So you have amazing music but are still struggling to find your tribe? You’re not alone. Every artist starts somewhere, but with a solid marketing strategy, you can effectively promote your sound and build a loyal following on social media that can help get your career going right away.
Having a clear and targeted strategy for promoting music on social media is important for artists. A well-defined social media marketing plan will significantly enhance an artist's visibility and engagement with fans.
In this article we’ll offer both general tips and hardcore strategies to better promote your music and brand on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, before delving into the all-important role digital music distributors play in getting your music out into the world for everyone to hear.
So let’s get going!
For starters, in addition to posting as much and as often as possible, make sure your content is visually appealing and available on all social media channels.
To maximize exposure for your music, create multiple videos for each song, such as music videos, behind-the-scenes footage, and even animations. Including a music video in your press materials and working YouTube for better exposure will significantly boost your reach.
After making all of these videos, try to maintain a steady stream of content that showcases your personality, artistry, and raw talent. The more you post quality content, the more you'll develop a devoted fan base for your music.
And remember, any piece of content or video you post could go viral. It happens, and can happen for you too. Produce many different types of videos with different lengths and see how they play out. Learn from your successes and mistakes.
To help arrange this, post longer content on platforms like YouTube and begin to repurpose your long-form content into shorter snippets to keep up with the high volume needed for platforms like TikTok, Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
There are an endless number of social media platforms that can change the course of your music journey with a single post. But TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram are among the best social media platforms that can significantly impact on your career, so let's focus on them for now.
Each platform has its own unique way of giving you the ability to get your music in front of millions.
Having a consistent and specific social media strategy is key for musicians looking to stand out and achieve recognition across these platforms, and a well-planned, considered social media strategy can make all the difference.
So, let’s take a look at the best ways of leveraging YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok to gain maximum exposure for your music.
Leveraging YouTube to popularize your music involves a multi-faceted approach that combines content creation, optimization, and audience engagement.
Begin by setting up an Official Artist Channel (OAC) to consolidate your music, videos, and subscriber base, making it easier for fans to find all your content in one place. Regularly release high-quality and/or entertaining videos, including music videos, live performances, behind-the-scenes footage, and vlogs, to keep your channel active and engaging. Don't sacrifice quality for the sake of increasing your content output, but a little can go a long way sometimes. You don't need to spend a lot of money to create compelling content, you just need some imagination and good music. Good music alone will do the trick once you have people's attention.
In addition to YouTube, pitch your new releases to niche music blogs to further increase your visibility and reach. The more people who link to your music from other sites, the more YouTube's algorithms will like you and have you popping up in people's feeds.
Optimize your videos for search by using relevant keywords, tags, and compelling thumbnails to increase your visibility. Go for keywords that represent your music but are less widely used. For example, if you just use “hiphop” as your primary keyword, it won’t likely rank, as there are tens of thousands of people using that keyword. Aim for more niche keywords to gain attention.
Engage with your audience by responding to comments, hosting Q&A sessions, and using community posts to foster a loyal fan base. When possible, collaborate with other artists and influencers to tap into their audiences and expand your reach. (more on that below)
Promote your YouTube content across other social media platforms and consider using YouTube ads to boost visibility. By consistently producing quality content, optimizing for search, and actively engaging with your audience, you can effectively use YouTube to start amplifying your music and attract a larger following.
There are some differences between YouTube and effectively leveraging Instagram for your music, but both are critical components of a successful social media marketing strategy. This is how I recommend you approach your Instagram posts:
Visual Content is King on Instagram: Instagram is a highly visual platform, so creating engaging photos, videos, Reels, and Stories is pretty important. As with YouTube, share snippets of your music videos, behind-the-scenes footage, live performances, and visually appealing content that reflects your brand aesthetic - meaning your music, attitude, and image.
Utilize Instagram Features: Take advantage of Instagram’s various features like Stories (with swipe-up links), IGTV for longer videos, Reels for short viral content, and carousel posts with multiple teasers. These features allow you to share different types of content and drive traffic to your music.
