Musicians put together promotion strategies by leveraging all communication levels. You can collaborate with other artists, use the passion of your fans for viral advertising, and set up in person meet and greets, basement parties, or exclusive shows.
As an independent musician, you have to go above and beyond in building true engagement with potential fans and supporters. Decades ago, self-promotion was kind of taboo; almost embarrassing. But cyberspace has taken over the world. You are in a global situation full of competition, and creative advertising strategies are mandatory for unsigned artists. Your work isn’t over when you’ve released your album. It’s time to learn how to market your indie music.
Nobody likes promoting themselves, but understanding how it works will help you make your way through it.
Understanding the logistics and the mystery of do it yourself promotion tactics will create a little bit of a love interest. The time we put into something will always slowly build a bit of passion, even if we don’t see it at first. Marketing is actually interesting—it’s a strange space between psychology and skill. Since we have to promote our work anyway, we might as well learn more charismatic ways of doing it. It gives us a better portfolio in the end, and might even amp up the passion in what we’re doing.
In order to self promote with passion, you have to put your true interests, abilities and achievements out there. Learn to love who you are and the experiences you’ve had in your life. If there is no love for who you’ve become, the ability to promote your art just won’t be there. The biggest lie out there is that self promotion is bragging, or born out of selfish ego. That’s a control tactic others can use to push you out of the way. You need to just get your shoes on and step out there—you have a right to be on the playground along with the rest of them.
What kind of music artist do you really want to be known as?
When you leave this world, what is it you hope people will remember about you? Start building that reputation right now. Pick your colors. Your visuals. The sensory things that are a part of who you are. Don’t try to put together visuals and colors and branding logos that you think other people will respond to. This is you. You’re not someone else. You’re not making other people’s music (unless you are). You are someone who creates something this world could not live without. Build your own image. The image that appeals to you first. Worry about the responses later. And remember what we all know already—if what you’re doing causes a stir, you’re doing it right.
Senses are a very powerful tool when it comes to making people remember you. And this is psychology that giant brands and companies use every day to get you to remember them. If you can find a way to make people think of you when they smell something, see something, feel something; that will leave a big impression. How to do this is easy. Touch, for example—you can build a mentally connective link by associating yourself, your brand, your images, etc. with the winter climate. That’s something Black Metal artists are pretty good at. When you hear black metal, you think of darkness, snow and ice, and northern, harsh climates. There are several bands from California who consistently remind people of summer and beaches, like The Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Fabulous Playboys. Remembering the feeling of certain seasons and music groups that you associate with them is a powerful thing. Goth groups from the 80s— can bring back the memorable aromas of clove cigarettes and patchouli. If you see someone holding that clove cigarette up to their black lips in a foggy music video, you’ve created a sensory link to your audience. Always be thinking of ways to interject some synesthesia into the visuals you use for your brand, and you’ll stay ahead of a lot of people.
Leverage all available communication channels.
Linking is how people get places. Think of cyberspace as a metropolis you’re exploring. Don’t rely on one website and a couple of social media accounts to host your music. Get all your links, your brand, and your bios on artist pages like Apple for Artists and YouTube for artists, etc., get press on industry blogs and music review websites, and see if you can get your merch on bigger marketplaces like Amazon, Redbubble and Zazzle. Don’t limit your merchandise to Shopify; that’s not going to give you enough traction. Hit every place you can. You can also put together Pinterest and Tumbler pages linking specific songs, projects and images to your social media and website. Tumbler gets a lot of traffic and pushes your links around. There are so many ways to link your music out there that even those with a small budget can do it.
One great trick for independent self promotion is to compose songs to sell as royalty free music for video creators, podcasters, etc., and attach your name to it. Not only are you making extra income, but you’re building one more link in the cyberspace highway. Epidemic Sound is a great site for pulling off such a feat. They are big enough to be generating a lot of traffic, too.
Don’t discount collaborations with other artists or influencers. People are leveraging their connections to others on social media who can spread their names out. Networking might be becoming even more important now than it ever has been. There are countless tricks to getting others to tag you. Think of all the independent magazines and bloggers out there who are willing to post your picture or music on their accounts. It’s a win for everybody.
Don’t ignore your fans. The people who already love what you’re doing, whether large or small groups, will help promote you more if you just ask. Tell them to react to presaves, new releases and participate in forwarding your pictures, songs, and posts. You can offer early downloads for tagging friends, and you can offer fans two admissions to your show for the price of one to get more people there.
Promoting your music in person is still King. Old school flyers are still cool. So are fanzines and in-person meetups. You don’t have to be a celebrity to put together a meetup with fans. Turn it into a party or a barbeque; people love to get together and have a good time.
These are just a few ways to self promote your work in the upcoming year. 2024 is already promising a dynamic landscape for unsigned and independent artists. Get adaptable fast, and make sure your music becomes a significant part of an upcoming era in technology. You can do this.
