By Mitch Rice
Being a musician doesn’t necessarily mean you have the skills to be able to get your music out into the world. If you want to have other people hear your songs, you’ll need to learn a bit about marketing.
Here are 8 music marketing tips for indie musicians:
- Look For Free Resources
One of the best things you can do for yourself is research. There are a lot of free music guides and resources online that can help with learning new music, understanding more about your craft, or how to market yourself.
Another great resource is networking with other musicians. Connect with them to learn from what they’ve done in the past to see what’s worked and what hasn’t. They can also be a potential band or musician to play with in the future.
- Find Your Fan Base
Your fan base is how you’ll get anywhere with your music. You have to learn about them as much as possible. What are their demographics? Where do they spend most of their time on social media? What platforms do they primarily use to get their music?
The more you know about the people who intend to buy or listen to your music, the easier it will be to build a community with them.
- Put Your Music On All Platforms
As a self-made musician, you’re going to have to do the extra work to make your music available on all platforms. Most major channels such as Spotify and iTunes are free to distribute.
Some websites provide paid services that allow you to upload and manage your music in one place and it’ll do the work of distributing it to every available platform. Some cost as little as a one-time payment of only $20.00, while others can charge upwards of $50 per year.
Otherwise, you can do each one manually, but it will be more difficult and time-consuming to manage. Do your research when learning about which option is best for you.
- Create a Marketing Strategy
As a musician, you have to be in the mindset of an entrepreneur. Your music is your business and for any business to thrive, you need a successful marketing strategy.
This includes things such as a professional website, PR for a musician, interviews, podcast appearances, and much more.
- Send Your Music to Influencers
Utilizing influencers is a great way to tap into their following. Share your music with bloggers and social media profiles with large followings. This is what’s known as affiliate marketing.
If someone loves your music, they may be willing to do it for free. Otherwise, you may need to pay for the exposure. Micro-influencers typically are excited to be asked to share content. These are people with a fan base of around 1,000 to 10,000 followers.
- Capitalize On Your Website
Think of your website as your digital business card. It’s a portfolio of music and content that shares who you are as a person and what you can offer as a musician.
It’s also a great way to make extra income by selling music and merchandise directly through you, making you the most money possible.
- Use a Subscription Site
As much as you’d love to be making the big bucks, you won’t be generating a lot of revenue from your music at first. This is why subscription-based websites are a great place to make extra income while generating buzz about your music.
Patreon is an excellent example. You can set up various tiers that allow members to subscribe. Each tier will provide certain exclusive content, such as one new free song each month, or they can pay more to get full access to a brand new album every year.
People love exclusivity and feel as if they belong to something. This could be a great place to start.
- Hire Outside Help
If you have the extra money, it might be worth investing in a little extra help. Digital marketing experts can get your music in front of the eyes of more people online than you may have the ability to.
Some radio stations offer a paid option to have your music played both online and through traditional channels. Public relations experts who have experience in the music industry have connections they’ve built over the years.
Summary
Marketing might be one of the least fun parts of your career as a musician. It’s all about finding ways to make it more exciting. Just remember that your fans are number one.
Focus on building a community with them and they’ll be more encouraged to share your music with their networks. Word of mouth can be an extremely valuable tool in your music marketing tactics.
