I'm gonna invest some money in music promotion even though I'm broke. What I'm considering are below:

1. Youbute ad
2. Facebook ad
3. Soundcloud Pro
4. Spotify playlist promotion
5. Hypeddit

I'm not sure which one will be effective, but Youtube ad seems not so effective on this list because I already tried a couple of times. It boosted the number of views but didn't make them my fans at all.
Which one is worth it? If you have a better solution, I'm all ears.

 

Make a promotion CD with information and write your address on it with e-mail and other things. Give them away to other people. Buy 50 CD's and sleeves, make a booklet. This is how your music comes to other people and maybe you also get contacts.

 

redited: nevermind i don't know

 

I think the absolute best way to get clout is through playing live, if you can really engage an audience live then they will promote it for you.
Just don’t turn yourself into background music, you need to take space.

 

Who even owns a CD player thee days? I dont even have a CD player in my computer.

 

We live in 2021 not 1991.

 

Hello @ hackerz4life, I already know what you mean. Don't be stupid and use your brain and analyze your situation very carefully, where and how can I get my music out to the people? I speak from my own experience, I also made promotion CD's and gave them away to my friends and acquaintances. That makes you a lot happier. In addition, you can reach more people and in a very personal way. I also have a website with more than 1.1 million user downloads and a YouTube channel with 620,000 views.

Sonic Sirius - Synthesizer Soundsets
http://ohlenbostelhelge.magix.net/public/
https://www.youtube.com/user/FutureNoise1

See I'm 2021 too.

 

Again an ego.

There are also people who don't even have a PC. People, besides you there are other people who live and think differently. Some have a very limited view of how our society is put together. You don't even have old people anymore, so if they wouldn't exist. And CD players are still very common.

 

Yeah people need beer coasters

You clearly are clueless about the new paradigm of music promotion. Music is predominantly consumed by streaming on digital platforms. Making CD's is not only a waste of time its a waste of money. I sell more T-shirts than CDs and they are way more profitable. Lots of people have ditched their CD collections and if people buy a song its via download. People buy our music of QR codes on the tables at the gigs. That has nothing to do with ego, it's a stone-cold fact.

1. Write a good song
2. Identify your target audience
3. Make it available on all digital platforms
4. Make a Lyric Video for Youtube
5. Make a video for Youtube
6. Youtube votes and comments (engagement)
7. Facebook is an ecosystem and essentially useless for selling/promoting music
8. Instagram is low engagement and much like Facebook
9. By far the biggest game in town is Tick Tock so Tick Tock focused video's
10. Submit track for Spotify playlists
11. Promote through genre focused forums ect
12. Nothing engages more with an audience than live performances.
13. Spend your money with someone to promote.

The industry is most certainly moving to NFT's on the blockchain.

 

Last edited: Nov 12, 2021

Use the force of Youtube algorithm

ATM "Shorts" are the best

So make your music in a 9:16 Video with lengh of under 60 sec
Call it preview or something
Normally my Videos (Gaming and Stuff ) get around 2-20 Views
but my Shorts get 10-100 times that

 

People may ridicule you for this but it's a valid tactic. I think it's called "guerilla marketing", in the lines of, e.g., making a sign and walking around with it, approaching people on the street, playing your music on the street, hanging posters with your logo and website everywhere (where you're allowed to do it), stuff like that.

I was actually approached a couple of years ago downtown where I lived by a woman who told me she was a singer for her band, and she asked me if she could give me a CD with a link to the band. I found that so cool because as I was also a musician we had a short, nice conversation, and I told her I respect her and the band for doing this kind of marketing. (Sadly, the guitarist was her boyfriend )

Problem is, you need some real courage to approach people like that, and you need to be able to handle rejection and derogatory remarks well. Not everyone can do that.

 

You're doing it backwards. Have you ever clicked on an ad to listen to someone's music? Why would anyone else?

