How to market your music in social media

In today’s music industry, social media is a key component. The way music is promoted as a whole has changed dramatically due to this massive shift in the music industry. One of the biggest changes is that labels no longer sign artists. They sign fanbases.

This means that you need to prove that you’re marketable and strong enough to build a fanbase before any A&R will consider working with you (assuming your goal is to land a major label). While this power shift can create more work for artists initially, it also gives musicians more leverage over the types of deals they sign, which can be incredibly valuable over a lifetime.

Label or not, learning how to promote your music online is another essential skill for serious musicians. Here are a few key platforms that feature the best ways to promote your tunes:

The Main Platforms to Promote Your Music

Spotify, Apple Music и другие DSP

The vast majority of listeners will hear your music on digital streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music through playlists and liked songs. So it’s important to take the time to upload to these sites through a distribution service like Distrokid or through your team. Note that Spotify gives artists the opportunity to submit their tracks for editorial review before the release date. Apple Music does not offer this option, but independent artists can still get on editorial playlists if you put in the effort to promote your music and ensure visibility. To give your music the best chance of getting on playlists and in front of tasters, make sure your music is submitted to these platforms at least a month before the release date.

Reddit

Reddit might not be the first place you think of when it comes to music promotion, but this topic-based platform is a great place to promote your music and connect with other musicians. Topics like “Music Promotion” are a great place to start! You can also find fans of similar artists through subtopics to find new fans.

Discord

Discord is a great way to create an algorithm-independent space for your fans. This channel allows you to directly communicate with fans and build a self-sustaining, dedicated fanbase. You can share exclusive content through Discord and host listening parties for your audience. This is a great way to attract your best fans and create a deeper connection.

Instagram

Instagram is an amazing platform for promoting your music and connecting with fans. Although the site is increasingly focused on short videos, you can still use photos to connect with fans in a whole new way. Instagram Stories also has features that allow you to link to new music directly in your posts, which will help keep your fans up to date.

YouTube

Believe it or not, YouTube is the most popular music streaming service. So, it’s important to have your music on the platform to find new fans. Music videos will help your fans imagine the universe your music lives in and connect with it on a deeper level. They don’t have to be incredibly complex, though. Even DIY videos can work wonders!

At a minimum, you can create a visualizer or lyric video for your most popular releases. For artists who don’t have the time or graphic expertise to create videos for this channel, there are plenty of services that will turn your music into lyric videos for a fee. Promote your music through videos as often as possible. It’s one of the most effective ways to reach new fans.

SoundCloud

SoundCloud is a great way to release tracks and test songs without posting them on your official artist page. Use genre tags and interact with other musicians in your niche to build your network. It can also be a great place to find new bands or artists who are at the forefront of a new direction in music. Plus, some listeners only prefer to listen to music through SoundCloud, so feel free to promote your new releases here too.

Twitter

If you have a wit and are better at expressing yourself with words than pictures, Twitter is where you will shine. Keep your fans updated on your upload schedule, new releases, and interact with them on Twitter. It is also one of the few places where hashtags still have a lot of influence. Like any other social network, your Twitter profile should have easy links to your website so your fans can visit.

Facebook

Facebook, or Meta as it is now known, may not be the most modern social media platform, but it still has its value. Using the platform will help you reach a new demographic, as well as gain valuable analytics that can help you run ads and learn more about your audience. Be sure to post all tour dates on Facebook and invite your friends and fans. You never know who might show up, and the platform’s intuitive interface makes it easy to keep track of who is planning to show up.

Blogs

While the bulk of your music promotion will be through digital streaming platforms and social media, music blogs can also help you earn some exposure and potential fans depending on the status of the publication. Music blogs can help increase your visibility as a musician online and give you credibility among a ton of other writers.

That being said, pitching to music blogs can be tricky. Indie artists typically pitch directly to blogs with a link to the song (usually a month before it’s released), press photos, an artist bio, and a statement of their creative vision. Smaller artists can also use services like SubmitHub to make the process easier, though playlist pitch funnels do come with an additional cost.

