Guide for Music Promotion in the Digital World
Have you been creating music that is screaming to be heard by the world but you aren’t sure how to get it out there to listeners ears? Making a name for yourself in the music industry has historically been a tough task; but in today’s digital world that has bred a culture for collaboration and sharing, there has never been an easier time to break into the headphones of music lovers. This is your guide for music promotion in the digital world. Music has always brought people together and made the world a better place. If you want to make your music impact and reach people with those sweet sounds you create, all you need to do is follow some steps and follow through with consistent effort. It’s a journey that you and your fans will take together while you unleash the rhythm inside you and show people the melody of your heart. Through social media engagement, running updates with your subscribers through email marketing, and finally meeting them in the real world at local venues, you can gain your audience and change the world through music without ever having to deal with some stingy record label executive.
Social Media Playground: Social media has become a playground for music artists to show off their musical talents and engage with their fans in fun and inspiring ways. It is also a great way to release snippets of your newest music to get people hyped about a new release. Using TikTok and Instagram/Facebook Reels, you can create mini music videos, content that showcases the process of creating your music, and fun and collaborative challenges that get your fans to interact with your music in their own way. Rapper Daniel Dax (Dax) may be one of the greatest examples of how to engage with fans and showcase his talent while accumulating a huge fan base using organic methods. One method he has used to create content has been to create videos of himself walking into the recording studio playing a character that may not be the typical image of a music artist and himself as the skeptical producer. But once the producer starts the track he unleashes into one of his newest songs as the producer starts to excitedly record this masterpiece. Another successful method has been to start off with a few lines of a song and then encouraging fans to lay down their own rhymes to finish off the song using the remix feature so that fans can share and collaborate with him. The result has fans doing the promotion for him and sharing the content all across social media with their friends and it just keeps growing and growing people’s awareness about his music. The main idea is to be able to show off your music in ways that will make people want to share the content with others and have their friends see the content and do the same, which will authenticate your music as something that is sought after. As you grow your following, people will look for your music on popular streaming apps such as YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, and SoundCloud. Make sure you have your best tracks available to stream and download so that your music is accessible and you can start to legitimize yourself to the world of music. Stay tuned for next week’s guide into music distribution as we will delve more into how to get your music on the best platforms.
Email Marketing: Email marketing is your avenue to directly address your fans and keep them up to date with everything that is going on with your music. This is your opportunity to cut through the chaotic atmosphere of social media and have a regular conversation with the people that follow your music. Your first step in this process is to build an email list of people that are interested in your music. You can do this by:
Having an embedded email sign-up on your website that people can see as soon as they visit the site.
Offering incentives to sign up for your email list by offering a free music download, discounted merchandise, or access to exclusive content.
When you are performing at a venue, have a sign-up sheet so people can stay informed of your next gig.
Include call-to-action buttons on your social media pages that invite people to sign up for your email list.
Create a contest over social media that will have people enter their emails so they can be selected as the winner.
Once you have compiled a good email list you need to choose an email marketing platform that will help you send out the emails in mass. These tools can also help you build attractive and engaging multimedia emails that include videos and images. Popular email platforms include:
Mailchimp
Constant Contact
HubSpot
MailerLite
FanBridge
Once you have those in order you can start emailing your fans about upcoming tracks and albums that are about to be released, shows that you will be playing at, and even marketing your own merchandise you may have for sale. It is also smart to have automatic emails set up for when people first sign up as a welcome. You can also encourage your fans to invite their friends to sign up by offering incentives. Make sure that you have built an attractive template for your emails so that you can quickly swap out photos and videos and create new emails. It is important to consistently send out emails on a regular basis so you can keep people engaged and informed of all your activity.
Local Venues: The best way to get yourself booked at local venues is to develop relationships with the people running the place. Start attending shows at a venue you are interested in performing at and get to know the people working there and figure out who are the people in charge. Another good practice is to have other artists or bands that would create a whole bill for a show that you could present to the venue owners. While attending shows at a venue you are interested in, you might see some acts that may complement your style well. You always want to make sure that the other acts blend well with your music so you can attract the same kind of fans that will enjoy seeing everyone play. Once you’ve developed good relationships with the venue and some other acts that you could play with, make your best offer to the people in charge of hiring the talent. Have some of your best music available for them to check out so you can prove that you are a worthwhile act that will make their customers happy they came. Once you find a place that will hire you for a gig, make sure you are prepared to put on a great show. Promote your gig on your social media channels and email lists so you can bring in as many people as possible. This will also be an opportunity for you to make new fans, so be ready to engage and promote yourself while you are at the venue. Make sure to:
Show up on time and properly prepared to play the show.
Have a sign up sheet for your email list so you can continue to build your subscriber list, and don’t forget to offer incentives to sign up.
Offer merchandise and insignia that promotes your social media pages.
Hang out after the show and engage with the crowd, have some fun with them, so you can show your fans that you’re genuine and someone they can relate with.
If you put on a great show, the word will travel and you will find it easier to book the next gig. Live performance is the ultimate way to show your fans that you are the real deal. It also brings your music to more people and gets your name out there so the people that are looking out for talent can see what you are all about.
References
https://pirate.com/en/blog/how-to-promote-music-social-media/
https://www.constantcontact.com/blog/email-marketing-for-musicians/
https://www.iconcollective.edu/email-marketing-for-musicians-tips