The growth of the internet has successfully impacted a number of industries, including the music industry.
It’s no earth-shattering news that the internet has changed the music industry for good. Local and International artists have boomed by just putting their music online. Years back, Cassper Nyovest put out ‘Doc Shebeleza’ for free online, the rest was history. Nasty C dropped his award-winning debut album free online. And Riky Rick has advised all the young kids who can’t get their music played on the radio to put it on the internet.
After all, why not?…
File sharing, streaming, social media and eCommerce platforms are giving artists free opportunities to put out their music to larger audiences and increase their fan base. But having so much on a silver platter can be quite stressful for an artist when it comes to choosing the effective and correct platform. Either it’s social media or a streaming service, the goal is to engage with your fans, not ‘just’ constantly post about your music and ask your fans for money. You have to see the results and numbers.
So to ease the pain, we have put together a number of ‘effective’ ways to promote your music online, without even spending much.
Social Media is the Major Key
Both Facebook and Twitter are great marketing tools for musicians, however, many musicians use them incorrectly – spamming people with links in messages and comments in an attempt to get more followers and likes. Well, forget that it doesn’t work. It cannot grow your fan base. Tweet tagging AKA or Cassper or DJ Speedsta on each of your music link doesn’t help, as this can be annoying to them and you might fall on their block-list.
Remember, social media isn’t just about getting a bunch of likes, if you want to have success in social media, it’s important to treat it as a tool for fan engagement rather than a promotional platform.
On Twitter
Twitter not only keep fans informed about your news but it can also make them feel closer to the whole process when you tweet about things you’re working on as you’re doing them. The trick is not to go too far and overload people with so much info they ignore your tweets.
This is the front page of all things breaking, Twitter’s the perfect place for music fans to find their next favorite artist, which could be you. Give them the opportunity to find you first by using popular hashtags like #newmusic, #SAHipHop, #rap, #jazz or the music style of your choice when tweeting out new tunes. Also, keep an eye out for hot music hashtags like #MusicMonday and #NewMusicFriday when operating your twitter account for added exposure.
And if you have been paying attention you will notice that more of our local hip hop artists; Jr, K.O, Okmalumkoolkat, Riky Rick, Moozlie to mention a few, release their new tunes either on a Monday or a Friday. So take advantage!
Social interaction is the point of Twitter, so jump into the conversation. Not only may you end up building relationships with people that can help you in your music career, but you will also draw people back to your own Twitter page, where all of your news about your new release, tour dates and more can be found. You may even draw in some new fans.
Here are some ideas about things your can tweet about to keep music fans interested:
– Updates from the studio when recording
– Updates on the manufacturing process (announce when artwork is finished, when the master has been approved, when finished copies are delivered, etc)
– Reminders about release dates, shows and other news
– Where are you performing
– News about deals it’s ok to talk about
– Day to day work news
On Facebook:
The more people who like your Facebook page, the more people you reach with every post. Don’t spend a huge amount of time online actually trying to get new people to follow you online. Rather, dedicate your social media time to creating an exciting page and engaging with the people that already follow you. You’ll keep your existing fans happy, and your page will always look active to new fans.
Your Facebook page is for promoting your music, but if that’s all you do on it, you won’t get very far. Instead, mix some personal stories in with your announcements of music related stuff.
Here are some ideas about things your can post about to keep music fans interested:
– Updates from the studio when recording
– Updates on the manufacturing process (announce when artwork is finished, when the master has been approved, when finished copies are delivered, etc)
– Reminders about release dates, shows and other news
– Where are you performing
– News about deals it’s ok to talk about
– Day to day work news
If everything you post on social media is promotional and an attempt to drive sales, people aren’t going to care about your posts and may unfollow you. To keep followers and drive engagement, it’s a good idea to follow the social media rule of thirds:
– One third of your posts should be promotional.
– One third of your posts should provide value to your fans.
– One third of your posts should engage fans in some way.
Get your own YouTube Channel
Now, this is another important part…YouTube. You might think this platform is for only people who want to watch music videos, but this is another great music platform. You’ll be surprised how many people stay on YouTube each day streaming music. It’s useful (in terms of “search”) to make “videos” for your music that simply show your album art while a song plays! Having a YouTube Channel is fundamental. Artists that you know very well… like Justin Bieber and The Weeknd were discovered on YouTube. If you have been paying attention, you will notice alot of artists would first put a single (as audio) on YouTube before they actually release a video for that single.
So if you have a song, convert it to a video file (.mp4, .avi etc) , use the artwork of the single as the main image and put it on YouTube.
Further, try record most of your studio sessions, live performances, freestyles, message behind songs and simply share them on YouTube. You’ll never know who’s watching. A great example on this will be a kid by name Jay Makopo. The kid will simply remix/ freestyle popular local hip hop songs and even shoot music videos for them. That’s how most of his fans and people discovered the boy. Check his channel here.
Find & Reach Out to Music Bloggers
Now, this another simple measure to take advantage of. All you have to do is get a popular music blogger to post your latest music, hype your next show or even review your album will earn you some serious street cred, and some genuine new fans. Many bloggers have their email addresses or social channels listed on their posts, so try reaching out to them with a short intro and a link to one of your songs. Start by researching popular music blogs in your area and send the bloggers your EPK with a good professional email intro. The best blog for your music will differ from genre to genre, but our platform YoMzansi.com caters all genres, and we feature new releases, album reviews and profile upcoming artists (submit here). And for Hip Hop fellas check out Slikouronlife , the platform features young and upcoming acts and their music.
Build a Mailing List & use Newsletter
Email marketing is 40 times as effective as Facebook and Twitter, combined. Artists, writers, corporations, organizations…they all use it. This is much more effective than simply sending the entire tour dates list to every subscriber, and results in fewer people unsubscribing from your mailing list.
For this one, we would recommend Mailchimp.com which is a free email marketing tool. The best example for this one is VTH Season and Cashtime Life who will send out newsletters weekly to give an update about their artists, their music, tour dates and news.
Take advantage of SoundCloud
Sure most of ya’all know of this one…SoundCloud, the platform makes your music searchable, accessible, linkable and embeddable. And what I love about it, is the interface and it’s structure to accommodate artist; it’s free, easy to sign up, provides basic analytics, allows you to make your music streamable and/or downloadable, provides you with custom and easy-to-share links to your music, and works seamlessly with Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other social media outlets. SoundCloud is also a cool forum for connecting – it has all the follow, re-post, like and comment features of a social network, plus you can send tracks to music media outlets and other artists on SoundCloud via SoundCloud Messaging.
When putting your music on SoundCloud, be sure to put links to buy the song/album, links to your website/other social media, and any other relevant info about the song/album in the about entry field, so that the info appears as additional content.
Got more ideas to share? Drop your comments below & Join the conversation , even on our Twitter or Facebook :
