google-site-verification: google73fd06521940cdfe.html Noneillah: How to Promote Your Music?

Saturday, October 22, 2022

How to Promote Your Music?

 How to Promote Your Music?





 

Before engaging in any music promotional activities, the first thing you should do is build a Marketing Package for your Single. A Song Marketing Package will help you target the right audience and build a list of contacts that will most likely engage with you in order to promote your song. It helps you clearly articulate what your song is about and gives you the tools to achieve the results you’re looking for–exposure. In order to fully maximize your exposure potential, you’ll need to answer and provide the following items…

Here’s How to Promote a Single Release

  1. The What. What is the song about? Describe in a few sentences what the song is about and why you wrote it.
  2. The Who. Who should care about it? Describe in a few sentences who needs to hear it. Include demographics and interests such as age, gender, income, occupation, ethnicity, religion, hobbies, and their favorite mainstream artists. This is your target audience.
  3. The Why. Why should they care about it? Describe in a few sentences what impact your song will have on your target audience. What will listening to the song do for them? Looking at your song in this light will help you build a story for the song that people can resonate with. 
  4. Visuals 
    • Song artwork. Each Single Release should have its own artwork to legitimize your work and to look more professional. We like Canva, free software to create artwork. However, if you’re looking for something a bit more artsy and sophisticated, you can try looking at these designers on Fiverr here and here. They provide affordable graphic design and imaging services to help illustrate the story behind your song.
    • Promo pics. Make sure your promo pics accurately represent the genre and overall brand messaging of the song. Your promo picture should be compelling and professional. It may be beneficial to add some retouching to your promo picture as well. 
  5. Elevator Pitch. You’ve heard of creating an elevator pitch for your brand, but we’re recommending an elevator pitch for each single you release. An elevator pitch for a song offers a quick way for people to learn about you and your new release in just one glance. To create an elevator pitch for your song all you need to do is combine the name of your song, your genre, the subject of the song, what musical artist your song mostly sounds like, and how your song is a little different. Example: With a sound described as the unvarnished tapes of India.Arie, Anitra Jay’s newest release, ‘Crown and Glory’, is an acoustic soul anthem about the beauty of natural hair with a bluesy twist. 
  6. One-Page Flyer. A one-page flyer helps you communicate your message in a visual manner. It combines most of the pertinent information from the Who, What, and Why sections as well as your elevator pitch along with your images. Including a jpg of this one-page flyer in your email or having a physical copy is very helpful for getting your message across quickly. Check out an example of a one-page flyer here.
  7. Press Pack. Create an online page or a shareable folder that includes all materials people would need to feature you such as…
    • MP3s
    • Your Contact Information
    • Artist Bio
    • Flyer
    • Press Release
    • Promo images and song artwork
  8. Optional: Create a CC License for the song. If someone wants to feature your song especially on YouTube or a Podcast, they may ask for a Creative Commons license. This gives them the right to play your song without assuming copyright liability.

 Once you have the marketing package created, now it’s time to promote. Here are 10 effective ways you can promote your new release in order to get your music out there for people to listen to.

