Here are some quick tips that can make a big difference in promoting and developing your music career 👇

1. Don’t try to fit into a box

An essential tip, especially today in the age of social networks and streaming platforms, when it’s becoming easier than ever to copy or imitate what you see and hear: don’t try to fit into a box!

Unique, truly original projects are becoming increasingly rare. Besides, diversity is the key if we want to continue to be creative and nurture a healthy music industry!

Don’t be afraid to explore your own influences and create a unique musical identity that sets you apart from others—because you are unique.

At first, it may be a little rough, but by trying things and searching, you will always eventually hit the target. And at that moment, you’ll thank yourself and others will thank you too, because you’ll have become a source of inspiration.

Working hard, being good at what you do, and being your own person… sounds like a recipe for success, doesn’t it?

2. Set realistic goals

Having clear and achievable objectives can help you stay focused and motivated. Whether it’s the number of posts per week you want to post on social networks, the number of concerts you want to do in the month/year, the number of playlists you want to contact for the release of your next song, the number of media outlets you want to contact, etc.

Focus on what you can control before focusing on your results. This will allow you to measure your progress and adjust your strategy based on what works and what doesn’t.

3. Think about a good social media strategy: 3 pillars

can start from this 3-pillar base to build a good social media strategy:

• content about you,
• content about your collaborators/features/label/entourage,
• and fun/less-promo content.

This diversification of content will give your followers an overview of who you are as an artist and your environment. Of course, you’re free to show what you want, the main point is just that your followers have some kind of connection with you. And that happens by way of the emotions that your content makes them feel.

You can also co-post on social networks with other artists, media outlets, venues, etc. This will allow you to expand your audience and maybe reach new people who might be interested in your music.

4. Avoid releasing songs at certain times

As an independent artist, there is no real rule. You won’t be threatened by the release of Taylor Swift’s album on the same day as you, no worries about that.

However, avoid releasing your tracks during saturated periods, such as holidays or major media events, where your music may be drowned out by other releases. People can be more or less in the mood to make new musical discoveries.

Also think about your style of music: maybe it doesn’t fit all times of the year or all seasons? Think of your listeners: who are they, what age and what gender? Try to determine the most favorable times for them. The statistics of streaming platforms and social networks will help you a lot on this point.

And finally, rest assured: the first day of release is very important, but the days after also count. All you have to do is do your best for D-Day, and then do everything you can to continue to make your music known as widely as possible.

5. Release your EPs or albums using the waterfall strategy

Rather than publishing all your songs at once, consider using the waterfall strategy. Publish a single first, followed by several others, then group them into an EP or album. This can keep your fans interested over a longer period of time, and bring it back to your previous singles with each new release. Need some more details on the waterfall strategy?👈

6. Participate in contests regularly

Musical contests offer a great opportunity to get noticed by industry professionals and gain visibility with a new audience. Look for local or online contests and events where you can showcase your talent.

| Consult the guide to the musical springboards of the moment

7. Set up a pre-download for each of your releases

Use pre-download features on streaming platforms to allow your fans to save your music before its official release. This can generate anticipation and boost the first release figures. It’s a good way to grab the attention of streaming platform algorithms!

8. Send your music to independent playlists

Playlists can be a great way to reach new listeners. You’ll probably want to aim for the biggest playlists, but be careful, it’s not necessarily the best strategy! Why? Because your chances of getting an answer are close to zero. However, many independent playlists want to support emerging musicians.

Little by little, the work your way up. One small playlist, then another, and yet another… until you have a snowball effect.

The advantage of independent playlists is that they usually have very targeted audiences. So if they choose to add your song, there is a good chance that their listeners will appreciate it.

Keep in mind that if people skip your song, it sends very bad signals to the algorithms. So try to get on playlists that really match your style.

And now all you have to do is identify the independent playlists that suit you and send them your music!

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Send your music to playlists of your choice 👇

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9. Share your press coverage on social networks to gain visibility and credibility

If your music is featured in media or blogs, be sure to share all of these articles on your social networks. This boosts your credibility as an artist and can grab the attention of new fans and music industry pros. Plus, it’s a way to thank these media outlets that put you in the spotlight.

10. Subscribe to the TikTok newsletter

TikTok has become a must-have platform for music promotion. Subscribe to their newsletter to stay up to date on trends, challenges, and collaboration opportunities that could help propel your music on the platform.plateforme.

