How Sunday Scaries market their songs on YouTube

If you have been scrolling on YouTube Shorts lately, you might have met with this trending video format:

Someone sneakily films their roommate/brother/neighbour playing around on electronic turntables in an unusual setting - on the bed, next to a BBQ set etc. The caption humorously suggests that this unsuspecting person is losing it/unemployed/just got dumped and has turned to DJing. The electronic song in the background drops right in the middle of the video. The comment on the video suggests that this is a spontaneous recording.

One of these Shorts went viral with 5.4 million views. That's 5,316,300 more views than the number of subscribers (83.7k) on the band's YouTube channel, and that's just one of the videos 'Sunday Scaries' has uploaded.

'Sunday Scaries' is an electronic music duo consisting of Will Ezell and Alex Hein, who initially met online and are now based in Los Angeles, California. In 2023 the band achieved significant milestones, from signing a record deal, to heading a tour, and garnering more than 50 million streams. Although little is known publicly about the duo, their ingenious online marketing strategies managed to get them millions of views on these short-form videos, translating to millions of listens for their songs. This is not just on YouTube either, 'Sunday Scaries' have managed to rack up millions of views on other video platforms such as TikTok and X, despite having a relatively modest following.

Their viral videos feature everyday scenarios presented in a bizarre context, and include a catchy part of the song the duo want to market. Viewers inevitably inquire about the song's name in the comments, and the band, or a fan, replies with the name.

Thanks to this brilliant marketing strategy, 'Sunday Scaries' now boast 1.9 million monthly listeners on Spotify alone, along with millions of views on other platforms. Check out this YouTube video, which has garnered 3.16 million views and 109,000 'likes' in the 11 days since it was posted on 25th April 2024: