Music Marketing Guide

Why is music marketing important?

You love doing music. You're creating songs that you love and would like to reach out to new people who might love it too. This article is exactly for you.

Promotion isn’t as fun as playing music, I think we all can agree. It needs time which you could be using to play or make more music. There is a business aspect to the music industry that can't be ignored or avoided, if you wish to be successful.

1. Have your music ready for distribution

It goes without saying, that promotion should start based on some great content. You don’t have to have a whole album ready, but one or two great tracks in an acceptable quality.

And even if you have your album ready, start your promotion with one single instead of the whole album. Music is a business and your music is a product. Pick something you can be really proud of and really push it with all your energy.

Create a story around yourself and your music

People are always interested in the people behind music and arts. What makes you unique? Good stories always have elements:

Characters people can relate to:

In your case, it’s you and your brand. You are a human like everyone else and you struggle with the same things as many of them.

The setting

Your location tells a lot about your situation and makes you closer to people from the same area. Use this advantage.

A plot

You're an independent musician who wants to spread his or her amazing music with as many people as possible.

A conflict

There are many other musicians who want to do the same. You are limited with time and money. And you might have some additional personal challenges which sometimes are worth sharing, too.

The resolution

You become rich and famous. Or not. Mostly, your musician story is ongoing, so this point is
less important. Keep your story in mind when talking to your audience and influencers. Share it via blogs and within your social media channels.

Know who your audience is and where they are.

No need to reach out to people one by one. When you know what type of people might be interested in your music, think where to find them all. Those can be online or offline spaces. Which sites and places do they visit? It depends on your type of music of course. Where to reach out to potential audiences?

Streaming platforms

YouTube channels with your music type, Facebook / Twitter groups and pages that that fit your style, Music Forums, Online radio shows that play your type of music, Other big websites, Concerts & Events: Go there to connect and network with people!

Distribute your songs via music streaming sites

There are tons of streaming platforms out there. Share your music on iTunes, Pandora, Deezer, Apple Music,
Google, Spotify (with their new Concert Tab), iHeart radio and Tidal. Put your music where people listen to it
already. Consider a profile on Bandcamp and Bandsintown to give your fans some background info about your music,
band, lyrics, and gigs. Bandcamp also allows your fans to give you more than your asking price for your album. That means... TIPS ALLOWED :)

Connect with Influencers

Influencers are people with many followers on social networking sites. Build a relationship with them. If you can get one of them to share your music, that can help jump start your career!
They are constantly reaching out to all those people you want to reach, too. Imagine an important influencer introducing you as the next best musician to be checked out. Wow. Also, they're experts in their field. Ask them for a feedback, offer your help or start a project together. Always think of what you can give them in return. Before you contact them, think it through and find the best way to approach them. They are professionals and earn money by being
what they are. So if you spam the influencer with your music or come across as rude, you won’t do it any good.
You might even want to check out fluence.io to find people that may help you.

Use the advantages of Digital Marketing

Use online advertising to reach out to new people. Run a paid advertisement campaign on Facebook. You can target people from a specific age group, geographical area or with specific interests. With only 20-50 dollars you can have thousands of people seeing your post. If people share this post, you’ll reach even more. What kind of content works well as a Facebook Ad? There are several opinions on that and not every type of content works all the time. Try these:
The faster a person can engage with your music, the better. Share a video of you playing the song or a professional music video. Record a personal message explaining the makings of the songs and your future plans. Include subtitles for
those watching without sound. Share a link to iTunes or SoundCloud. Support the link with some authentic picture or gif of yours.

Make a plan for your Social Media Music Marketing

Snapchat or Instagram stories: Give your fans some new and unique content. It could be behind the scenes of your rehearsals, studio time or even personal life. Instagram: update your fans on a regular basis. Post short videos of you playing or singing. Use the right hashtags – you can use up to 30. Facebook: Post photos, videos, and gifs. Join group discussions. Promote most relevant posts with Facebook Ads with 1-5 dollars per post. Create raffles and contests for your fans. Create a homepage or blog to bring together all your music content and story. Send newsletters to your subscribers to keep them up to date. Make sure you get the email of anyone who ever purchases anything from you and always send them ads threw your email. Once someone spends money with you they most likely will buy a lot of the things you try to sell them threw email marketing.

Use videos for your music marketing

People love videos, and social media sites do as well. Create some smartphone videos of you. Introduce the new album or recording, tour dates and music videos. Short videos up to 20 seconds work best. Include subtitles for watching on Facebook without sound. The star feature 2018 is live streaming. You can learn more about Social Media music marketing here. Did you know users have very short attention spans online? And that most people go online through smartphones & tablets? Consider that.

Don’t forget offline music marketing

Additionally to your online promotion, don’t forget to be present in your local area. Go outside, talk to people and connect with other musicians. And some further ideas: Put your stickers everywhere, Perform in locations your audience visits, Get your video on a (music) TV channel, Get your song on a local radio, Put Flyers & Records in local shops, maybe even a few street performance to really reach your local fans. You can organize concerts & invite people

So don't give up on your dream. Make some tweaks and get back out to doing the things that will help you be successful! Thank You for reading this article.

Check me out at
www.bandofthehawk.com
www.instagram.com/mickeybreeze83
www.youtube.com/bandofthehawktv