Author: pete

Music marketing is how record labels and artists promote music to their target audience. Music marketing consists of multiple factors, for example, social media, press campaigns, online advertising, radio play and film placements. These combined make the ultimate marketing machine. But what some ways to achieve it?

Twitter this twitter that

Twitter is a vast network, consisting of millions of users, retweets and hashtags. It is a powerhouse for music marketing. To gain exposure over Twitter, you need to be consistent and should he check with your posting. Set up a posting schedule; for example, you could post promotional tweets in the morning and more lighthearted tweets in the afternoon. If you do this for a solid week and have a look at the analytics, you will be able to see which tweets are the most effective. Once you establish useful tweets, do more of them and reevaluate in a few weeks.

Remember to use #hashtags when posting content. If you did not know a hashtag is a form of metadata used on social networks and is away the uses to find particular material which is relatable to the hashtag. Again, use the analytic’s built into Twitter to establish which are most active.

Facebook it

Facebook is a funny one for music marketing. You can have thousands of followers on your page however only a handful will see the post. Here’s a top tip. Head to your page’s admin settings and have a look at the engagement analytics; Facebook kindly show you which days and times people engage with your content. Once you have established this, create a posting schedule and start lining up your content. Review this in a week and see if you will reach an engagement has increased. If not, reevaluate and try again. The key to successful Facebook posts is consistency and a lot of trial and error. Try out different images and wording. Your audience may like communicating in memes. They could like long-form style posts. Try a few and reports back to us with your findings.

Fan promos

If you are in the music industry, sending DJ promos is not uncommon. However what is unusual is to send your fans a promo before the official release. Madness? No, not at all. You could put your top fans to work in exchange for your music via promo.

Set up a landing page showcasing your music but also include an email input form. Ask your fans to subscribe to your mailing list and have an automatic response email asking your fans to share the landing page to their friends. However, set criteria; in the initial auto-reply email ask your fans to screenshot them posting the landing page and for them to email it to you. Tell them you will choose 5 lucky people to receive an early release via promo email. This will help create buzz and traffic to the music.

Get featured on Podcasts

Podcasts have been around a while and are becoming increasingly popular. This could be used to your advantage. For example, if you wish to promote drum and bass, we recommend you start searching for drum and bass podcasts. Shows like Hospital Podcast allow music to be submitted for feature consideration. Take a look at their websites and grab the relevant email addresses. Often they’ll have a public submission email address. Use promo software, like Promo.ly to send them your latest track.

We hope these brief, informative ideas help when promoting your next hit. There is no secret sauce with music marketing. Grab an idea and go with it. If it fails, try again until it succeeds. For more information on music marketing, Promo.ly have an extensive blog especially for you!

Now, this is the ultimate question. What should music promotion companies do for you? Should they promote your music? Should they get you interviews with top magazines? Do they write the press release details? Do they tell you what is going on? Confused..?

Promo.ly have worked with a good deal of PR companies over the years and each of them work in their own unique way.

Let’s explore further into the world of music promo companies

This topic is subjective and depends on the company you are working with. It also depends on your budget; music promotion isn’t cheap and if it is, you may need to question who you’re working with. Promotion & marketing is a skill, normally comprising a lot of trial and error. What works for someone else doesn’t mean it will work for you? Aphex Twin’s team likes to spray paint his logo and launch blimps into the sky to announce albums. Others like a more traditional approach, such as email campaigns and promo mail-outs to gain features. Would this work for you? Maybe, but I bet there’s a better solution which suits your record label. 

Promotion companies should explain how they work and what they intend to do with your music. This process should be collaborative. Remember, you’re paying them to work on your behalf. The music PR team should have a good track record. They should be approachable and want to work with you. They should also keep you informed about what’s going on, and what is working and not working so well. The PR company should extend your record label or company. It’s no use the PR company doing their own thing and keeping you out of the loop. Think about the PR company being the boat and you’re the navigator. You then have the crew who will get you to your destination. Think about what music PR companies should do for YOU. You’re in control. 