Note that some music blogs are more likely to cover you as you gain more exposure online or in person. It’s a bit of a catch-22, but all it does is show that social media efforts are essential to your success on many fronts.

How to Successfully Promote Your Music: 7 Key Strategies

Having the right platforms is important, but it’s not everything. At the end of the day, the platform you choose is only as important as the time you put into using it. How you promote your music online is up to you. Remember, no one will champion your art like you will.

Use these strategies to get your new music in front of your fans. Remember, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. You’ll definitely make progress in your music career if you take the time to implement these strategies correctly.

Don’t Let Great Be the Enemy of Good

When you put yourself out there, you want your music to be as polished as possible. However, don’t let your desire for perfection stop you from releasing a song. Too often, artists are overly critical of their own work and hold themselves back from improving.

Don’t put out an unfinished project under any circumstances, but if your collaborators tell you it’s done and you’ve been working on a song for months, it might be worth putting it out there to free up some headspace for new music. As an artist, you can’t be too valuable and you’ll never please everyone. Make the best project you can, and then put it out there for everyone to hear.

Make sure your music has a unique, polished angle

Marketing can take any music a long way. However, the best way to stand out in a crowded market is to make sure your music library has something unique. The music you put on Spotify and other major platforms should be polished and professional. Streaming services act as an artist’s resume, so make sure your tracks make the right impression.

You can put demos on your band’s website, but beyond that, make sure that every creation you share with the world is something you’re genuinely proud of and something that contributes to the greater good.

Consistency is key

The hardest part of succeeding in a competitive market like the music industry is having the courage to keep going. It can be incredibly difficult to repeatedly put yourself out there and not have any response. Trust the process, because even the greatest artists didn’t have an audience at one point.

It’s up to you to continue releasing great music and posting to engage your audience. Making songs is the easy part! The real work is in the marketing and consistency so you can truly connect with your fans.

Adapt to analytics

Learning how to promote music online is very effective because most sites provide access to analytics data. This way, you can quickly gauge how your fans are responding to certain types of content and adjust your creations as needed.

Start noticing how different ways of presenting your work can lead to different results and develop your social media strategy accordingly. If one type of content works better than another, try to replicate it as much as possible.

Don’t Forget About IRL Promotion

Promoting your music online is a must and can very well provide you with plenty of IRL opportunities. However, that shouldn’t stop you from taking the time to spread your music beyond the virtual space. It’s important to build a support system within your network, as word of mouth is still one of the best ways to grow an audience to this day.

Whether you’re opening for friends, jamming, or open mics, there are plenty of ways to get your name out there in your area. Make it a point to connect with at least one new person every time you attend a music event. Keep your audience updated on events and tour dates to help turn online connections into long-term ones. You never know where your potential fans might be, so be open to the possibilities!

One is the loneliest number

The music industry is undoubtedly competitive. However, it’s also incredibly collaborative, and finding others in the business is essential to your success. Networking online is one of the keys to success and will help you gain more insight into the next steps in your journey.

Luckily, in today’s digital age, finding collaborators is easier than ever, even if you don’t know the artists personally. Connect with other artists on social media and find places to collaborate. This will help you gain skills, gain new perspective on your work, and reach a new audience, which will help you promote your music online.

There’s no one right way to collaborate. You can do an official remix, be featured on a track, or simply earn credits by getting involved. To avoid making too many commitments, you can use the “duet” and “stitch” features on social media. Collaborations on social media can go a long way, so get creative and team up with as many related artists as you can.

9 Tips for Successfully Promoting Your Music on Social Media

There’s no doubt that creating great music takes skill, but that’s where some musicians stop. Connecting with fans and promoting your music on social media is an incredible opportunity for bands and artists. Here are 9 ways to promote your music and grow your social media following:

1. Create a Solid Strategy

Marketing yourself doesn’t have to be a complicated task. To maximize your potential, it’s helpful to create a comprehensive marketing plan . Once you have a solid marketing strategy in place, you can streamline your efforts in the most effective way to achieve the greatest success.