  1. Contact the media. Create a list of 20 media contacts who directly speak to your target audience. Send them a downloadable link to your song along with your one-sentence pitch and your 1-Page flyer. Do this for steps 2, 3, and 4 as well.
    • Media contacts include local music critics, morning news stations, music magazines, local, and state newspapers, and local radio and college radio stations.
    • Be sure to explain why their audience would be interested in hearing the song. 
    • Consider also linking the shareable folder you created that includes all marketing materials.
    • Offer to do an interview or a live performance.
  2. Capitalize on special interest marketing. Besides traditional media connections, you can also send the song to other special interest media types who speak directly to your target audience. A special interest would be a hobby, a value, or a belief. For example, when I released my album about natural hair, I sent my song to blogs that write about natural hair. (Be careful to only reach out to specific parties who discuss topics that are related to your song or who have audiences that match your target audience.)
    • Blogs
    • YouTube Channels
    • Podcasts
    • Influencers 
      • Pro Tip: If you have a budget, use paid influencer marketing programs to boost your exposure. Just one strategically worded tweet from an influencer can send a massive amount of people to your track or website. You can find lists of reputable influencers for free here.
  3. Get in the music connoisseur space. Promote your song with music blogs that cover independent music. 
  4. Go worldwide. Send the song to online radio stations. Check out our radio station directory here. It includes online and college radio stations in all major genres. Plus, we update it and add new stations to the directory every month.
  5. Send the song out to your audience using all available channels…
    • Email
    • Text
    • Social Media
    • Snail Mail – Send a postcard to all your fans whom you have physical mailing addresses for with a link to listen to and/or purchase the song.
  6. Capitalize on SEO Tactics. Write 3 or more search engine-optimized blog posts about your new release. Use relevant keywords that would give you high positioning on search engine results pages. 
    • Add the blogs to your website.
    • You can also send them as guest posts to relevant blogs.
    • Be sure to add all keyword tags in the title, and image descriptions, and include meta descriptions for each blog post on your website.
  7. Create a social media campaign and schedule frequent posts for your new release daily for two weeks, weekly for one month, monthly, and then sporadically throughout the remainder of the year.
    • In order for this to be effective you’ll need to diversify your content so that it’s not redundant. Use your song marketing package as a guide to creating interesting content. Some ideas include song reviews, why you wrote the song, how you wrote the song, the instrumentation you used, the recording process, the meaning behind the song, and visuals associated with it, people who inspired the song, experiences that inspired the song, your elevator pitch, why the song is important, where the song has been or is being featured, any contests associated with the song, videos associated with it, and so forth there are many ways you can promote your new release on social media without seeming redundant.
    • Don’t forget to use a call-to-action, such as “Stream (Song Title) on Spotify Now” or “Get It Now For only $0.99” to prompt people to do something after seeing the promotion.
    • See our article 10+ Ways to Promote Your New Release on Social Media for more fun and engaging ideas about promoting your new song on Social media platforms.
    •  Create a playlist on Spotify and SoundCloud. Name something specific. Use content already created from your Song Marketing Package to create a compelling and interesting description for the playlist. Add similar songs from other artists to the playlist.
    • If you do this on Spotify, you can search other playlists with a similar theme and share your song with the author for potential inclusion on their playlists.
      • If you include songs from independent artists on your playlist, coordinate with them so they’ll market the playlist to their audience.
      • It may be helpful to create specific artwork for the playlist.
      • Send the playlist out to your list and promote it on Social Media.
      • This works extremely well for songs that tie in to an upcoming holiday, a current event or a controversy.

      •  Create a video campaign. Create a series of videos to feature the new release. P.S. If you don’t have a decent video camera yet, here’s an affordable one we really like on Amazon. It’s a Best Seller!

        • Lyric Video
        • Traditional Music Video 
        • Film a video of you sharing the meaning behind the song and why you wrote it. 
        • Background Scenes and bloopers (from options B and C above)
        • Pair your song with a cause, a recent event, a motivational message, or a thought. Show snippets of you performing the song and clips of you talking about the issue and how the song relates. For several of my releases, I did a series of Bible Devotionals where I paired a song with a scripture. See an example here.
        • Create a Karaoke version of your new release and post it on YouTube.
        • Get your fans to make a video of their own using your single. Make it a contest and offer a prize for the best video. If you’ve done distribution for the song and have Content ID set up or something similar, you may get song royalties every time it’s played on YouTube. Also, this will give you additional content to promote on social media.

        10. Go Local. Work with local coffee shops, cafes, and record stores to boost local promotion. Talk to managers and shop owners in your local area for consignment opportunities. If they’re willing to work with you, it can be very beneficial to set up a partnership. For example, they can play your music over their loudspeaker, include your song or album as part of a point-of-purchase display, or allow you to create promo materials that they use to service their customers such as custom coffee cup sleeves, napkins, and coasters. Another thing you can do is offer free gifts near a register such as custom guitar picks. Be sure to include your artwork and a link or code to listen to your song on the promo items.

        Bonus Tip for US readers… If you’d like to get your song played at businesses nationwide, submit your music with Mood Media. They are responsible for Muzak, the music you hear at salons, hotels, retail shops, restaurants, and other businesses.

      • If you’re about to promote a single release, the first thing to do is come up with a solid plan and marketing strategy. Once you’ve done that, it’s just a matter of following through with the plan.  When promoting their work, unfortunately, a lot of artists struggle with limited results. This is oftentimes, due to not having a core marketing package and/or not executing it properly. The key is putting together a good plan and carrying it out fully. Stay the course and you’ll start to see positive results.

      • Some of the links in this post could be affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and make a purchase, we could get a commission payment as a result. We are an Amazon Associate, so a lot of our links go directly to Amazon, one of our fave online retailers. The products we recommend on this site are personally recommended by us because we either have used the product personally or know close friends who have. There is no extra cost to you by clicking on our links. Plus, it helps keep this blog going. Win-Win! If you have any questions about our affiliate policy, click here to view our terms of service.

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    • How to Submit:  Follow this link to learn how to submit your music.

      Radio Paradise | Radio Paradise is Old Fashioned Radio for the 21st Century. It carefully blended together each hour of music to flow smoothly between different musical styles & genres – just like real DJs used to do on FM. We don’t use the computer-generated playlists or “carefully researched music libraries” that have sucked the soul out of FM radio – and we never just throw songs together at random the way many web stations do.

