The music industry is always changing and evolving.
Because of this, the current trends in promoting music also change as each year goes by.
When it comes to promoting your music, your goal is to get your name out there.
The more people know you, the more they will listen to your music.
Once people know your name, even if they haven’t heard your music before, they will still listen to your songs out of curiosity. This, of course, may end up leading them to become new fans.
However, the main issue that many artists face is what ways they should promote their music to get this kind of attention.
How Can You Promote Your Music in 2023?
Being a successful producer in the music industry these days requires a lot of in-depth knowledge of the music marketing tactics you can use to promote your music online. When it comes to getting a broader audience to listen to your songs, there are several ways to do just that. Depending on the type of music you produce, some methods are better than others.
Our experts have thoroughly analyzed the professional growth of over 2 500 artists and managed to come up with a list of the top 3 methods they used to promote independently released tracks. However, experiences may vary, according to your expectations and genre of choice.
To promote your music independently today, you can choose one of the following methods:
- Take advantage of social media paid ads;
- Put your best foot forward when it comes to quality;
- Be consistent when it comes to releasing singles.
If you are not sure which approach is the most suitable for your career, do not worry. Our experts have prepared a complete article, explaining the most effective methods of promoting music online. So before deciding how to promote new music in the digital world, let’s find out what exactly each method refers to.
1. Utilize Social Media Paid Advertising
Social media is one of the most effective ways of promoting your music. The greatest benefit of social media platforms is that they are free to use, so just about anyone can be on them.
This is a big pro for artists because their potential audience automatically becomes worldwide.
But, being free also has its downsides, which is that your competitors will be thinking the same thing.
So, you will have thousands if not millions of other artists to compete against, which is why building your organic fan base through social media is no longer as effective as it once was.
To be successful in reaching more audiences, you will need to combine organic advertising with paid advertising.
Unfortunately, this is where many artists fall short because paid advertising can be expensive.
But, if you promote your music correctly, then your investments will become fruitful.
One way to achieve this is to funnel your advertising, meaning to have a specific end result. If you want to introduce a new song, for example, then all of your advertising should be focused on this goal.
Furthermore, when creating advertising materials, it is best to get creative and not just repost the same ad over and over again.
People love new content and they get excited when they see something fresh.
In addition, you need to make sure that when you do get an engagement, their visit is worth it.
For example, if you want them to visit your Spotify account, make sure that your account is filled with lots of content. No visitors want to spend their precious time visiting an account with only one or two songs.
2. Organic Promotion
When it comes to organically promoting your songs, you might want to combine social media with a personal website. By using the right Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics, you will be able to effectively engage hundreds, if not thousands of people monthly.
One thing you should take into account is that SEO takes time – a lot of it. Creating quality content on music blogs does not happen overnight, so you will have to study a bit before actually getting to the publishing phase. Therefore, we highly recommend researching how exactly SEO works, what factors should be included in your newly published website, and how you can increase the total number of visitors your website gets.
3. Search Engine Optimization
First thing first, you will need to follow a quality-lead approach, in order to turn casual visitors into committed fans. Therefore, make sure your posts incline towards quality, rather than quantity. One great release post on your website will be more effective than ten regular updates about how your last single performed during the past month.
Another great tactic you can take advantage of to promote music relates to the keywords. Think about the last time you looked up a great song on the Internet. How did you find it? Exactly. Finding the right keywords and attaching them to your posts (either on your website or on social media) will help your potential visitors find you more easily.
You can take advantage of Google Trends, as it is one of the most popular free-to-use methods these days. It is especially useful because it is directly connected to the Google API and generates real-time data related to current search trends. However, you will need to tweak and try when it comes to keyword optimization.
Finding what actually works for your posts may take you a couple of tries (or even more). However, SEO is a great way of maintaining a constant flow of visitors. Compared to Paid Campaigns, this method brings your audience closer to you, without having to pay for the service. What is more, effective SEO performs well even months after the Deployment phase. Yet, make sure you constantly optimize your content, as trends change rapidly and you will have to keep up with your competitors.
The main downside of the organic-based approach is that it takes quite a long time to build up. Especially when it comes to new websites, you will have to wait a couple of months for the Google Crawler to index your content and show it on the first page. What is more, that will only happen if you did your homework well and came up with highly-optimized content.
4. Electronic Press Kit
An Electronic Press Kit (EPK) is basically a promotional offer you as an artist can mail to curators, festival administrators, and other targeted audiences. Such a tool helps you advertise your services all around the world using a digital version of your resume.
Usually, an EPK includes the following sections:
- Music;
- Biography;
- Branding;
- Embedded links;
- Press and testimonials;
- Contact details.
The section headings are intuitive so you should not have much trouble understanding what information to include in each one. The most important section is the first one, called Music. It allows you to advertise your most popular songs. If you have already released several tracks, make sure you choose the best ones for this particular section.
PRO TIP: Music professionals do not usually listen to more than 2-3 songs.
Another crucial section is called Contact details. Make sure to include all the relevant methods a potential collaborator can take advantage of to get in touch with you. Some of the most popular ones are phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and LinkedIn accounts.