Good promos companies

A good company should say no to working with you. Your music may not suit their tastes or style. They might just dislike it altogether. A good PR company should tell you straight what they think about your music. If they only seem concerned about their invoice and not the music, perhaps they are not the company for you. There are plenty of music PR companies available if the first choice doesn’t work out.

All PR companies work very differently. Some do everything you can imagine and others will only email to DJs on your behalf. Some may take your money and you’ll never hear from them again. Let’s hope it’s not the latter. Doing research about the company will save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

Sourcing a music PR company

When sourcing a music promotion company you need to decide on what you need them to do. In the electronic music industry, most want someone to send their music to DJs, Blogs and Magazines. They want features they can boast about on their social media. This may sound easy but music promotion is a long game and results take time; your PR company should explain this to you. If you want blog articles written about your music, you need to appreciate this takes a while to organise. Don’t get annoyed with your publicist when it the feature isn’t online within a day. Your PR company have to create a press release, collate music, embed images, write an email, email the recipient, chase the email, organise a feature, chase the email again, confirm the details and eventually send the published article back to you. This process can take anything between a week and several months. All of this process is for only 1 recipient. Imagine if the goal is 10 blog articles written by 10 different publications; yep, this is where a lot of your budget goes.

Ask questions

When contacting a PR company you should ask them which publications they work with. You’ll probably find different companies have their favourite ’secret weapon’ contacts which they like to show-boat about. “We have close contacts at Thump, Mixmag & Billboard” are often the lines used during the sales pitch. This is cool, but find out about the smaller niche contacts too. The niche blogs audiences may love your music. Who knows, these niche blogs one day may be the new Mixmag?

Hopefully, you now have an idea what music promotion companies should do for you.

To Summarise

What type of promotion do you need? How big is your budget? Once you have the answers start your research and due diligence. Ask lots of questions and ensure the PR company is the right choice for you. Remember, your promotion is in their hands. It needs to be correct.

If you would like to learn about music marketing, this article on pitching music will point you in the right direction. 

Music marketing is a huge topic. It often overwhelms people, but there’s no need to panic. Here’s 4 different ways to get your tracks heard.

Use Reddit

Reddit has a huge user base and is the perfect place to promote your music across. At current it has 33 million uses, 852,000 subreddits and 140,000 active communities. Remember subreddits have certain rules which have to be abided to but I am sure out of the 852,000 it will not be difficult to find a couple to post new music across regularly. Reddit has a unique up scoring system and if scored high enough, your new tracks might reach the front page. Out of the 3.3 million user base a few of them will like your music.

Post music on Instagram

Instagram is another must for music promotion. At current posts with the location attached of 79% more engagement. You could post clip if you are new music track but also tag the location of your next show. This will help build and awareness about your brand. Remember to utilise stories to increase awareness and to keep your fans interested. Do not forget select your music on Spotify and add it to your story to help promote your brand, record label or music.

Start an email list

Email lists are just as important. You may think it’s an outdated method however this is a direct way of reaching your audience without having to pay or rely on another network. To build a successful list you all need mailing list software and a landing page where your recipient will input that email address.  There’s plenty of cost effective solutions to start sending music. Get creative with subject lines to get people get a high open rate. If the recipient has already gave permission to email them you have passed the initial hurdle.

Burn a CD

Sending a CD. Yes one of a those round plastic things we used to burn music to. These days most music promotion is done by sending digital files out of convenience. If you want to make an impact, send somebody something they cannot miss. If you try to get hold of an important influencer, you may have to think outside the box. I am sure if you received a mysterious CD for the post you would most likely check its contents. Remember branding, artwork and appearance is equally important as to the music.

Conclusion

Come up with a consistent social media posting strategy. Have a look at your Facebook page and check out the statistics. Will display the busiest days when off and engage more with your content. Use these days to post the most valuable content as you will reach more people. Use the less busy days to post evergreen content and keep the consistency high. Use a social media application to help you keep on top of your post and schedule. Set a date every week and schedule your posts for the remaining days. This will boost productivity and means you do not have to lock into Facebook every day. Win.