Conclusion

By following these simple, yet effective tips, you can get a significant boost to your musical project and open new doors in your artistic journey.

Stay creative, stay engaged, and keep sharing your passion with the world!

– Translated by Kole Wright –

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Spread your music worldwide ⬇️

L’article 10 Quick & Easy tips to Boost your Musical Project est apparu en premier sur Groover Blog.

Setting up a pre-save campaign can help you promote your music and get noticed by the Spotify algorithm, making it easier to get your music heard. For independent artists who use indie music distribution services like TuneCore or CD Baby, setting up a pre-save campaign is key in growing your fanbase. The pre save Spotify function is a tool you can use to boost your new releases and have your music stand out among millions of songs. Here’s how to set up a pre-save campaign for streaming services and the advantages of doing so!

1. Release day: a moment of truth for the artist

The day your work is released is an important moment for all creative people: songwriters, musicians, actors, painters, comedians and artists of all kinds. However, preparation for release day starts much earlier than you may think! Sure, some of our favorite artists can drop a new track out of nowhere and immediately go viral without having to prepare promotion ahead of time. Sadly, we cannot all be Beyoncé or Drake! To make sure your new music gets the attention it deserves, a simple step you can take is setting up a pre-save campaign. Whether you make hip-hop, punk, or even classical music, all artists can benefit from the pre-save function.

Platforms like presave.io and feature.fm allow your followers to pre-add or pre-save your tracks to their music catalog before they appear. Feature.fm has also partnered with SoundCloud to expand its pre-save functions to this popular site to discover music online! These different services offer different plans and premium features depending on how you want to set up your pre-save. What better way to get people to listen to your music if it shows up in their music collection right from release day? Not only will this foster your fanbase, but it could also incite others to become subscribers. Turn an Instagram follower into a Spotify subscriber! Taking it one step further, if your track is pre-saved and listened to right from the start, the Spotify algorithm will notice and be able to push it even further to more listeners who like similar genres.

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Are you releasing new music soon?
Send it to playlist curators👇

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2. What is pre save on Spotify?

The process of setting up a pre save campaign is relatively simple. When using a partner service mentioned above, you’ll create a pre-save page, i.e. a promotional page announcing your track or new album that contains the cover and the exact release date. This page also highlights a series of links to your different streaming platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer etc.) As soon as the user clicks on one of these links, they will automatically subscribe to your profile on the platform and pre-save your titles in their music collection. It is obviously advisable to specify on this promotional page that by clicking on the link, the user agrees to follow you and save your music. Existing services do this automatically. The pre-save is basically the digital music version of the pre-order.

Here is an example of a pre-save campaign on feature.fm. Once your page is created, all you have to do is to share your link across communication and distribution channels. Don’t neglect any forms of communication that you can use to promote your music (emails, external YouTube links on music videos, Facebook Messenger etc.) Also remember that your fans don’t need to have a Spotify premium paid subscription to be able to pre-save a track. The pre-save link works with the free version as well!

3. What are the advantages of pre-save?

Advantage n°1: Use the data collected by the pre-save page

The digital aspect of the pre-save is a great opportunity for artists to interpret data and improve their release strategies. In the traditional physical distribution model, all the information related to your fans’ data was only accessible to distributors. This new pre-order model now gives artists the upper hand, providing them with two major resources:

1. The possibility of using a more relevant database of fans to distribute your sponsored posts or to optimize your digital communication by reaching an already partially acquired audience
2. The possibility of increasing your natural audience (automatic tracking of your songs on streaming platforms)

The pre-save page includes links to streaming platforms optimized to improve the user experience. This simplicity encourages the listener to connect their social networks and the platform then organizes the data. You will then get a precise summary of data including age, location, favorite listening platform and a plethora of other information about your audience.

Advantage n°2: A direct and original way to communicate with your fans and future fans

Another benefit of the pre-save function is that you can accompany your release campaign with a game, competition, or even raffle. Your fans can win merch, an autograph, a meet-and-greet (etc.), if they pre-save your title in their library. The approach has already been well tested, notably by the label Reach Records (Atlanta, USA) during the promotion of Lecrae and Zaytoven’s album, “Let The Trap Say Amen”. A raffle offered one of the participants a $300 in-store discount voucher. This is where the music-industry meets the marketing industry!

In addition to boosting their release on streaming platforms, the artists were able to see that their biggest fans lived in Dallas and Atlanta and that 60% were between 14 and 25 years old. With this information, you can figure out where to play live shows and find similar audiences that want to listen to your music!

