Creating great music is only half the battle these days. With shrinking attention spans, artists’ must also find a way to grab the attention of people, create branding and invest in social media. Yes, the quality of music is highly important but if you have great music and no plan to get the right ears listening then you will, more than likely, be unsuccessful. Music is being released every day by people all around the world. Make sure yours doesn’t get lost in the crowd by following these easy steps.
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Music Distribution
Your song is complete… now what? It’s important to get your music heard by an audience. The best way to do that is to utilize streaming services. While CDs are still a relevant technology in some genres, streaming services like Spotify allow your music the potential to be seen by millions from the comfort of their handheld device. You can use services like CD Baby and Tune Core to get your music on all major music streaming services.
Eye-Catching Artwork
They say never judge a book by its cover but we all know eye-catching artwork is one of the first things that draws us to any work of art. Hire a professional photographer or graphic designer to help with this task. It’s an important step that should not be skipped. If you are low on budget, you can use free services like Canva or Adobe Spark to create your own artwork.
Promote on Social Media
This goes without saying, it’s key to reach your target audience when promoting your music. There’s no better way to reach your audience than catering to your current following. Let them know that you have new music and where they can find it and add a link to the music in your bio. Find creative ways to announce and promote upcoming projects. Using methods such as giveaways will help give people engage with the new material.
Use the Right Hashtags
Hashtags are a great tool to take advantage of social networking sites. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are cluttered with tags that will do absolutely nothing for you. But if you use the art of hashtags correctly, new people will be able to find your music and it will increase your engagement. For example, using “#music” is not likely to garner any new attention because it has 258 million posts. You want to use hashtags like “#newhiphopartist” that have less than 25k posts as it will have much more visibility. Get specific with the hashtags you use. The more specific you get, the more likely your target audience will be able to find you.
Don’t Stop Making Music
So you’ve made the best song ever. What’s next? Even if this is your best work to date, you can’t stop creating. The music industry is fast moving and fans are always waiting for the next release. Keep your music library updated with new tracks on a consistent basis. You can also try collaborating with other artists to help diversify your catalog. Your fans are the bread and butter for your music career. Make sure to keep them happy with new music for them to enjoy.