Are you still rocking out to Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next”?

You probably know by now that although Ari teased her fan base with a few lyrics from the new song, the single itself was a surprise.

The star’s surprise music dropped on November 3, 2018, earning millions of listens and downloads. It even had a star-studded music video featuring Kris Jenner and some of the former cast of the 2004 film Mean Girls.

Releasing surprise tracks and albums can be a huge PR move, especially in today’s instant gratification world. You can release a song and have millions of your fans hear it just a few hours later thanks to the magic of the Internet.

But what do you need to know before you drop a surprise hit? And why is it a good idea?

Let’s explore.

When Did Surprise Albums and Songs Become a Thing?

Not surprisingly, music without an announcement wasn’t really a thing until the internet became intricately interwoven into our lives.

In the past, if an artist dropped a new song, they would advertise it on the radio and drop hints. Then, the song might debut on the radio before going for sale in music stores.

The grandfather of the surprise release is Radiohead, who experimented with our instant satisfaction cravings by releasing the album In Rainbows just 10 days after it was announced.

Of course, the tactic was massively successful, and musicians like Kanye West and Beyonce have followed suit.

Now, dropping surprise music on your unsuspecting audience is standard practice.

So let’s take a look at why that is.

Dropping Surprise Music Saves You Time on PR

If you drop a surprise album, you don’t have to do PR and promotion of it before the album. Instead, you rely on word of mouth and the internet’s ability to retweet you until you’re on top.

Many artists spend weeks or months teasing their fans about their new albums by dropping hints and doing promo videos and shoots. Instead, you can skip all of that and go right to the branding and promotions phase.

Bigger artists will have everyone’s tongues wagging, and media outlets will be clamoring for performances and interviews.

But, even if you’re a smaller artist with a dedicated fan base, it can still save you some time on PR, as you don’t have to do as much of a run-up to the release.

Don’t Attempt It If You Don’t Have a Dedicated Fan Base

You don’t have to be Ariana Grande or Beyonce to drop a surprise song or album. But you do have to have a fan base who is going to care that you just dropped music.

One thing this trend relies on is hashtags, retweets and all of the buzz that comes from social media. Not long after, the press will get wind of it and pick it up, earning the musician even more publicity.

But if you don’t have fans who regularly use your hashtags, follow your social media or are in groups dedicated to you or your band, the surprise hit will just totally flop.

Instead, wait until you have at least a core base to try it.

Don’t Do It Habitually

If you release surprise music all of the time, it will become something that your fans expect. In the future, it might be the way everyone releases music, but at the moment, it’s still a bit of a novelty.

So, rely on the old trappings of PR and advertising your music for most of your music. But, once you’ve been around the block a few times, try your hand at releasing some music without any announcements.

Releasing a Surprise Album or Song Can Be a Test of Your Team

Truthfully, it takes a lot of work to release a surprise album. And it takes a lot of people keeping their mouths shut. From the sound guy to the studio mixer to the interns getting coffee, everyone needs to stay tight-lipped.

And for artists as big as Beyonce or Ariana Grande or Ed Sheeran, all of which have released surprise albums, it takes a village.

A couple of artists have had their surprise albums accidentally leaked, which likely led to someone losing their job for causing it.

You can’t really release surprise music unless you make adequate preparations. And although to your fans it seems like it’s last minute, you’ll need to be getting things ready for months before you even step into a recording studio.

You’ll have to draft and sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to keep everyone legally bound to keeping mum. If you have a dedicated fan base, you’ll have to ensure people don’t see you trudging to the studio each day to get ready for your big moment.

But on the bright side, it can help you figure out who on your team really needs to go. If they can’t keep a secret like that, they need to be pulled from your team immediately. And it’ll be time for a replacement.

Doing It Right

Since releasing surprise music is still a relatively new concept, it’ll take a delicate balance to do it right. But, if your team is on board and you know to plan it for months in advance, you’ll be golden.

Ready to have some help promoting your next surprise album, or planning for it? Sign up for our services now. It only takes a few minutes!