Advantage n°3: Optimize your chances of being noticed by the algorithm

You can ensure a maximum of listens on the release day of your single, EP, or album, by using the pre-save tool. It’s a simple way to provide artists with key data for communication & promotion strategies.

In particular, using the pre-save tool on Spotify can help get your song noticed by the algorithm. It has been proven that tracks that show strong natural traffic and are added to many playlists (this can be done through a successful pre-save campaign) were detected by Spotify’s algorithms. If your track is already generating data points before it’s released, you increase your chances of being pushed to algorithmic and editorial playlists. If a fan follows your profile (most pre-save links include a follow) and you pitch the track in Spotify for Artists at least 7 days before release, it will show up in their “Release Radar” playlist.

The Spotify algorithm works like a snowball effect and wants to keep listeners listening. If your track has too many skips, for example, these are seen as negative data points and can hurt the success of your track. The more that people listen to your track, share it, and add it to playlists, the more Spotify will be able to identify similar artists and tracks, pushing you to new audiences. After all, the platform is quite curated and revolves around music discovery!

If you want to take it one step further, you can reach out to specific media to include your pre-save campaign in a section that informs readers each week about new and upcoming releases. Think of it like how movie theaters promote feature films that are “Coming Soon”. If you want to get in touch with media and influencers in the music business to promote your release, you can contact them directly on Groover!

4. How to get fans to pre save your music on Spotify

So you’ve set up your pre-save campaign and you’re ready for release day! Make sure you take the time to share your pre-save link with your community and fanbase. People want to listen to music easily, so make it easy for them to save your track! Post a clickable pre-save link into your Instagram story or in your bio, making it easy to click. Send the pre-save directly to friends, family, and fans through direct messages or in an email campaign. Go beyond your usual fanbase and send your link to radio stations, record labels, or recording industry professionals that are looking for the next best talent.

With so much music to listen to and so many new artists releasing tracks every day, it can be hard to stand out. Wanna get creative? Figure out where people listen to music online and more importantly, where people discover music over the internet. Maybe you can share your pre-save link on a Reddit page! Make a QR code with the pre-save and turn it into stickers that you post around town or display at your next show. Figure out how to make your release as effective as possible, using the pre-save tool to get creative and boost your chances of success.

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Promote your next song release 👇

L’article Pre-Save Spotify: An essential tool for artists to promote their music est apparu en premier sur Groover Blog.

But one question remains, the one that many musicians and music professionals ask themselves:

What kind of budget should you prepare when promoting your music?

The important thing here is to think in the short, medium and long term. Developing a solid strategy and knowing in advance what budget you will be able to work with in the promotion of your music is essential to avoiding getting stuck. We especially advise you to create a simple promotional calendar stretching from one month before the release of your music to a few weeks following its release date. Writing the steps of your music promotion as well as the budget allocated to each of these steps maximizes your chances of getting the visibility your music deserves.

How do you promote your music online?

How do you keep your music alive in the face of the 100,000 new releases on Spotify every day?

In this article, we will give you tips to help you prioritize your music promotion strategy and use the most effective tools according to your budget.

1. Social Media Strategy

Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Twitter, and more… To stand out from the crowd, artists must be present on every platform it would makes sense for them to be on, aka ones that focus on audio/visual content or written text. Competition is tough, and these platforms are evolving fast. You have to follow, be followed, understand the trends – all while remaining authentically yourself.

Here are two music promotion techniques that can help you boost your visibility on the internet: advertising on social networks, and influencers.

| Read more: Instagram for Musicians: How to gain new followers

A. Promote your music with sponsored posts: Facebook Ads and Google Ads

• Facebook / Instagram Ads

Facebook Ads allows you to create ads on Facebook AND Instagram. It’s not so much a question of budget and more a question of targeting. You can quickly reach thousands of people and keep them interested if you aim correctly! The priority in terms of promotion via Facebook Ads is therefore to define your objectives. Do you want new followers on your social media profiles? Or maybe boost the number of streams on your songs? Having a clear initial objective will help your strategy when you are choosing what demographic your ads should be targeting.

Rather than sponsoring the already existing posts on your page, earn as much as possible about the Business Manager: Facebook’s platform that allows you to create an infinite number of advertising content and formats adapted to both Facebook and Instagram. Also note that the visual quality of your content is crucial – the time spent on editing thought-through graphics and clips will be instrumental in retaining viewers attention when they first come across your ad.