Hashtags and Engagement: Use relevant, well thought out hashtags to increase visibility and engage with your audience by responding to comments, hosting Q&As, and using interactive features like polls and questions in Stories. Social media posts are key to increasing exposure and engaging with fans by sharing personal experiences and leveraging live shows to generate content. The more you can engage with your fans, the better, regardless of the platform.
Collaborations and Trends: Try to collaborate with other artists, influencers, or participate in Instagram trending challenges to reach new audiences and increase the chances of your content going viral.
Consistent Posting: Maintain a consistent posting schedule to keep your audience engaged and increase your chances of being discovered by new fans.
Also, if your budget allows for it, you might want to consider using Instagram ads to target specific demographics. By maintaining a consistent posting schedule, engaging with your followers, and utilizing all of Instagram’s features, you can use the platform to significantly amplify your music and grow your fan base.
It happens very quickly sometimes.
While similar to how you exploit YouTube and Instagram to get your music out into the world, TikTok is still its own social media platform, it's own universe with its own customs and culture. Here in 2024, many believe it's the single most effective platform to promote music.
So with that in mind, here’s what to shoot for when driving followers to your music through TikTok:
• Short, Engaging Content: TikTok thrives on short, snappy videos that immediately capture the viewer’s attention. Unlike YouTube, where longer-form content is common, TikTok videos should be under 60 seconds and pack a punch from the start. A 45-60 second snippet of your music is enough for people to determine if they like your song and care enough to seek out the full recording on streaming platforms.
• Trends and Challenges: Participating in trending sounds, challenges, and hashtags is especially important on TikTok. This helps your content get discovered by users interested in those trends. Instagram and YouTube rely more on consistent, niche-focused content.
• Duets and Stitches: TikTok’s duet and stitch features allow you to collaborate with other creators by incorporating their videos into yours. This can be artistically rewarding, but just as importantly should really help you tap into new audiences while continuing to create engaging content.
• Hashtag Challenges: Creating your own hashtag challenge around your music can be a smart way to promote it on TikTok. Encourage users to create videos using your sound and a specific hashtag, which can lead to viral growth.
• Influencer Collaborations: Partnering with TikTok influencers who align with your music genre or style is another highly effective technique of getting your work heard on this platform. Influencers can create content using your music, exposing your work to their many followers.
• Organic Discovery: TikTok’s algorithm is designed to surface content to users based on their interests, regardless of the creator’s following. This means your music can potentially go viral organically if it resonates with the right audience.
While Instagram and YouTube also benefit from collaborations and influencer partnerships, the emphasis on short-form, trend-driven content and the unique features like duets and stitches make TikTok’s promotion strategies distinct from the other platforms.
Of course, before promoting anything you’ll need to ensure your music is available on all the popular streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music.
Additionally, having an electronic press kit (EPK) ready with your artist bio, photos, videos, and streaming links can help you pitch your music to media outlets and A&Rs.
Each streaming platform has its unique user base and features that help promote your music in different ways. Being on multiple platforms will improve your visibility and credibility as an artist, making it easier for listeners to access and enjoy your music wherever they prefer.
Simply put, you want your tracks to be on all of the streaming platforms. For this, you’ll need to engage a distributor, which we’ll get into next.
Remember that many streaming services also have great platforms available for artists. By creating and claiming your page, you’ll have access to analytics and listening data that will continue to help your music grow! Check out Spotify for Artists, Apple Music for Artists, YouTube for Artists, Deezer for Creators, and Amazon Music for Artists.
You’ll need to find a company to distribute your music as widely as possible, including on various social media sites, which fortunately is a fairly simple process.
While uploading your music directly to individual streaming platforms can be an option, the process is typically complex, time-consuming, and generally requires specific expertise or resources that independent artists may lack.
It’s just way simpler to engage a music distributor who will make sure your music gets on all the major (and less major) streaming platforms.