If you want your Electronic Press Kit to stand out from the crowd, make sure to fill the Press and Testimonials section with all the public appearances you got up to the present date. It does not matter if you sang at the opening of your graduation ceremony at the University. As long as a relevant specialist (such as your music professor) is willing to give you a testimonial, it should be included in your EPK.
What is more, the branding details also matter. If you are at the very beginning of your music career, it would be great if you could ask a logo creator to come up with an interesting version of your music logo. What is more, other visual branding elements will help you generate more interest in your career. It also shows you are not just an inconsistent artist, but rather a detail-oriented person that cares about how people perceive their work.
5. Paid Campaigns
This is basically the easiest way to promote your music in 2023. Using paid campaigns has proven to be one of the most effective methods of getting new fans in a short time. Compared to the organic-based approach, which takes a lot of time to generate significant results, paid campaigns will help you increase the total number of views rapidly.
There are many paid ad platforms you can take advantage of. However, using a tool that was specifically designed for music producers will generate better results, compared to the generic ones. To get things started for you, let’s find out what platform you can take advantage of to promote your latest release this year.
6. SoundCampaign
SoundCampaign is a music promotion company that connects artists with Spotify curators worldwide. Using this platform you can initiate advertising campaigns that last for exactly 14 days. The concept is simple and so is the acquisition process.
All you have to do as a musician is to go to the SoundCampaign website, click on the Create campaign button, fill in the required information, and start your campaign. From this point on, the playlist curators at SoundCampaign will review your track if they like your song, then they will add it to their playlist.
The professional curators will carefully analyze your release and will decide whether it fits their Spotify playlists or not. Each campaign runs for up to 14 days and only includes one particular song. You can easily initiate multiple campaigns for different songs.
If you have already started a campaign for a particular song, you will have to wait for it to come to an end before initiating another campaign for the same track. All the forwarded songs are listened to by the curators and given an honest review. In order to protect you, SoundCampaign has created an Artist Protection Program.
This program lets you get a full refund if one of the curators did not provide any feedback. However, please note that you will be refunded the full amount only in the SoundCampaign balance. Therefore, you will not be able to withdraw your money back to PayPal or your credit card balance.
The entire process is completely autonomous, meaning that if a curator did not come up with a review, you will automatically get your money back within 14 days after your campaign ends. This is especially useful for people that are at their very beginning with SoundCampaign, as it gives them a boost in matters of trying out the service. What is more, it helps you make sure the services meet and exceed all your expectations in matters of quality.
The good news about SoundCampaign is that you will not have to pay an arm and a leg to get your song in front of playlist curators. The campaign pricing is dynamic and is affected by your choices in matters of marketing. For example, if you choose a popular genre and a broad audience, you will have to pay more.
All the costs are transparent and clearly stated before the campaign actually begins. Therefore, you will not be surprised by any additional expenses, giving you a more stable and comfortable state of mind. After choosing the genres of your track, you will see the total number of available playlists. Depending on the amount you choose in the Budget field, the platform will determine the total number of playlists your song might be added to.
The average cost of a campaign is about 150 U.S. Dollars. Such a price guarantees your song will be heard by at least 6 curators from all around the world, offering you great chances of listening to your song in a Spotify playlist. Get your song noticed and start a campaign today with SoundCampaign!
7. Create Quality Content
“Content is everything.”
This phrase that is so commonly used by marketers is absolutely true.
Eventually, what will increase your fan base is if people actually like your music.
You can spend all the money and effort creating the best ads, but if it leads people to little content or low-quality music, then they won’t follow you.
So, if you want your advertising to be successful, the next step is to ensure that you have enough content and that it’s good.
For music fans, the main way that they connect with their favorite artists is through their music.
Music is what will build your connection with your audience, so make sure that you focus more on quality over quantity and create a story your audience will connect with.
Especially in a very competitive world, one great song could make a difference in growing your fan base.
8. Release Singles Regularly
The last method that will help you to have a successful music promotion in 2023 is to release singles regularly.
It is always best if you have a scheduled plan of when you’ll be releasing a single. This could be monthly or every other month. Whatever decision you make, releasing a single often will let your audience know that you’re active and expect more to come from your profile.
Anticipation is one of the secret marketing techniques for keeping your audience hooked.
Do take note that you shouldn’t post singles too often.
Otherwise, you won’t have sufficient time to promote your latest single.
So, you want to advertise your single as many times as you can and on as many channels or mediums as possible. Using a music promotion company like us, SoundCampaign is always a great option as our company can easily connect you to playlist curators on Spotify. Don’t forget to check the best Spotify promotion services to make a better decision.
SoundCampaign is renowned for its large number of playlist curators on Spotify that already has thousands of listeners.
By creating a campaign through our platform, you can get your single out there more effectively and connect with a much bigger audience than just those in your close circle of family and friends.
Wrapping Up
Your music should be your life if you want to make it into the music industry of today. Investing your time, effort, and money should be something that you’re willing to give if you want to get ahead of the other talented competitors.
As you apply these 3 tested and proven methods of promoting your music this year, you will certainly start to see surprising results in the growth of your fan base.
by artists for artists