      How to Submit:  To submit music, you must first create an account, then go to this page: https://www.radioparadise.com/music/submissions/submit. All music must be submitted as links via Youtube, Soundcloud, Spotify, etc.

      KALX Radio | KALX 90.7 FM broadcasts freeform radio 24 hours a day to a large portion of the San Francisco Bay Area. You can catch all stripes of underground music accented with news, sports and alternative informational programming. KALX has a wonderfully dedicated staff of student and community volunteers who are willing to explore with and educate their listeners. KALX is regular folks doing wild, unpredictable, extraordinary radio. All of our programs are homespun, we don’t depend on satellite feeds. Rather we create programs from, and for our community (a community that includes both the University of California, Berkeley student population AND the surrounding area). As part of our mission to educate, every KALX DJ is encouraged to play a variety of musical styles and genres. Rather than segregating music into limited boxes, this philosophy is an attempt to entertain the listener while broadening their musical experience. A pretty fun way to be educated, don’t ya think!

      How to Submit:  Instructions for sending music are on their FAQ page: https://www.kalx.berkeley.edu/faq-page.

      GotRadio | GotRadio is a free online internet radio station network with 48 channels of professionally programmed music. GotRadio features MP3 music downloads via Amazon.com. They are looking for artists who perform rock, alternative, AAA, or pop.

      How to Submit: Submit via the contact form listed on the website.

    • AndHow.FM | andHow.FM is a grassroots, not-for-profit, fully licensed, independent radio station featuring hand-curated collections of international new indie rock, alternative, modern & vintage rock.

      How to Submit:  Submit music via the contact form listed on their website.

      KINT98 Online Network |  KINT98 is a free internet radio station that has a WIDE variety of music for everyone to enjoy. Covering everything from Classic Rock, ’70s Disco, Alternative Rock, Soul/Motown, The Big ’80s, ’50s & ’60s Oldies, Country, Contemporary Pop & Latin Rock, R&B Hip Hop, ’70s Soft Rock, Techno Dance, there’s something for everyone’s taste in music. Kint98.com is based in El Paso, TX.

      How to Submit:  Send MP3s as an e-mail attachment and in the subject line type “SONG SUBMISSION”. Send any links and other information you want mentioned in the broadcast. In the music file name, include the artist & song title. They will contact you when they have received your music. E-mail your submission to kint98@aol.com. Instructions are listed on their website. Double-check their website to make sure these instructions are up to date.

      3Wk | Freeform Indie, 80’s/90’s, and Classic Rock Radio

      How to Submit: Special instructions for submissions are listed on their website.

      TMV Cafe Radio | With a mission is to tell the world about great independent artists, what’s not to love. TMV Cafe Radio features a wide variety of independent music from all genres. They offer different types of shows hosted by different DJs all week long.

      How to Submit: Artists can send MP3’s to tmvcafe@gmail.com. The staff listens to every song. If they like what they hear they will ask the artist to send a letter granting TMV Cafe Radio permission to play their music. Their only other requirement is that their artists to tell the world their music can be heard on TMV Cafe Radio. 

      96.9 The Oasis | “96.9 The Oasis” is free form Smooth Jazz Radio that plays the perfect blend of Smooth Jazz and some Adult Contemporary Music with NO COMMERCIALS and is an outlet for Indie Artists! You’ll hear all the usual artists like Boney, Benoit, Kenny G, and Euge Groove in addition to artists like Phil Collins, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, and more! Plus Indie Artists like Chuck Eaton, Joe Yander, James Colah, Kiki Love and Frank Piombo, and more!

      How to Submit: 96.9 The Oasis welcomes fresh new Indie. Just send samples of your work either by Dropbox or email to connect@969theoasis.com. MP3s are accepted but must include tags such as Artist – Song Title. No way files! Also, please include an artist bio so they know who you are. Submitting your music for AirPlay is always free! NO PAY-TO-PLAY! Fill out the contact form listed on their website.

      KEOS 89.1 FM | KEOS is committed to the creation of radio broadcasting by and for a public of diverse cultures, ages, income levels, and backgrounds, under-served and under-represented by other area media.

      KEOS provides musical, cultural, and informational programming that celebrates and expresses the diversity of the community. It shall provide a voice for groups in the community that may otherwise go unheard, sustaining a forum for alternative points of view on local, national, and international issues, with particular awareness to women, students, labor, minorities, and other public interest constituencies. KEOS will promote understanding between cultures and serve as a catalyst for positive social change within the community.

      To submit your music see the information here: http://keos.org/wp/contact-us/music-questions/.

Click this link https://www.thecraftymusician.com/10-highly-effective-ways-to-promote-a-single-release-yourself/

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