To know how to create sponsored content step by step, we suggest you read our Guide to promote your music on Facebook and Instagram Ads.

💡 Even with a total budget of $50-100 for a single, it’s possible to get great results with careful targeting and quality content.

💡If you have determined your target, a budget of only $2/day for a well-targeted Instagram story can get you started.

💡For an Instagram post, it is better to sponsor videos rather than photos.

• Google Ads

Google Ads works on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis. This means that you are only charged for your advertising when someone clicks on it. You can set a daily expense limit that caps out costs at a predetermined amount so as not to exceed your budget . The more relevant your content seems to the algorithm, the better positioned you are on Google and Youtube, and the less you pay. That’s why it is important to define your target viewers.

💡  For artists, the focus of your Google Ads should mainly be on Youtube, which offers the most interesting results to increase your audience. You can highlight your clip directly with an in-stream placement (placed before another video, for example) or in the search results on Youtube to gain an automatic extra few views. This is a technique used by all well-established labels.

💡  You have the ability to target other Youtube channels, specific videos, etc. in a very precise way. It is important to target with precision and run some tests in order to maximize the chances that the preview of your clip is shown to the right audience, hopefully prompting them to engage with it (like, comment, subscribe) and can become a fan.

💡  You can start with a few tens of dollars, and raise your budget to $200 spread out over 1-2 weeks for a single/video clip.

💡 Google Ads also makes it possible to highlight content in search engines and via banners on other websites, but the interest remains limited for highlighting a track or clip.

B. Get put in the spotlight by influencers

• Media and blogs 

FREE PROMOTION- It is common for artists to contact zines, blogs and media outlets for a spotlight in an article or video. Feel free to contact them for your music promotion too! If you don’t get an answer after a week, don’t hesitate to contact them again personally. It’s very likely that your email got buried in the many messages they receive, so don’t be offended if you don’t get a response on the first try. With a well structured, clear, and respectful message, you will get results.

Be careful with your messages! The outreach/community managers for media outlets and radio stations are real people who have personal preferences and a passion for music themselves. Take interest in their music taste, perhaps by taking a look at their content they have posted before contacting them all systematically and generically. Try to personalize your messages to the individuals you are sending them to.

☝️ Don’t forget to attach your Press Kit to your message! You can keep a close eye on the coverage you receive and follow up with it. Everything is explained here in our article on the subject.

• Playlists

FREE PROMOTION – Once the distribution phase of your song is complete, you can pitch your song to playlist curators thanks to Spotify for Artists.

☝️ Pitch your music to playlist curators a few weeks ahead of release day!

| Read also: How to release music the best way

There are three types of playlists:

🎶 Editorial playlists: an artist can submit his or her new track to the Spotify editorial team using Spotify for Artists.
🎶 Algorithmic playlists: playlists generated by Spotify’s algorithms.
🎶 User-generated playlists: playlists from users of Spotify – just like you and me – who have managed to grow a following that listens to their playlists. Here is a foolproof technique for contacting them here 👈

• Get put in the spotlight by a well-known artist

Why not propose a collaboration to an artist who is better known than you? Or ask them to share your music? Above all, make sure that your music is of high quality! Then, once again, spend time writing your pitch and try to answer this question: why would this artist want to give me a boost? If you manage to answer it, then you have nothing to lose by explaining directly to the artist why it would be great to accept it and what it would mean to both you and them.

• Influencers on TikTok, Insta, Youtube, etc.

Seek out influencers who correspond to your musical style and who can help you reach your target. Someone with a following who dances to your music, talks about your music and/or reposts a music video will undoubtedtly bring fresh ears to your music.

If they really enjoy what you do, some may accept for free, but most (even the “micro” influencers) already have a price tag. Ask for their rates and see what’s possible given your budget.
Example: for an Instagram or TikTok influencer who has 50k subscribers max, they usually charge at least $200 for a story.

2. Press relations

• Contact database

FREE PROMOTION – Create a well-organized file with all the contacts you have that you can continuously add to: blogs, playlist curators, artists, and other actors who can help you promote your music. That way, when you release your music and it’s time to move into the promotional phase, you can contact them all.

☝️ Put little notes next to each person to remind you of details about who they are, how you met them, and what you can ask them. This will help you write a personalized message, be effective and maximize your chances of a positive response.