You're not going to get anywhere without meeting people, and that's not going to happen until you play shows and get involved with your local community. Instead of spending your time and money on ads to random people online, spend it on going to live shows and talking to the owners of the venues, get to know the PA guys, talk with whoever sponsored it, etc. Guaranteed you'll get way more done than any online ads.

Knowing the time it takes the music industry to catch up with anything, we have time until at least 2121

 

If you are going to approach people, shouldn't it be music reviewers?

 

Hello @waverider and @Dimentagon , thank you for sharing your experience.

It makes a huge difference whether you have to make money or want to make money.
Do you want to become famous and make money and then hope that people will admire you?
Or do you have something to say and communicate and want to share your music with others.
In the worst case, it's all about your own self-expression.

I believe that the people who are really talented always find ways to get their stuff to the audience. Because art
and quality get around and television, radio and magazines then publish it. In this way, a broader mass is addressed.

Every day more and more music is coming onto the market and everyone is vying for the reader's attention.
That means the competition gets bigger with every song that is uploaded.

In reality we have too much bad music and too little quality music.
The modern person sits lonely and alone in front of the PC.
And we communicate over the Internet via cable and electricity.

You should make more analogue contacts with real people and give your music away to people or in exchange for a donation.

 

Thanks for your advice. Unfortunately, your method doesn't work for my case, because:

1) I'm not in the States any longer and it requires lots of money to go live in this society.

2) I'm a singer-songwriter and have done everything from A to Z by myself. So, I have no members. In order to hire the sessions, it requires lots of money as well.

Therefore, my only option is online marketing. That's why I'm asking it here now.

 

As I tried Youtube ad a couple of times, I began to doubt the Youtube algorithm is really around. Every time I upload my MV, they have less than 10 views. This means Youtube doesn't expose my videos unless I pay for them. I've been doing it for 4 years, but nothing has been changed so far. Thanks for your suggestion, anyways.

 

Marketing your own music - tips and music portals at a glance

Spoiler: Tips for self-marketing

Factors for Success
Three factors are decisive for you to be able to market yourself successfully as a musician:

1. Quality : Your music is on a good to very good level, you have the basics of music composition and you have a good knowledge of how to effectively implement your ideas with the help of DAWs ( music programs ).
2. Image : In the best case scenario, you already have references or work to show, these are important in order to be recommended for commissioned work or projects.
3. Marketing : You have the basics of music marketing and know who your target group is and what to expect.

Tips for self-marketing
Social media marketing
When social media marketing for musicians it comes to achieve and reach tie his fanbase to become. Just sharing content is not enough. The community should be involved and get the feeling of actively participating in your (musical) life.

Website / SEO
Social networks are fleeting. Do you still know Myspace or StudiVZ? That is why I recommend you to create your own website, which is your business card and exudes seriousness. So that you can be found in Google, you should use the tools of search engine optimization (SEO) .

establish contacts
In addition to your digital advertising activities, you mustn't forget the offline world. Ultimately, you work with people and you can find them in your immediate vicinity. Visit concerts, get-togethers or events where you can meet like-minded people . If you are at the beginning of your music career, I also recommend that you look for a mentor so that you can later be successful with your music .

Spoiler: Market your own music on music portals

Market your own music on music portals
There are countless music portals to market your own music. Youtube is probably the medium with the greatest reach , but I would like to keep this out of my list because it does not specialize directly in music. In the list below I have made a selection of music portals on which you can present yourself well.

Among the most important features of a music portal, I count feedback options from listeners, but also musicians, tools for self-marketing , and promotion through the portal itself. And yes, quantity also plays a role, the size of the community is an important criterion, because it makes a difference whether you feel one click per day or a much larger and steady flow of listeners visits your channel .

I would now like to introduce you to three portals on which I am active myself. In my previous activity as a musician, these have helped me the most to market and distribute my own music.

