You can make the best music but if it’s not well marketed; your efforts might be wasted. Sure marketing is not everyone’s forte and trying to do too much too soon can do more damage than good.
Popular opinion says you have to be on every channel – Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter you name it.
But spreading yourself too thin is a disaster waiting to happen.
Instead of working too hard, try to work smarter. In this short post, I will take you through the 5 effective ways to promote your music online and they are as follows:
- Music Blogs
- Email Subscription List
- Soundcloud
- Your own website
- Facebook Groups
Music Blogs
If you have a song or an EP that you’re planning to release, a music blog should be your starting point.
Music blogs are audience-targeted meaning you will connect with like-minded people (fellow artists and music fans).
Say you intend to submit your music to Slikouronlife, you are guaranteed to benefit from their huge traffic and brand name.
But on condition that:
- Your music gets accepted
- The Music resonates with prospective fans and enthusiasts
That’s the kind of value you get from high-traffic blogs. And you get to enjoy those kinds of benefits without paying for the service.
Email Subscription List
I’ve noticed that most artists tend to neglect email subscription. Similar to a music blog, an email subscription list works better for music promotion.
But you have to do it right though. Before I go any further, Let me first explain what an email subscription is.
An email subscription list is a group of contacts in the form of emails.
In your case, your email list can comprise of the following:
- Radio compilers
- Labels
- Managers
- Promoters
- Artists
- Producers
- Musicians (Keyboardists, Guitarists, etc)
- Music Bloggers
The more emails you have the better.
But how do you build an email list?
Well, there are several ways to do it. But I would recommend the following:
- Contact anyone you might think of and request to add them to your email list
- Run a Facebook Ad campaign and offer a lead magnet (Free download or merchandise in exchange for their email)
- Create your own website (I will explain this shortly) and add an email subscription option
Soundcloud
You should upload as many tracks as possible on SoundCloud (released and unreleased).
Don’t fret about perfection at this stage instead just concentrate on making sure that your music gets traction.
Even if you get negative comments (or rather constructive criticism) about your music, at least you will know what you should work on or change.
Your own website
Creating your own website might not make sense to you right now, but long-term it will pay off.
When you build your own site, it is similar to creating an asset. There’s so much room to scale by owning a website.
You control what comes in and what goes out. Instead of encouraging people to visit third-party websites to download your music, you can direct visitors to your website.
There’s a catch though. You would still need the services of third-party websites in order to have your music available on your site.
But at least people will be familiar with your website and they will start there when looking for your music.
Facebook Groups
Facebook groups are online communities and are highly targeted. But don’t be a spammer.
Try to familiarize yourself with the group rules first before you post anything about yourself or music. When your invite gets approved, scroll the group so you can get an idea of the type of content posted.
As soon as you are comfortable and settled, you can introduce yourself to the group by adding some info and a link to your music.
But like I said, don’t do too much too soon. Post your music once in a while.
The type of groups you choose should also be determined by the goals that you have in mind.
Final Thoughts
Marketing and promoting music should not be approached blindly. You can focus on submitting your music to various music blogs for months.
When you succeed then you can proceed to social media and build your Fan pages, so forth.
But do one thing at a time before moving on to the next channel.
It’s better to be effective at one or two channels than to be mediocre at 15 different channels. That will take you nowhere.
Having said that, there’s no one size fits all just stick to what works for you.
How do you promote your music online? I would love to get your suggestions and insights, comment below.