☝️ If you can afford it, you can also hire a PR expert to advise you on how to present your release announcements and following posts to professionals as well as the public!

• Newsletters

FREE PROMOTION- Newsletters are a perfectly free tool that have proven their effectiveness in terms of music promotion. Email remains a surprisingly powerful means of keeping listeners up to date with artist news. It is the only form of mass communication that has no text limit (unlike Twitter/X), and everyone has it. All you must do is keep recipients reading once you’ve initially grabbed their attention. You can share news about the release of your songs, your past and future concerts, press coverage, your new collaborators, etc… Newsletters can also help you reach a wider audience and/or satisfy your most fervent fans with bonus content or access to exclusive deals and tickets before everyone else.

💡 Our special tip: prepare a contact list and start with a simple newsletter format using tools like Mailchimp or Sendinblue. You’ll be able to track who opened your email and clicked on the link to listen to your song. You can find out more on how to send great newsletters in our article.

• Radio stations

FREE PROMOTION – The radio has always been the most effective way for music to be propogated to the masses! Lots of people still listen to the radio in the car, or use Shazam to figure out what song is playing when they’re in public. These remain very common practices that are among the biggest channels of music discovery even today. Contact the radio stations that play your style of music and see what’s possible.

💡 Groover allows you to target the radio stations that best match your music style and guarantees a response within 7 days.

Music promotion- Example of positive feedback on Groover

3. Music promotion using Groover

We recognize that pushing our platform does not come off as a genuine piece of advice, but rather a self-promo strategy of our own. However, when an artist is working with a smaller budget, it’s important to direct funds to the channels that you know you will get something out of. When this doesn’t work with more general promotional strategies, it can be extremely discouraging. We truly believe you will get more value out of spending a couple dollars on a service that will only include your music in playlists and on radio stations where you know it fits, rather than spending for a placement that may not cater to the audience its meant for. For this reason, spending a couple Grooviz on a campaign for your song may really be cheaper and more effective than a bigger budget on a less specific pitch. If you promote every release, the Groover+ subscription can lower that cost further, with 15% off every campaign for annual members.

Groover connects artists who want to promote their music with the best media outlets, radio stations, and labels looking for emerging talent. On the platform, artists can send their music directly to a selection of industry professionals of their choice and get guaranteed feedback within 7 days with a potential for a feature, a placement, a meeting and/or a signature.

The media (playlists, blogs, social network influencers, etc.), radios and labels are carefully selected.

1000+ media, radios, labels and music professionals active on Groover

💡 To maximize your chances of a positive response, we strongly recommend that you contact at least 20 professionals, knowing that the quality of the results obtained increases with the number of influencers contacted. The average campaign is around 30 contacts, and many very successful campaigns exceed 100 contacts.

💡 Don’t hesitate to contact us to help direct you to the best people you should personally be getting in touch with. Targeting is the key to good music promotion, for fans and pros alike.

To learn more, check out these topics to guide you:

| When should I send my music on Groover?
| What budget should I invest on my Groover campaign?

4. Total budget for your Music Promotion Campaign

Here’s an ideas of what a schedule might look like according to your budget for your musical promotion:

• For a music promotion budget of $100

– This budget corresponds to a single release –

💡 We advise you to distribute your Ads budget per day. 

For example: for Facebook & Instagram Ads, we suggest you put a budget of $15 on the day of the release over a period of 3 days. More specifically, you will be able to tell Facebook Ads that you want to sponsor your content on Facebook & Instagram at $5 per day for 3 days. Then repeat this process on T+3 by changing the content you’re promoting – a new clip of your music for example.

As a reminder, Google Ads is particularly useful to boost your music on Youtube if it is accompanied by a visual/clip – which is highly recommended for a successful release.

• For a music promotion budget of $500

– This budget corresponds to the release of a single or an EP –

💡 On Groover, with the Mariah pack at $94 for 110 Grooviz, you can contact 10 magazines and radio stations (20 Grooviz) before the release to initiate contact, then 45 blogs, radios, and playlists on your release day.

Conclusion

Releasing and promoting your music online is a process that must be carefully prepared in advance. Even if you don’t have a large budget, there are plenty of ways to get your music out there. Remember to target music professionals and your potential fans with precision – you will gain visibility while optimizing your budget. 😉

– Article translated by Mackenzie Leighton –

To contact the best media, radios and labels, check out Groover✨

L’article Music Promotion: how to choose a Budget for your Release? est apparu en premier sur Groover Blog.