how to promote your music
How to Promote Your Music
We are living in a DIY age, and promoting music is not left behind in this respect. If you are a budding singer or musician, here are a few tips on how you can go about promoting your music. Have a look...
Promoting your music is necessary to create your own identity. Everything has to marketed these days, right from an oral-B toothbrush to a Boeing aircraft. Nothing can be sold in this business-minded world unless you promote it in the right way. If you thought that music cannot be promoted―as it is an art, a talent which needs just appreciation―you are wrong! If you are related to the music business, you must understand the basic concept that your music is the product and the listeners are your end users.
As a budding indie or a songwriter, composer, or musician, you might get a record deal for your songs, but that isn't enough for achieving success! The bridge between the end users and your product can only be filled when you turn your listeners into your fans, and they love and relate to the music you make.
10 Ways to Promote Your Music
- If you are thinking where to begin, it can be ideally your own city or hometown, where you have pre-established contacts, and also people you have known for a long time. Do not jump into promoting your music without a plan. Planning is the first step for promoting anything.
- Your image is your version of a better you! Ever heard of 'brand label' in the field of marketing? Well, that is exactly what you need in the second step! Your image is like food to your music. You need to have a good promotional package. Your talent should come in a package of band name/artist name, performance, style and look, and your range of merchandise too! So try to be innovate and create your own style! Burn some CDs and DVDs of your recordings and hand out those to local pubs, nightclubs, restaurants, coffee shops and hotels, and even in educational institutions. This will certainly help you in getting live performance offers. Do not forget to add your band name/artist name and contact information on the CD/DVD. Remember, your name is more important than the name of your work. I strongly recommend on getting your CD/DVD copyrighted.
- Marketing your music on social networking sites is the best way to promote your music online. But you should now understand that the Internet is global. It will have promotional messages of artists from all over the world. What you need is ex cogitation, to stand out from the crowd of more than a zillion! Reckon out of the box.
- Upload videos of your live performances, recordings, and gigs on websites that support video uploads. Is that something you have seen happening with hundred other local bands? Well, as I said, think out of the box―upload your behind-the-scene-videos or making-the-song videos, so that listeners can relate to your music and have fun while watching your music videos.
- Create your own website. Buying your band/artist name URL will fetch you great Internet traffic and page clicks. You can also create your own webpage on any of the social networking websites. If you create any of these, make sure it is easy to navigate and loads quickly on any Internet browser. Have your own support group consisting of friends, relatives, and family members.
- If you are on the Internet, the whole wide world is watching you. And that wonder called the Internet survives on page links, creative content, and keywords. So, keep posting links to your videos, website, and webpages on online music directories, music blogs, music forums, music magazine websites, and other lifestyle and dating websites, where Internet traffic is high. Send the album for music reviews, press releases, photos of live performances, along with some content to the local newspapers and music and lifestyle magazines.
- Getting feedback is like refueling! When you upload a video on the Internet, make sure you keep a feedback box right below the video. Make sure you keep the 'Email ID' and 'Area/City' fields for all the readers. This will create a database of email IDs and addresses of people who liked or disliked your music. Once you get these, you can forward each one of them your new videos with a personal message, and keep them updated with what music you have been making. Personalization helps in selling anything! But do not spam mail.
- Today, there are many indie radio webcasts available that can get you live on radio. It is a simpler alternative to a live performance. Besides this, professional pictures are also important. Hire a photographer, choose a cool location, and click some professional pictures of your band along with your band merchandise and logo. When you post these pictures on your website, webpage or blog, it will create a buzz everywhere. Professional pictures are taken very seriously in the music industry.
- Try to understand your fans' likes and dislikes, their tastes in music, where they shop, their hangout places, where they live, and so on. Having done that, practice, jam, and play some more. Try getting gigs in few parts of the town on a Friday night, and other few parts of the town on a Saturday night. Do not waste your time on playing in an area where you have no fans!
- Person-to-person promotions work the best in the field of music and art. Meet new people around town and tell them about your music and band. A little networking and meeting the right people by being down-to-earth is the key to long-term success.