So you've done all the work of the prerelease, finding the beat, getting the right vibe, cover art, etc. Most artists become a little confused and wonder what to do next. We kinda just expect the song to take off and magically bring in an audience somehow. Unfortunately, 99% of the time that isn't the case. The marketing of your music is essential to your career, its establishment, and its longevity. In this article, we’ll outline ways to drive listeners to your music in 10 effective creative ways.
1. Playlist Curators
The process of finding curators and engaging in a conversation is a little tricky and requires some detective work.
Let me give you a few examples:
First off you need to identify which playlists are trending and include the artists that are similar to your style.
Let’s just say you’re sound & vibe is similar to Tayy Brown’s
Head over to his page and click on the “About” tab.
Then, under “Discovered On,” you’ll see a list of playlists that are giving Tayy the most listeners.
After evaluating the number of followers and number of songs in these playlists, try and identify the ones that are independently owned (not the ones managed by Spotify or labels).
These are the ones that will most likely be willing to post your track.
If there’s no information on how to contact them on their personal profile, head over to Google.
Typically the keywords we search for are their“username” + Spotify/name of the playlist.
The goal is to find a contact email or social media account to reach out to.
Introduce yourself, and tell them you like their playlist. Suggest one of your tracks that could fit well in that playlist, and if they are interested to send it over.
You can also use websites that index Spotify playlists such as
It’s all about paying attention to the details and tracking down the right people.
2. GET YOUR TRACK ADDED TO ANOTHER YOUTUBE CHANNEL
I don’t think artists are utilizing this one enough. Sometimes artists can be critical about getting the views to their own YouTube channel instead, but our objective here is to get your music promoted to as many people as possible, if your music is good enough, they will find you and listen to your other songs.
Start contacting channels by email, almost every YouTube channel has a contact email address that allows you to submit your music, simply go to the channel and then the about section and click “view email address”
3. REDDIT
Have you ever wondered where viral tracks start gaining traction from?
Most things that go viral actually start on Reddit. Reddit is described as your “Front page of the internet” where people can submit links. Users then vote on these links as to how relevant and useful they are.
Reddit is a huge platform now and is broken down into subreddits, which are essential topics and groups to use.
These are the best subreddits to post your music:
Each subreddit will have its own rules on posting, so be sure to follow them. Modesty also goes down well on Reddit, anything that says along the lines of “Best music video this year” will be downvoted into oblivion. If you post your music and it doesn’t get any upvotes, try deleting the post and posting it again with a tweaked title 24 hours later, maybe you’ll catch people in a better mood.
4. COLLABORATIONS
Our fourth tip is to collaborate with others(that you genuinely vibe with). If you are struggling to get views on your videos or pages, you can strategize and offer to collaborate on a track with an artist or band who may have a bigger fan base than you right now, this will help raise awareness for you and can attract new fans from cross-promotion.
Remember if you are getting 10,000 views on your videos, don’t reach out to someone who is getting millions of views, look for an artist at the same level as you or slightly bigger, but you have to be able to offer them something, whether it is access to your fan base too, or in many cases money, but they won’t do it as a favor. You need to create value for both parties. Most importantly is to be genuine.
5. SEND TO BLOGS
Blogs are a great way to reach new audiences. Music blogs still stand on top of the leaderboard as places to discover new artists and gain credibility in the industry.
Getting your first few publications on blogs like HipHopDx, Highsnobiety, ConsequenceOfSound, EARMILK & Runthetrap.com can make you achieve significant traction amongst producers and fans. Submithub is also a great site to connect to blog owners
We recommend you always go for personal interactions with the bloggers. Your chances to have your music considered are much higher this way.
You first need to identify which writers would cover your type of music. A smart way you can do this is by googling other similar artists and where they have been covered. By searching “Lil Skies Album Review,” a list of numerous blogs that have covered his music through the years will appear.
After finding a couple of blogs to promote on we recommend sending your first pitch 10 to 14 days before the official release date (this is specific to blog premieres and exclusives).
If they don’t respond, send a polite follow up 5-7 days after the initial email.
If they don’t get back to you, still remind them on release day that your track is officially out.
For all other blog coverage, you should send your email the day it comes out, along with all streaming links for SoundCloud and Spotify.
Here are some other elements you could include in your email:
Always address the person using their first name If you had any previous business with this person, write a line to bring up whatever you worked on together, so they remember you. Never attach big files to the email. Always send streaming links (SoundCloud or Dropbox are preferred) Be polite Get straight to the point and don’t include pointless information. Have a professional-looking signature (include any social media links) Check your spelling!
6. SoundCloud Repost Channels
Reposting is still a very powerful way to get your music to a bigger audience and gain new fans.
For the new members who are reading this, reposting is the process of sharing a track on another SoundCloud profile. Here’s what it looks like:
There are multiple ways to achieve effective reposts:
Trade reposts with your friends & support each other. This is the best way to grow together and help each other out.
Send your track to smaller repost channels. A lot of channels repost music for free. In exchange, they might ask for a free shoutout or something to create equal value.
The bigger promotional SoundCloud charges money for a repost on their platforms. Usually, there are different packages, and the bigger their reach is, the more you will have to pay.
7. Plan Your Releases
For example:
Week 1: 1 month before release—finalize the master, get artwork designed, reach out to blog and YouTube channels as well as Spotify playlist circulators.
Week 2: Follow up with blogs/YouTube channels, plan out social media campaigns, finalize release details & marketing.
Week 3: Start posting teasers and pre-release content on social media with the help of influencers. Not long ago artists had to win over the radio, tv, and record company executives in order to be noticed. Nowadays it's completely different. There are many other ways to present yourself in front of the masses. Obviously, Radio, TV, and record company execs are still beneficial but they don't contribute
Week 4 (release): Upload graphics across social media, send out the release to promotional outlets and blogs, start an ad campaign, and execute.
8. Use Custom # Hashtags and Influencers
Create a hashtag that has a low usage rate and use that as the main hashtag that your supporting fans can use to discover & watch more content on you.
Influencers can also bring you traffic. Influencers are people or brands that have the following of a specific demographic. They have a built-in network of people in your target market that might be interested in your music or merch etc.
Influencers can be:
Music Bloggers
Playlist Curators
Music News Websites
Magazines & Weeklies
Celebrities & Brands
Radio Stations
TV Shows & Films
Podcasts
Other Artists
Fans
10. FanPages
Reach out to Fan Pages
Find artists that are similar to your style & reach out to 5 fan pages a day for a week. DM all 35 Fan Pages ( 2K - 30K) and ask for promo pricing or work out a partnership if you can think of a way to benefit them other than financially Drop a fire single and send a snippet to the fan pages to promote all on the same day. After having your fans repost your single on their story.
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Remember to stay consistent!
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