2. Maintain Consistency in Your Brand

For your overall social media presence, you need to be consistent in your image. Once you’ve decided on the vibe you’re going to follow, stick to it. Keep this branding consistent across all of your social media platforms. In this regard, make sure you have the same name across all of your platforms. This will make it much easier for your audience to find you when your handle is the same across all of your platforms.

3. Find the Social Platforms That Work for You

Not all social media platforms are created equal. Some of us are constantly on Instagram and can’t seem to figure out TikTok , and vice versa. So, divide and conquer helps. If you don’t see yourself being able to maintain a TikTok account, choose the platform(s) you can follow. It’s important to focus your efforts on reasonable goals that you can actually achieve.

With Soundcharts social media monitoring, you can track all your social media data in one place. We aggregate data from all social platforms to create a single view of a cross-channel breakdown of your digital followers.

4. Be consistent in your posting frequency

We all have that one artist we follow who posts 10 times a day and in turn annoys the hell out of you every day by clogging up your feed. Don’t be that guy. Posting too much is one of the most common ways to lose followers as quickly as you gained them. Make sure you’re taking advantage of the different features each platform offers. For example, on Instagram, if you’ve already reached your maximum for posts in your feed, add a few posts to your Instagram Stories to keep things running smoothly. It’s also helpful to plan out how often you want your posts to go out in advance so you don’t get ahead of yourself.

Here’s a good rule of thumb for how often you should post:

• Twitter: 1-4 times per day;
• Facebook: 4-7 times per week;
• Instagram: 1-2 times per week.

5. Engage with Fans

Social media is, without a doubt, the best way to engage with your fans. A great way to do this is to let your audience be a part of the creative process. For example, run a campaign where you allow your fans to submit their own work via Instagram for a chance to see their work featured as the next album cover. Or you could post a snippet of a song you’re working on and let them choose the title. Things like this make your fans feel like they’re a part of the music, rather than just consumers.

6. Spread Your Content

If you have an album or song coming out soon, break it up into multiple posts. Promote it early and keep reminding everyone about it across all of your platforms. The key here is not to overdo it, so you’ll need to find a happy medium. Once you find your flow, this is a great way to build some anticipation while still keeping your audience engaged.

7. Schedule Your Posts Ahead

Having so much content to spread does bring up a problem. You’re busy being a musician and doing music-related stuff, so how can you find the time to keep track of all the posts that need to be published? Luckily for you, there are a ton of resources out there that can schedule your posts for you. Automating this process is a huge help in keeping you on a set schedule while you focus on what you really want to do. Each platform offers its own set of scheduling tools, but services like Sprout Social , Pagemodo , and Hootsuite are also great resources to help you with this.

8. Be Authentic

The best thing about social media is the ability to interact with your fans in real time. To truly connect with them, you need to be as genuine as possible. Your audience can tell if you’re not being genuine with them and will definitely stop engaging with you. This is a good place to start learning what posts are performing best on your social media and moving from there. Focus on what’s working and don’t waste time on what’s not. The more personal and genuine your content is, the more your fans will be able to connect with you.

9. Sync Your Post Across All Platforms

If you’re posting an announcement of your upcoming song on Instagram, make sure you’re promoting it on other platforms as well. Consistency is key here, and the goal is to reach as many people as possible.

Tip: If your new track has any features, be sure to tag the other artists involved. Once it spreads across all your platforms, the artists who worked with you will definitely share and repost it on theirs, which will greatly increase your reach.

Conclusion

Establishing yourself on social media takes a lot of time and effort. Don’t be discouraged if things don’t work out at first. Stay consistent in your efforts, and it will all pay off. Social media is a long game, and the only way to win is to be patient, optimize your efforts, and keep at it.