Right now, we are no longer responsible for promoting our music in the same way as it was 10 years ago.
With the advent of social networks and the democratization of technological tools, musicians, music groups and artists are turning more and more to the Internet to broadcast their works and their brand .
It is no longer mandatory to go through the print media, television or national radio stations to achieve some success.
Thousands of independent artists come to live their passion and grow their community of fans, for free or almost , using fully the tools at their disposal.
And for good reason, it would be stupid to deprive oneself of the Web, as it is simple to use and that the potential is unlimited ...
this article helps you discover ways to effectively promote your music and your musical project on the internet!
Table of Contents
4. Youtube
7. Influencers and online communities in your style
8. Other musical promotion tools
Conclusion
1. Your artist website
If you agree, your website should be at the center of your promotional strategy . It should be the essential meeting place for fans, pros and curious people.
As such, it should reflect the slightest changes and events that affect your music career: albums, clips, tour, etc.
Just use a tool like WordPress , a host like 1 & 1 and a suitable theme , and you can modulate your site to the image of your musical project .
For example, you can create a blog to share directly with your fanbase (favorites, news, opinions, tests, logbook, etc.). You can also create an online store to sell your music and merchandising.
If you're serious about your music career, you need a pro artist site to share your titles, photos, videos, dates, and more .
Always be sure to keep it up-to-date and optimize it (SEO and user experience) as much as possible.
2. Your newsletter
The newsletter should be the most valuable tool in your Internet promotion arsenal.
Unlike some of the methods presented in this article, here it's mainly about promoting your music to your current fans in order to increase their loyalty.
Indeed, only those who have made the deliberate choice to subscribe to your email list (either from your site or in concert), will receive your promotional emails.
In short, this is great news since these people want to know more about you, your music and your universe.
In fact, the email must be a bridge between the inbox of your fan and your website (blog, shop, tour, etc.) or any other destination (Youtube, crowdfunding campaigns, etc.)
The email takes on this role brilliantly since you will have much more impact than using social networks . This is a great way to get the attention of your fans and engage them.
3. Your presence on social networks
Nowadays, everyone is on social networks. Therefore, if your musical project is not present on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, you do not exist .
Of course, do not stop there. Being present on these platforms is not enough. They must be used to their full potential.
It starts by considering these tools as places of interaction with your community, rather than selling and free promo.
Your audience is more interested in your anecdotes, your history and your world, than your coupons on your merchandising or your umpteenth announcement of a concert in the village hall of Saint-Sulpice-le-Guérétois.
Remember this: for 1 openly promotional content, you should have 4/5 publications to engage your audience
4. Youtube
If you create music these days, you can not miss YouTube .
Every social network like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram can be great for your career if you adopt the right strategy. However, if I had to advise you a tool to build your career over the long term, it will definitely be Youtube.
Youtube is THE first means of musical discovery on the Internet . Why ? Because nowadays the music is also appreciated with the eyes.
You just have to be creative to take full advantage of this platform: make a cover of a famous song, publish your clips, share your lives, make vlogs, and so on.
If you do not have the budget or the time to invest, simply put the cover of your album to begin to illustrate your titles, while ensuring your SEO (tags, description, title) .
This is probably one of the simplest and most powerful ways to stream his music on the web.
With the proper methodology, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram square measure nice, however presently YouTube is solely the only network that takes your content seriously enough for you to build your career.
Indeed, unlike other platforms, this is the only one that really allows you to capitalize on your past content.
That is to say that if you publish today your clip on Youtube, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, you can be sure that if it is correctly referenced and optimized, in 1 year the Youtube version will continue to attract automatically qualified fans , while your Twitter and Facebook content will certainly have disappeared forever in the oblivion of the Internet.
And for good reason, Youtube is not just a social network. It's a search engine and even the second largest search engine in the world , right after Google, with more than 1 billion unique visitors connecting to the platform each month.
That's why it's on YouTube that your videos will have the longest life and therefore the most chances to walk, since everyone will be able to discover them if they are well indexed.
