Using Social Media to Promote Music. Up and Coming Artists, Here’s How to Use Social Media to Release and Promote Your Music.
Over the past ten years or so, the internet and social media have become one of the main factors in advertising new music to potential listeners.
As it stands today, the majority of people discover new music online, as opposed to decades past when people would discover music in other ways, like through the radio or at a record store.
Considering the way social media evolves and changes so rapidly, it can often be confusing for new artists to decide which platforms are worth their time and how to advertise properly. Once you have your song written and recorded just how you want it, it’s time to start pushing its release and getting people excited about your music.
In this article, we’ll be giving a basic overview of the main social media platforms and how to advertise new music on them successfully. Let’s get you started on Using Social Media to Promote Music.
YouTube
YouTube has long been one of the most common platforms for advertising music online. Many of the most popular artists today were discovered on YouTube, like Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes, and Alessia Cara.
However, you don’t have to gain international fame to be successful on a platform like YouTube. Many smaller independent artists gain traction and make a living off of YouTube videos. If you manage to post consistently and gain a loyal following on the platform, it is possible to start making money off of ad revenue as well.
Some artists prefer to post concert clips or live music videos, while others choose to post official music videos or just individual tracks accompanied by lyrics or cover art. Regardless of what you choose to do, you’re going to want to make sure your YouTube setup is professional-looking.
Engage with comments from fans and consider looking into editing software for a more professional look if you are going to be editing your own music videos or concert clips.
SoundCloud
On SoundCloud, the first step is to make sure you take care in creating your profile. Select an eye-catching, relevant avatar, and make sure your username is simple and easy to remember. If your artist or band name is not taken as a username yet, even better.
When setting up your profile, you should also make sure to select the option in settings that allows people to comment on your tracks. In allowing fans to comment on your music, you increase engagement and traffic to your account.
As you begin to post consistently and engage with fans and fellow artists, the number of plays on your tracks will begin to increase. Although growth on SoundCloud can be slow at first, many artists have built up strong fanbases through the platform.
TikTok
TikTok is a new and fast-growing platform with much more potential for promoting music than people realize. Unlike more established platforms like Instagram and YouTube, it is relatively easy to ‘blow up’ and get thousands of views on TikTok.
This is not to say that going viral on TikTok is easy, though. You still must post consistently and have good, catchy music in the first place to garner attention on the app.
Many artists on TikTok gain attention by posting both cover songs and their own originals, as well as posting a high volume of content. When you post a TikTok, be sure that your music is released under your artist name and is useable as a sound for other people to use.
This can either be done through a more professional service like TuneCore, or through a DIY method of manually recording and naming your song within the app.
If you end up finding success on TikTok, congratulations. Just remember, TikTok is a trend-focused app, and success on there rarely lasts long. Consider putting links to a more stable platform for your music such as YouTube or Spotify in your TikTok bio.
Spotify
Since Spotify is a platform that mostly specializes in music, it is one of the platforms with the most resources for new artists trying to promote music. That being said, since Spotify is so music-based, competition is high. Don’t let that discourage you, though, there are still many things you can do to promote your new tracks as an up-and-coming artist on Spotify.
First, look into getting verified. It’s a relatively easy process that most artists should be able to do. Next, be sure to submit your song to Spotify’s editorial team.
If you have a Spotify for Artists account, you can pitch an unreleased song for consideration for an upcoming playlist. If your song is chosen for said playlist, your new release will end up in the morning mix for thousands of new listeners! Pretty cool.
Every new music artist should consider making an Instagram. It’s great way to interact more casually with your fans, as well as promote new music and concert sales through the use of the stories function.
As with all of the social media platforms we have talked about in this article, it is important to make sure you post on Instagram consistently. When you’re releasing new music, be sure to familiarize yourself with Instagram’s IGTV function.
This feature on the app allows you to post longer videos than you normally would in a regular Instagram post. Lots of up-and-coming artists like to use this function to share longer music videos and performance clips on the platform.
Again, Twitter is a social media platform on which you should be sure to post consistently. Since it is such a major social media outlet, the majority of bands and artists have Twitter accounts where they regularly share information about new music releases as well as more personality-focused posts, if they so choose.
Come up with a posting schedule (a couple tweets per day is a good place to start) and observe which tweets get the most likes and interaction.
What types of tweets do your fans and listeners like the most from you? What time of day do your tweets get the most engagement?
Take note of all of these things and adjust your Twitter accordingly.
In Conclusion
Overall, don’t be discouraged if you don’t get noticed right away as an up-and-coming artist on your social media platform of choice! Building a loyal following online can take time, but it can also be super rewarding in the long run.
Be sure to have fun with your new posts and be open to adapting as the conditions of the social media landscape evolve over time.
If you find yourself in a music promotion rut, consider trying a new social media platform to promote your new releases. The platforms listed in this article are a great place to start!
