music marketing

Control the distribution

There is a popular saying that content is king. But I know alot of great content creators who are still trying to get the word out about their work.

They are even some that are highly dependent on others to do the distribution for them. This puts a restriction on what gets out and how often things can go out.

An example of this was in 2020 Tye Tribbett wanted to release a song. His label has reservations. He went on a rant on the internet about the issue.

I don’t know all the details except what I saw but my concern was this was a known headlining gospel artist that had little control of how his music is put out.

Compare that with Lacrae who has his own label. Even though he was signed to a major label for awhile he controls his distribution of his music.

Another example is Jamaican artist. They create lots of music but have little to no access to an audience. They have fans but they don’t control the method to reach them.

Think about it, you write and record a song. Shoot a video or whatever and then try to get other people to send it out for you. Part of that is what is known as influencer marketing.

Some try to get interviews on various platforms. Others get someone else to get the word out entirely.

What if there is a way that you can reach your audience directly. People who know you and want to here from you? Well you can. Build an audience for yourself and talk to them directly.

Seth Godin wrote about a concept called permission marketing. Which is simply get permission to contact someone who is interested in what you are doing.

The simplest way is email. The other is social media following. But the goal is to create a method to reach your fans directly that you control.

Though you may use other methods. Make sure you build an asset that you control.

Tyler perry built his empire organically collecting emails from persons who visited his plays.

Work at building that audience and overtime you will be in a position to expand your reach.

5 reasons why having more than music is good marketing

Learning how to effectively market your music is a skill all artiste should have. With the many social media channels, using it effectively can help you as a n artist promote yourself in at an affordable cost. But your music isn’t the only thing that you can use to promote yourself.

Here’s the thing. There’s a practice that I see many artiste do online. Especially when they have a new song promoting. Every chance they get they post their music. They will send you a message every day with the same song. Not to mention post the song under other people’s post as a reply.

For example I will post a flyer about an upcoming event. An artiste comments on the flyer with a link to their song on YouTube.

Another example I will get a DM on Instagram from an artiste. When I check the message its a link to YouTube with a request to listen their new song. I have even seen people post a song on someone’s Facebook profile on their birthday.

When I see it done I ask myself the question is it very effective? Are they building a following on social media by doing it? Or are they turning people away?

Here are 5 reasons why having more than music is a good way to build a loyal following online.

1. It broadens your reach

The first place where most artiste look to promote their songs is radio. Especially radio shows that they know play their kind of music. They also target entrainment blogs, newspapers and magazines for reviews.

Then they apply the same concept online. On social media they post the song every chance they get. But they fail to move beyond the music.

Doing this can shift the focus off the music and more on the message. Focusing on the message can open up new audiences for you to promote yourself.

For example, reggae artist Spice released a song about the color of her skin and if she was lighter things might be better. What she did to promote the song I think was genius. She deleted all her Instagram pictures and posted only one. The picture was her with a lighter skin color.

The result was that everybody was talking about it. They even thought that Spice changed her skin color. It was believable. But later she revealed that she is promoting a new song. The campaign brought the message to the front and center.

2. Introduce your fans to things you are interested in

Beyond the music you must like other things. Like sports, art, books, clothes. Your fans might have similar interest to you as well. You can use your social media channels to talk about them and share a bit with your fans. What this does is move the conversation beyond just music and make your brand more interesting.

As a music fan, I always research my favorite artist. I want to find interviews with them talking about their story. How they grew up, what they like. What other music they listen to. What books they read. The type of movies they like to watch.

If you can talk about these things it can help you engage with your fans.

3. Give you more things to talk about on your blog in between releases

Having something to share with your fans is a good thing. After you have released a new song what else can you talk about? That’s the question you should always seek to answer. How can I keep my fans engaged and let them appreciate the song more?

That’s the next step. Focusing on the message of the song, the process, and more will give you more ideas for content. You can share bits and pieces overtime. You wont suffer from mental blocks because you will always have something to say.

4. Makes you seem human

If all you post is your song then after awhile people will start to tune you out. Beyond the music what else is there about you that can build your relationship with your fans.

When you share your interest it makes you more relatable. Fans will understand who you are and get to know you a bit better. These people will become hardcore fans.

For example many artiste struggle with certain issues but never talk about them. Fans who suffer from the same issue can benefit from you sharing your story and how you found a solution.

When Linkin Park frontman Chester Bannington committed suicide, there were a number of fans expressing how their music helped them through difficult times. Your music will have a similar impact and that’s why its important to move beyond the music.

5 It helps you connect with your fans more

The last reason is it helps you connect with your fans. You can engage with them in a more meaningful way through the stories you share. The experiences you have and the solutions you find to common problems.

What you share can be anything. It could be your faith, your favorite food, your hobbies outside of music. Your fans will appreciate you for doing it. When you share consistently it will build a momentum and give people more reasons to follow you besides your music.

Conclusion

The point i’m trying to make is this, share a little bit more about who you are. Become content creators online and give people a reason to come back for more. Music is just one option. The question is what else is there?

