Long-lasting high intent digital advertising, because the results shouldn't stop when we do. We've generated hundreds of millions of streams using direct ads, and we can help you tap into this amazing source of new listeners.
Forbid Media (forbidmedia.com) has 11 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 3.5 out of 5.
Also known as
forbidmedia.com
Website
forbidmedia.com
Category
Video & Sound
Listed on Five Star Index
2026
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Most recent review: November 2024.
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Transparent, knowledgeable, experienced, and also patient with my constant barrage of elementary questions. They're willing to go a little extra and answer general, and even more specific, questions about digital marketing, the music business in general, and Spotify.
Response from Forbid MediaJul 29, 2024
Thanks for choosing Forbid Media!
CO
Consumer
Thanks
The team, including Frank, at Forbid did a great job with my track. I was running at around 127 monthly listeners before I started with them and am now up over 4k.
Communication is great and they show proven results.
The only thing I would like, is more detailed breakdown of where costs are associated and more transparency around costings.
Thanks
Response from Forbid MediaJul 29, 2024
Thank you for choosing Forbid Media! Since your review we have introduced a new campaign dashboard with more information on cost, demographics, and more. Happy to share an example with you, just send us an email at [email protected].
Thanks again,
Wes
AM
Alex M.
Bad results and not transparent
We spent $6000 with Forbid Media. The deal is that they keep half and manage your FB ads with the other half. Here were the results:
26,010 Total Visits
19,992 Unique Users
11,620 Clicks to Service
That means we paid about 50 cents to get someone to click into our Spotify. Andrew shows on his Youtube that they get 20 cent conversion costs or so -- it would have stretched our money a lot further to just run ads ourselves.
The thing that I really don't like about the Forbid Media experience though is that they don't show you the ads that they create for you, only the results. We still have no idea how we were being represented on the internet and that is really concerning. There's also no insight we received into what worked and what didn't work in the ads. We've run our own ads (that were honestly just awful -- random clips with our song) and the performance was way way better (no A/B testing or anything at all).
Also -- they don't tailor the ad targeting to where you want results or anything. Most of our money went to Mexico even though we're NYC-based. That's... ok, streams are streams, but not having any controls over that is weird.
I understand "maybe your song just sucked and that's why the performance was mid" so feel free to be the judge (Rearrange by Hairpin) -- it has performed well on a lot of playlists despite. I also think that if you pay for ads to be created they should be able to get good performance anyways.
In any case -- the money just doesn't work favorably because the cut they take is just way too high. If you feel confident in your track you're better off putting your audio over your logo on an Instagram post and then boosting it.
Response from Forbid MediaJul 29, 2024
Hey Alex,
Thanks for your feedback. We value your input and want to clarify a few points to ensure there's no misunderstanding:
Commission and Cost: Our commission is not half of the total budget, we applied 60% of your budget to ad spend as agreed. Your cost per conversion was 27 cents USD.
Campaign Variability: Andrew showcases many different campaigns on YouTube, but we have never guaranteed the exact same results for all songs and campaigns; that would be impossible. Each campaign performs differently, and there is always a certain amount of risk involved when marketing your music.
Comprehensive Service: Our service is all-inclusive, covering ad creation, launch, optimization, reporting, and more.
Targeting Control: You have absolute control over your targeting. We have no records of you requesting any specific targeting, so we did what we believed was best for the campaign. If you had specific regions or demographics in mind, we would have been more than happy to accommodate those requests.
Ad Visuals: We have no records of any requests for ad visuals, which are easily shared when asked for. We launch all of our campaigns with different visuals using different parts of the song and targeting different audiences. Most campaigns will launch with at least 8 unique ads to maximize reach and effectiveness.
Transparent Pricing and Artist-First Approach: At Forbid Media, we take pride in our transparent pricing and artist-first approach. Our goal is to ensure you have full visibility and control over your campaigns. This is why Andrew reached out to you directly to address any concerns.
Budget Distribution: We understand your frustration regarding the distribution of your budget. If your primary target was NYC, we could have optimized the campaign accordingly had we known your preference.
We aim to provide the best service possible and appreciate your input to help us improve. We hope this clarifies our approach and addresses your concerns. I have sent you an email to continue this conversation, and would love to run this experience into a much more positive one.
Thank you for choosing Forbid Media.
Sincerely,
Wes