Skip the BS: How to Promote Music as an Independent Artist for Real Results

Being an independent artist shares a lot of qualities with being an entrepreneur. You are your own brand, you have to market and promote yourself constantly, and you are going to work long hours seven days a week.

For artists, creating and releasing music is simply not enough. There are 40,000 songs uploaded to Spotify every single day, meaning that there is no shortage of competition out there. This creates a need for you as an artist to identify your audience and promote you music and brand to them.

As we are wrapping up 2020, we think it's a good time to look at the four best ways to promote music as an independent artist. Today, we will tell you these four ways and tell you how to get started.

1. Promoting on Social Media

We did a series this year on the importance of social media for independent artists and how to do sponsored posts. Obviously, promoting your music on social media as we head into 2021 is essential.

Having a strong presence on social media will allow you to connect with your audience, share your music with them, and grow your brand. Especially in the absence of live music right now, there is no better way to connect with your audience than social media.

Here are some best practices when planning out your social media attack.

• Use high-quality images
• Give thought to all of your bios and make sure they are on-brand
• Have a varied content calendar
• Interact with your audience
• Link to your other profiles

Social media allows you to simultaneously promote your work and engage with your audience. It's an extremely valuable way to give your brand a personality and a face.

2. Repurpose Content

As we just mentioned in the section before, having a varied content calendar will help you on social media platforms. It will also help you with your website, email marketing, and advertisements.

In the online world, content creation is king. However, sharing the same piece of content across multiple platforms over and over again is not an effective strategy. As an artist, you may think you have a new song, so that is a piece of content and that's all you need, but that's just not true.

Here are some ways that you can make a single song into multiple pieces of content:

• Do different versions of the song; acoustic, live, collaboration, remix, etc.
• Present the song with different visuals; live performance, do a live stream, music videos, lyric videos, etc.
• Use a platform like TikTok to create a dance or other social media trend with the song.

Above all else, be interesting and be creative.

3. Get on Curated Playlists on Spotify

The value that Spotify offers artists is certainly no secret. Having a successful Spotify presence will make an enormous impact on your career.

As an artist, you know that simply having your music on Spotify is not enough to gain you the exposure that you are looking for. Meaning, to get your music in front of new people takes effort and strategy.

The goal for musicians should be to know who their target audience is and then to get their music in front of people who fit this description. By understanding how the Spotify algorithm works, you can strategize to do this.

Is your head spinning? It may be. Luckily, we here at De Novo Agency offer a service that helps you achieve this goal. Reach out to us to learn more.

4. Be Proactive with Your PR (Public Relations)

Your a new just a musician, you are not just a collection of songs. You are a brand, and it is vital that you understand that sooner rather than later.

Being a brand requires a lot of different variables and details. You want to have a thought out look, you want to promote your music and new releases properly, and you want to give people a reason to listen to you.

Your story will be important, but another important aspect will be having other people tell your story to new audiences. If you have a new release coming out, you want to be seen on other websites/blogs, do interviews, and just have an overall buzz going about you and your new music.

This will demand that you put on your "business person hat", and get out there and do some outreach to have some people do interviews, write reviews, and just get the word out. Sending out a press release is a great way to get this information out in an organized and effective way.

Getting started in this can be tough and intimidating. If you want to see how we can help, check out our Blog Placements and PR Services.

Start Planning for 2021

This insane year is wrapping up, and while it may seem like 2021 is still off on the horizon, it's time to make a plan and strategize to take your career to the next level next year. These promotional tips area great place to get started and if you need help, we would love to work with you.