What are some of the ways you use to engage your fans between releases? leave a comment below.

7 ways to market your music independently in 2020

You spend hours writing, recording and mixing your new single or EP. Its now perfect and everyone who heard it love it. Now its time to let the world outside of your close friends and family hear your music. There’s one problem how do you go about doing that as an independent artiste?

With the rise of social media and the million ways to get your music out to the world which is the right one for you? This is even worse if you are just starting out. No one knows who you are. You have no contacts to anyone? You might as well quit because the road seems long and hard.

That’s what I thought when I was just starting out as a music producer 10 years ago. I didn’t know what I was doing. All I had was an EP compilation and a love for what I was doing. Which was making reggae gospel music.

After some trial and error, lots of reading and asking other musician questions I complied a list of things that will help any musician market their music independently.

Get your music played on the radio

The first place to start is getting a wider audience hear your music. The best place for that is on the radio. Radio reach millions of people on a daily basis. So the prospects of you reaching your fans on the radio is huge.

With the rise of social media and streaming services like Spotify and apple music listening to the radio has gotten less. But don’t count it out as an effective marketing tool for your music.

Outside of getting your music played on the radio you can get a live in studio interview on the radio. This can introduce you and your music to new audiences. If they like your story and your music they will search for you online. This can be a win in the long run if your line up multiple interview around your new release across different radio stations.

Get your music featured on podcast

Podcast is the internets alternative to radio shows. Millions of people listen to podcast on a daily basis. They all have different topics that span from politics to business to even your favorite hobby. These podcasters use music in their intro and outro. They also love to share interesting stories to their listeners.

You can use this to your advantage to share your story and interest to podcast listeners. This can broaden your audience and reach for your music it. You can also have podcasters use your music in their show. So with each episode persons will hear your song.

Apart from doing interview many dj’s have podcast where they play music. You can get your music featured in the podcast. Every genre you can think of has a music podcast on the internet.

Get your music featured on streaming playlist

Streaming playlist has become the new radio. Songs can become successful if they get featured on the right playlist. That’s because millions of music fans check these playlist for new music frequently.

Spotify, Apple music Deezer and other all have curated playlist by taste makers as well as playlist by regular fans. If you can get your music on these playlist it can help your song get traction online. That’s because more persons are listening to your song and sharing it with others.

Get your song review on blogs

Blogs have been around for a long time and they are as equally important today. Many magazines back in the day and now have music review sections. These writers listen to music and share their opinion on what they heard. Getting featured can help introduce you to the persons who read those magazines. Music blogs has been added to this mix.

Somewhere on the internet are a group of people who write about your kind of music everyday. Some do it for the love . Others do it for money and love. Their reason is not important. What’s important is if they like your song and willing to share it with their readers.

Music blogs can be compared to getting featured in the entertainment section of your local newspaper. But the good thing about it is that you can link to it and share the article with your friends and fans.

Get a write up in the newspaper

Your local newspaper is also a good way to spread the word about your music. People still read the newspaper whether online or the physical copy. Most newspapers have an entertainment section. You can send your press kit to the editor and if they like it you can get featured in the local paper.

The key to getting write up in the newspaper is ensure your press release has a relevant news angle. Meaning its can’t be just about your song. Tie to something relevant and interesting that will get the editors attention. That way they will be ready to feature the song in the paper.

Cross promote with other artist

Another way to promoting your music is collaborating with other artist. Especially artist with a larger following than you. The reason for doing this is because they can introduce you to their audience.

A perfect example of this is dancehall artiste Bounty Killa. He has collaborated and help to break out many successful dancehall artist. What he would do is feature them on songs, give them segments on live events and so on. This help the new artist build their own fanbase. The same concept can be used today.

To utilize this concept you can get successful artist to share your song on their social media pages. Send the song to their email list as well as help introduce you to taste makers.

Send your music to Dj’s

The next way to promote your music is finding and sending your music to dj’s. These people play music live, whether at events or on radio. Their audiences maybe small or large but they play music on a regular basis.

To do this find all the djs who play your type of music. Introduce yourself and ask them for their email address to send music. Then send the song with some information about yourself. That’s it.

Keep in mind some of them get music sent to them on a regular basis. They may not respond to your email right away if at all. But keep trying and one day they will respond and pay attention to your music.

Send the music your fans

The last way I want to talk about in this blog is sending music to your fans. While its good to collaborate and use other channels to promote your music. You don’t have any control over these channels. You have to depend on others to push your music. So its important to have a channels that you can use to send music directly to your fans.

This can be posting the song on your YouTube channel, Facebook page and Instagram account. You can also send it to your email list of fans and post an update about your music on your blog. That way when persons search for you the channels you control the first set of options they find.

Conclusion

These are just 7 things you can do today to market your music independently. They are all free but will take a lot of time to get any sort of tracking. But all in all keep at it and you will see the results you are looking for.

What are some of the methods you use to promote your music independently let me know in the comments?