online. I have an almost complete degree, and I figured knocking out an elective made sense. If my kids were doing it, I could too.

I enrolled in “Writing For Social Media.” At a minimum, I figured my extensive history of shitposting would serve me well. Our class was a great mix of quick assignments — sending a Twitter DM to my instructor is easily the best one I’ve ever received — with much more involved ones like building a WordPress blog from scratch, writing for SEO, etc.

So, my kids were learning via Zoom, and I was building a small body of written work.

At the same time, I missed talking about music I loved with people I hoped would love it, too. Most of the places I found were viper pits, and the last thing I was looking for was another place to fight online with strangers. I couldn’t find what I wanted, so I built it.

I wasn’t sure how successful it would be–or even how to measure that, really- but I could see the indie music writing space was thriving, so I took a gamble that there would be space under the tent for me as well.

Kevin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

It’s not hyperbole when I say that music saved my life. I was on the wrong path and going nowhere fast when I was lucky enough to fall in with a bunch of music nerds at school. I’d always listened to my parents’ records and the radio, but this was another level. It opened up another universe for me and exposed me to music I’d never have seen otherwise.

Back then, most music discovery came from hearing a song on the radio or a friend making a mixtape for you. Today, the music landscape is much more atomized, and finding a new favorite song can be tough. On Repeat Records’ core mission is to be a place to find new (or new to you) music and be a part of a community. It’s a place to find your new favorite song, whether from me or someone else.

On Repeat Records is for anyone tired of having their music choices made by an algorithm.

I also do PR work, press releases, social media blurbs, and anything else an artist may need. I have a good idea of what most listeners are looking for and can tailor those pieces accordingly.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I am someone who could be described as terminally online. If there’s a platform, odds are I’m on it in some fashion. That said, the best advice I ever received about growing an audience online was this: going all in on 1-2 platforms was far more effective than going halfway on a bunch of them. I tested a few out and let the data tell me which ones to double down on and which to avoid. In my case, Substack Notes and Threads have drawn the most traffic and business to my site.

I would advise anyone just starting to figure out where their target audience is online and to do some A/B testing to gauge responses/effectiveness. The data will soon tell you which direction to take.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

In the age of likes, follows, and shares, we’ve all been conditioned to think those vanity metrics are the barometer of success. We’ve also been conditioned to believe that growth will come quickly and that the money will magically roll in. Of course, the real world doesn’t operate that way, and success is often very incremental.

For a while, half of my mailing list consisted of people I lived with and my work email. Many writers quit right before things turn around, and I’m no exception. But if you believe in what you’re doing, It’s worth sticking out for a little bit longer. The lesson I needed to (re)learn is that tangible success takes time, and every rung on the ladder is a win to be celebrated.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thekevinalexander.substack.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_onrepeatrecords_/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinaalexander/
• Twitter: https://x.com/KevinAlexander

Image Credits

Profile pic/headshot credit: Grantland Alexander
Logo design: Jon Wilcox