In short, if you start, you have a unique opportunity to break into your musical niche , if you have the patience and you are ready to work in this direction.
Youtube is the only social network that will exponentially reward the consistency of your content strategy over time.
I repeat, it will not be a snap, but if you have the right content and the right process, then it will come .
It takes some work upstream if you want to make it the core of your business and grow your subscriber base.
In any case, create your channel and start feeding it now .
5. Soundcloud/Spotify
What about audio streaming? Soundcloud and Spotify knows a huge craze among artists (especially producers, rappers and DJs) by giving anyone the ability to easily share their music with millions of visitors every month .
Thanks to their flexibility, their ultra-targeted groups and their virality, these service attracts more and more established artists as new talents. So be there, if it's relevant to you.
As long as we talk about streaming audio, I also invite you to discover Bandcamp , if it is not already done.
This all-in-one solution to promote and sell your discography can be extremely convenient and cost-effective due to the plethora of features available.
However, this is much more of a distribution tool. To consider if you do not have an artist site.
Learn more:
6. Streaming and downloading sites
By distributing your music on the biggest streaming and download platforms (Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, Last.fm, etc.), you appear alongside hundreds of thousands of artists around the world.
How can this help you?
In addition to selling your music by making it easy to access your songs, these services often offer recommendations, "discovery" features, or user-generated playlists that can bring your music out of the shadows.
After all, being associated with an established artist that your potential fan loves can only be beneficial to you.
Just for that, it's worth it to be there!
Learn more:
7. Influencers and online communities in your style
If you want to promote your music, it should not only be about getting in touch with your fans or going to the mass market.
Indeed, it is highly desirable that you step out of your comfort zone and come into contact with new fanbases to convert them to your cause.
For this, contact influencers and music enthusiast communities in your musical style.
Take for example the case of music blogs. These sites are constantly looking for fresh and relevant content to share with their own audience .
No need to target the publication in Télérama or Rolling Stones, many specialized blogs are within the reach of all and you will increase your audience overnight.
It's all about choosing the sites where you send your music . Make sure it fits your musical project, including the genre of music, or even the region.
From there, simply contact the bloggers by email, briefly and with a link to your music and find out if they would be interested in sharing your story and music with them.
Nevertheless, do not do this at the chain and build real exchanges .
Apart from music blogs, there are many alternatives where you can enjoy with a little tact and research a massive audience, such as via:
Web radios
Springboards online
Facebook groups dedicated to music
Youtube Music Channels
Other artists and bands
Etc.
Learn more:
8. Other musical promotion tools
Of course, there are dozens of other ways to make your music known through the Internet. For example, we could talk about:
- Promotion of concerts : In order to advertise your upcoming concerts, you can start by listing them on Bandsintown , Songkick and create an event on Facebook.
- Podcasts : Underestimated in France, audio podcasts made by musicians are an ideal tool to make the link between your story and your music.
In the same way as a blog or a vlog, you give your fans the opportunity to get to know you better and to focus on your project.
- Crowdfunding : While you might think crowdfunding is only for your current fans, that's not true. Mostly a pharaonic project for a group or an artist, you will inevitably attract new fans during this period of intense promotion.
- Online Concerts : By using services like Concert Window , Periscope or Facebook Live, you can broadcast a live concert from your ... room (or anywhere, huh)! Use this method to give your fanbase a good overview and encourage them to make a donation or buy your music.
- Advertising Facebook or Google Adwords : Sometimes it can really be worth paying to buy fans. Use advertising to highlight your concerts and your music. Simply choose your budget and target audience (for example by age, region and musical tastes) and have fun. It takes a lot of experimenting to find the right formula, but the game is worth it.
Conclusion
For the rest, I invite you to explore each of his methods and dig deeper , seeing what works for your musical project and what does not work.
If you need personalized help with your online presence, I invite you to book your coaching session with me so that I can tell you directly what you need to do today to optimize and develop your project online.
Musically,
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