By partnering with an established online music distributor, you gain access to their industry connections, streamlined processes, and expertise in navigating the ever-changing landscape of streaming and music distribution.
Most distributors offer affordable pricing models, ranging from one-time fees to annual subscription plans, making their services accessible to artists in the earlier stages of their careers.
By leveraging the resources and reach of a reputable online music distributor, you can better focus on creating and promoting your music while leaving the technical aspects of distribution to experienced professionals.
Put simply, using online music distributors like CD Baby, TuneCore, DistroKid, and others is a great option for independent artists looking to release music on major streaming platforms with minimal hassle.
Do some shopping around as different distributors offer different services and plans and you’ll need to choose the one that’s best for you at this stage of your career.
I highly recommend you read this blog post on the different services the major indie distributors are currently offering. Their contracts and terms can be tricky sometimes, and you can unknowingly give them more rights than you bargained for, so make sure you always understand what you're signing.
Creative Intell members have access to all of this information through our courses, playbooks, and business and educational toolkits.
Online music distributors act as intermediaries between artists and streaming platforms, handling the complex process of delivering and monetizing your music across multiple services. Rather than attempting to navigate the intricate submission and payment systems of each platform individually, distributors provide a centralized solution.
When working with a reputable distributor, you can just upload your music once and have it delivered to all the major streaming services, as well as hundreds of smaller platforms worldwide, ensuring your music reaches the broadest possible audience.
Another benefit of using an online music distributor is the ability to collect royalties from streaming platforms a little more smoothly. These services handle the complex task of registering your music with certain global rights organizations, ensuring you receive your fair share of royalties whenever your songs are streamed or purchased – so long as your already signed up with those organizations, that is.
To learn more about these organizations and how and where to to join them, consider becoming a member of Creative Intell. All of this information and much more is available on our platform.
Collaborations can introduce you to new audiences and help you build connections within the industry. Collaboration can also bring fresh perspectives and creative ideas to your work.
There are numerous avenues for collaboration: Feature Artist appearances often involve showcasing on each other’s tracks, offering exposure to new fans while enriching your music portfolio.
Joint Performances, whether live or virtual, create memorable experiences and attract fans from both artist’s followings.
Social Media Shoutouts allow for mutual promotion, sharing each other’s music through various platforms.
Collaborative Playlists, featuring tracks from multiple artists, can be promoted across all channels.
These collaborative efforts not only expand your reach but also create a sense of community and mutual support within the music industry, opening up opportunities for further collaborations and growth.
Finally, where and to whom you market your music is crucial, but remember that the distributor tools referenced above can really help you with that.
Understanding and engaging with your target audience is essential for effective promotion. Recognizing and making an effort to reach your specific musical niche and group is super important for effective promotion.
While it’s always tempting to cast a wide net, concentrating on a particular audience segment in the initial stages of your career will better help you establish a core following.
For example, if you’re a folk singer and songwriter, make sure you’re immersing yourself in different folk music scenes, trying to perform at folk festivals, and engaging with other artists at these events as they instantly share something in common with you. Community is important.
And always be good to your supporters – who at first might all be local fans. But these local supporters can serve as fantastic promoters for your music as you gradually expand your reach beyond your hometown to national and international audiences. Be good to your fans, and they’ll be good to you.
So take these marketing tips to heart and start implementing the strategies we've outlined to supercharge your music on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok.
Definitely learn as much as you can about indie music distribution deals before you sign one. That goes for any music agreement you sign. Contractual mistakes can prove costly and ultimately career damaging.
All this information on music business agreements - and much, much more - is available in full detail at Creative Intell. Our primary mission is to protect our members from signing bad, one-sided deals.
To learn more about what Creative Intell has to offer you, go here.
Disclaimer: Creative Intell is not affiliated, nor associated in any way, with any third parties referenced herein, nor their respective goods or services. Any and all third-party trade names, trademarks, and/or service marks referenced are used for informational purposes only, and are the exclusive property of their respective trademark owners.