• Myownmusic - German-speaking community that offers very good feedback options, a large forum for questions and a chart list that is updated daily. There are no exact number of users, but the community's activity is high, even if the importance for young musicians is shifting more and more to international platforms.

• Soundcloud - Probably the world's largest music portal. It is technically almost perfectly designed to distribute your own music in social networks and to establish contacts with other musicians. Here, as on Twitter, you have the opportunity to follow your favorite bands or artists. There are also many labels and scouts on Soundcloud, which increases the chance of being discovered. Tip: generate clicks with Soundcloud!

• ReverbNation - Is an online website for musicians, bands and labels from all areas of music. ReverbNation is structured in a similar way to Soundcloud and allows you to chat with other users, as well as offering a large selection of promotion tools. This platform also keeps up with the times and puts its technical focus on tools for sharing your own content on social networks. It is also possible to write your own blog posts or to link an existing one.

• BandCamp - Is an international music portal that enables you to offer your music for free in a community or to actively sell it for a set price.

• Jamendo - is also designed internationally and has a large community. You can also monetize your songs by linking them to the YouTube song library.

All of these services are free in their basic version. A premium update unlocks additional marketing and editing tools. Overall, all platforms have a fair performance model and anyone who wants to market themselves professionally as a musician has to take money one way or another at some point.

https://ronaldkah.de/tipps-eigene-musik-vermarkten-promotion/

Spoiler: 15 tips for professional music promotion

15 tips for professional music promotion

1. Find out who is listening to your musk. Think about how you can make this audience aware of you.
2. Write a professional artist bio for social media and the press and update the "bio" regularly.
3. Make sure you have professional artist photos. If you want to be perceived as a professional, you need correspondingly good press photos.
4. Only use high-quality cover images that appeal to your target audience. The cover picture is your product packaging on the Internet.
5. Send your releases for sampling to the press, magazines, radio stations, blogs, DJs etc. that are relevant to your music genre.
6. Play as many live performances as possible or get DJs to play your songs. Pay attention to reactions in the audience.
7. Use social media like Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Just posting "buy links" is not enough. Entertain your fans, show something from your private life and be authentic.
8. Find direct contact with your fans. Think about how they can promote you and show you appreciation when they do it.
9. Have a high-quality artist homepage created, on which the most important information is summarized. Less is often more here.
10. Use a professional music player on your homepage so that fans can preview your songs straight away, e.g. from Soundcloud or YouTunez Music Player.
11. Create a promotion video on YouTube. The originality is more important than the quality. And humor can't hurt.
12. Apply to a band competition or song contest. Often they offer the opportunity to reach a lot of new people.
13. Offer merchandise for your fans, e.g. via Spreadshirt. Every t-shirt you wear is an advertisement for you and some artists earn more than just selling music.
14. Find a professional management or booking agency if you are already more successful. This gives you more time to concentrate on the music.
15. Network in your music scene. Find out who is pulling the strings and ask for help. If people think your music is good, they may be able to support you.

https://youtunez.com/tipps-zum-musikvertrieb/15-tipps-wie-kann-ich-meine-musik-besser-vermarkten/

 

Last edited: Nov 13, 2021

The best way to get this information is to ask someone who has made good sales in the last ten years consistently if they are willing to part with that information. Not anyone on a forum no matter how good the intentions unless you are a member of a professional forum. They have membership fees.

 

I would love to know more about promotion, great question and thread!
Some very interesting in replies in there.

That's the thing, how do you go about playing live if nobody knows you? Wouldn't you have to have some promotion?

Would they even take you seriously if you don't have much of a following, even if your music was good?

Don't they want you already with a chunky following so you will guarantee to sell more shows? Sounds like you need to know someone who is already playing shows around and ask them about it.

 

Last edited: Nov 13, 2021

Because printing CDs cost some nice dosh, you can make an ISO file instead and send them a download link. ISO can be easily mounted in every OS and played as an audio CD. I'm just half-joking. It's a viable idea.