In partnership with

Learn AI in 5 minutes a day

This is the easiest way for a busy person wanting to learn AI in as little time as possible:

1. Sign up for The Rundown AI newsletter

2. They send you 5-minute email updates on the latest AI news and how to use it

3. You learn how to become 2x more productive by leveraging AI

Sign up to start learning.

A Tale of Two Horse Girls:

This dissection examines two artists with remarkably similar names but completely different marketing approaches:

1. Horsegirl - An indie guitar group from Chicago

2. horsegiirL - A fictional character creating hyperpop/gabber/hardcore music who performs as half-human, half-horse

What makes this comparison interesting is how these artists market themselves in completely opposite ways. Horsegirl represents sincere marketing, while horsegiirL embodies performance art with an absurdist approach.

The contrast between these two is pretty wild. It's perfect for seeing how different marketing styles work. Horsegirl keeps it real while horsegiirL goes full weird performance art.

Spotify Bios: Two Approaches to Storytelling

Both horse-named artists approach their Spotify bios using similar storytelling techniques but with completely different executions.

Horsegirl

Their bio demonstrates a sincere, literary approach typical of established indie artists. They are on Matador Records, one of the oldest, most respected indie labels of the past 30+ years. Their bio reflects the label's focus on music writers being a core influence for how their music gets heard through the entirety of their existence.

What they're doing is establishing on a meta-level why you should care about their story. The sincerity aligns perfectly with their overall marketing approach and tone. The bio also shows the group's progression with this being their second album, highlighting their work with producer Cate Le Bon and their artistic development.

horsegiirL

This is obviously silly, but it demonstrates something important about artist narratives. They're establishing a classic hero's journey - something I've mentioned before (TLDR Joseph Campbell if you're not familiar). It's a storytelling technique that works incredibly well for musicians and has been used countless times.

What they're doing with lines like "while she pursues her dreams of galloping over the world's biggest stages" is setting up where she's heading. "She never forgets her home" establishes she came from somewhere small and is going somewhere big. It's curiosity-inducing in a silly way but gets the job done effectively.

Contrasting Release Strategies

Looking at the basic numbers, Horsegirl (an indie group) has about 191,000 monthly listeners, while HorsegiirL (a hyper-pop artist) has around 700,000. Despite this difference, they're at similar career stages considering their respective genres—the ceiling is just naturally higher in dance than indie rock.

Examining their history shows different release patterns. Horsegirl hasn't released much music recently - their last full album was back in 2022, with only singles or EPs since then. Their development has been slower, with this new record coming out a full year after recording.

In contrast, horsegiirL has maintained consistent momentum by releasing numerous singles. "my barn my rules" marked their breakthrough moment, which coincided with fully embracing the horse-themed aesthetic. Their recent EP featuring tracks like "material hor$e" and "eat sleep slays" doubles down on this persona.

horsegiirL's consistency has driven steady growth, while Horsegirl has had a more traditional indie trajectory with longer gaps between releases.

I've actually followed Horsegirl for a while - partly because I'm married to a horse-girl (not half-horse, just really into horses). Ironically, I prefer the indie group over the hyperpop artist. Songs like "Switch Over" and "Anti-Glory" are sick, but my personal taste isn't what matters here.

Subscribe to Premium Subscription to read the rest.