Being an independent artist and promoting your music independently online can feel like quite the challenge. In order to avoid using expensive agencies or an equally unaffordable freelancer, we’ve decided to put together a guide for emerging musicians who want to start out on a smaller budget, but still hope to capture the attention of key players in the music industry.
Music streaming platforms have become essential in promoting music online. Platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and TikTok have transformed how artists promote their work and monetize their music, making it crucial for artists to actively engage with these platforms and grow their following. To build your notoriety, you need to create relevant digital content and share it using the right communication channels. You can identify these channels by picturing what your current and future fans’ online habits are.
A digital consultant would refer to this as a persona, which will help outline the profile of your target audience. It allows you to build the foundations of your strategy, and each action you take should be implemented according to this.
To build your strategy, you have at your disposal a plethora of tools across the Internet. Here are 4 digital tools to help you promote your music online and how to use them.
Today, when you distribute your music on streaming platforms, you have to be visible on social networks in order to stand out from the millions of tracks available online. Whether your tracks are played on different radios or on Soundcloud only, marketing on the Internet is essential. Whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, or TikTok artists get people to listen to their music through all of these communication channels. Engaging with fans on these platforms is crucial for building a strong fan base.
Instead of trying to master all the social media platforms at once, focus on just one and find an audience that already listens to music that is similar to yours. Share all your available tracks, not only the hits, and above all, be sincere in your approach. Take the opportunity to explain the thoughts and choices that made your project what it is. Share every interesting event, like if your song lands in a Spotify playlist for example, or even an influencer playlist. Unlike previous generations, artists who are starting their careers now are already very well versed in technology and how social media works, which is a significant advantage.
Music videos and lyric videos are also a powerful tool for engaging with audiences on social media. Visually engaging and creative music videos can help enhance the reach of your music and connect with new audiences, so upload any visual content and use it as a promotional tool as well!
To grow your following, use intermediaries. There are a number of accounts in every genre dedicated to introducing their audience to new music. These can be music platforms, music influencers, or playlist curators – try contacting them to pitch your new song.
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2. Promote your music online successfully with SEO
SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization“, and refers to how high up in the results a search comes up after it’s been looked up on Google, Bing, or any other search engine. Ideally, you want to be the one who lands at the top of the search results in your music genre. Unlike social media, it is not the most common tool used to promote your music online, but that’s why it’s interesting. When your communication strategy is atypical, you will be able to differentiate yourself from the others thanks to this unique way of promoting your music.
Set up a music website or blog and write articles about your music or creative process. Choose keywords that match your image, style, artistic direction, and genre and insert them into the text on your website. To help you, the SEO modules of WordPress are a good start, but in the long run you may have to use more advanced tools like 1.FR for example.
Releasing music regularly is crucial to maintain visibility and engage with music streaming services. When my music doesn’t reach the people it should, I ask myself, could the SEO of my site be improved? Open a private web browser window, type in your keywords in quotes, and you’ll have your answer. When you have optimized your SEO for your musical project, you will generate traffic like never before.
Is your visibility at a standstill? Do you feel like the algorithms of social networks are not working in your favor? Create a newsletter to reach your audience directly. Sending personalized newsletters is a good way for a composer to spread their music on the internet and bring attention to new releases. To succeed in this strategy, you have to build a loyal listener base. This is one of the bases of internet marketing.
Newsletters are a good place to put links to your website, especially if you are selling merchandise. If you aren’t, know that e-commerce is available to everyone! You could also let your listeners know when you have new music available on a streaming platform.
Platforms like Sendinblue, Mail Chimp or Revue are at your disposal to create and send out your newsletter. Music links will then be at your listener’s fingertips, and with the newsletter, you’ll be able to stand out from the crowd and get your music heard on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and more.
4. Using data analysis to promote your music online
To make your music known, it is important to set up a relevant digital strategy and basically become your own media. Making a plan and sticking to it is important. Figure out what data is relevant to monitor, such as the reach of a post, a story, or a reel on Instagram. This could also include the opening rate of a newsletter, percentage of readers, number of visitors to your website, the retention rate, conversion rate, and your place in Google search results.
In short, all these numbers will help you understand if your strategy is working or not. When it is not the case, you can adjust them as you go along. You can also show this data analysis to record companies or labels who approach you to show that you take your internet presence seriously. Promoting your music effectively involves using these insights to refine your approach and maximize your reach.
Spotify for Artists and Apple Music for Artists provide excellent analytics and promotional tools. Utilizing them can help you understand your audience better and improve your promotional strategies based on the results you’re getting.
5. Use Groover to aid the process
Now that you know what needs to get done, you can come up with a game plan. If you are an artist that is covering all aspects of your career yourself, you can always look to others for assistance in getting things done. On Groover, you’re guaranteed feedback within a week, so you might as well reach out to the thousands of professionals we have partnered with! You can contact labels, management, playlists, influencers and more to either share your music or give you valuable advice. Don’t be afraid to ask!
Get started on Groover here.
Now that you have all the tools to set up your strategy, get started and increase your notoriety!
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Read more:
> Music Promotion: How to Choose a Budget for Your Release?
> How to Promote Your Music and Boost Your Visibility?
> 3 Mistakes to Avoid When Promoting Your Music (and Their Solutions)
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Need feedback on your music? Get in touch with music industry pros on Groover now!
