How people access, listen to and share music has drastically changed over the past decade.
YouGov conducted a study that revealed that 42% of the UK population access music through CDs. However, for people aged 16-24, only 6% consumed their music through CDs.
Millennials and Generation Z-ers consume their music differently to the generations that have gone before. So if you tap into technology then surely you will be able to share your music with the world?
Not necessarily. You need to stay relevant and keep afloat in the ever-changing digital age. Keep reading to check out our top tips for professionals to share their music.
11 Tips on How to Share Music, Grow Followers, Become Famous and Live the Dream
Breaking into the music industry is no easy feat. Luckily, we are on hand to help you. (But you will have to bring the talent, hard work, and dedication).
It can be argued that technology has made your promo life easier. There are so many ways you can share new releases with your fans. From music platforms such as Spotify and iTunes to promoting your latest music on your social media channels.
But with so many options available, it can also be difficult to narrow down which ones are best for you and how you want to share music with the world.
1. Regularly Gigging
Every good musician and band should be gigging. This is an essential part of how to share your music with new audiences.
Not only can you expect to grow your followers, but you can also start creating key relationships with local promoters and other musicians.
78% of respondents, in the UK Live Music Census 2017, who identified as emerging artists revealed that they had performed in small music venues, bars, or pubs in the past 12 months.
Regularly gigging can help you create brand awareness – yes, you are a brand. Once you have enough of a name for yourself, you can also expect to start earning some money.
Remember to promote your upcoming gigs on social media, on your website, on BandsinTown, or on Songkick. The more word you get out about your gigs the more people will come and support you.
2. Marketing Yourself
Marketing yourself is much more than just posting regular updates about your upcoming events. Marketing yourself is all about seeing yourself as a business.
After all, you want to make a career from this right? This is your business, so treat it as one. Marketing is a key part of how you share music.
Your fans are important, but in order to reach more and more people, you need to find someone with greater outreach.
This is where you start to build relationships with people who can promote your music. Think local radio channels, TV channels, people on YouTube with a lot of subscribers and followers.
Check out our music marketing tricks blog to learn more about how you can market your music.
3. Make It Easy for People to Find You
Having a professional music website and relevant social media channels are key when it comes to sharing music.
The good news is you don’t have to be techy to create your own website. There are a number of platforms that allow you to effortlessly make your own website, such as WordPress or Squarespace.
If you want a website tailored to music, why not check out Wix Music? Wix Music lets you sell your music and merch, promote gigs, share music to over 120 music channels and much more.
Social media is a must. It allows your fans to find out what you are up to, what new music you have and find out when you are next gigging.
You don’t have to crack into all the social media channels, just choose two or three that you can comfortably update regularly.
Remember to keep it easy for your current and new fans to find you. Use the same name for all of your online presence. For example, if you use your band name on your website then use that name for your social media pages, too.
4. Regular Updates
There’s a lot that you need to regularly update, but it is all worth it. Make sure you are updating your website, social media channels, YouTube channel, and any other music platform that you use.
Having a blog is an excellent way to ensure you are regularly updating your website. It also is great content to share with your followers on social media.
Regularly updating your website ensures that your SEO ranking is better, that your fans know what you are up to, and also that you stay relevant online.
Social media is a tricky minefield; post too much and your fans might get irritated, whilst if you post too little then they will lose interest! You need to find a balance that works for you and your schedule.
Social media experts state that you should have a mix of promoting material and topical content.
So, if you are posting every day then maybe you would choose to promote yourself on Wednesday and Friday, and the rest of the week you post other content, such as blog posts and general chit-chat.
5. Focus on the Trending Music Platform
iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Pandora, Xbox Music, SoundCloud, Mixcloud, 8tracks, Tidal, Deezer…you get it. There are so many places you can share music.
But you want to share new releases that can reach as many people as possible. So how do you do this?
Don’t stretch yourself too thin, choose the platforms that you are most comfortable using and the ones that are most popular (especially for your type of music genre.)
Trends come and go, so make sure you keep your eye on what music platform people are choosing for their music needs. YouTube has 1.5 billion users who are currently streaming music, so start there!
6. Spend Time Creating, or Updating, Your YouTube Channel
What do Justin Beiber, Shawn Mendes, James Bay, and The Weeknd all have in common?
They were all found on YouTube. Originally, all these big names were struggling emerging artists looking to catch their break. Then BAM! They made it.
YouTube is a fantastic place to share music. A lot of your listeners use YouTube daily, so you must make sure your presence is strong.
What type of content should you upload? Share new releases, songs that you cover, sneak previews, and any exciting news that you want to share with your fans.
Be sure to promote your YouTube videos on your social media channels, too.
7. Have a Mailing List
Mailing lists are a great chance to share news with your fans and followers. Building up relationships with your fans is key to succeeding as a musician.
When someone comes onto your website, make sure you have a place where they can sign up for your mailing list.
The last thing you want is for them to leave your website and forget about you. A mailing list ensures that you can regularly communicate with your fans.
A great way to encourage people to sign up for your mailing list is by offering a freebie, in exchange for their email address of course.
8. Explore New Territories
Once you are comfortably juggling your social media, website and music platforms, why not be daring and see what else is available?
Emerging artists have an exhaustive list of ways in which they can share music with new audiences. It just takes some research to find new sharing music platforms.
Try Last.FM, Dozmia, or why not see if Reddit Music works for you?
Or if you only share your music on YouTube and Spotify, why not throw in another music platform and see if you can grow your fans with SoundCloud or iTunes?
9. Hashtags
Hashtags can help with your exposure, so make sure you are using relevant hashtags for your social media posts.
Do a quick search to find out what kind of hashtags and social media posts other artists in your genre create. This will help you to learn about what is relevant.
Remember to be creative and playful with your hashtags.
Need some hashtag inspiration how about incorporating some of these in your next post: #MusicMonday #EmergingArtist #music #rock #pop #SingerSongwriter
10. Behind-the-Scenes
Capturing and sharing behind-the-scenes content and content that makes you look like a friendly human being is important.
Yes, to successfully make it in the music industry you need a business head. But you also need to be relatable, so that fans want to listen to your music and share it with their friends.
About to play a gig? Take a selfie and post it on your social media channels. About to start recording some new songs? Record a video with a sneak preview for your fans.
Behind-the-scenes content is great for both topical or promotional social media posts. And it gives your fans a little more insight into who you are and what you are trying to achieve.
11. Find Yourself a Publicist
Once you have a growing fan-base it is a good idea to find a publicist who can help in growing your fans more.
You might be doing everything you can possibly do to try and reach more people, but you might feel like your efforts are in vain.
Sometimes asking for additional help is the best way to move forward. It means you can focus on the music, whilst your publicist focuses on how to share your music with new fans.
Before diving in, make sure you do the research and be sure that you and your music are ready for some professional PR. A music publicist can’t perform miracles and will need you to contribute information and music that they can promote.
How to Share Music
Music distribution has changed a lot in recent years due to technology. The way people listen to, share and interact with music is different from how they used to consume it a decade ago.
The easiest way to share music is undoubtedly online. But that doesn’t mean that you need to forget about the people who still buy CDs or the people who love to see live music.
Everybody enjoys listening to music in different ways. So to answer the question of how to share music, you need to know your target audience. Do your fans mainly stream and download your music? Or do they enjoy buying physical copies of your music?
Keep Your Fans Updated
As you can see, there isn’t a quick fix or a one-fits-all solution for how to share your music. Pick and choose from the above list and find out what works best for you and your fans.
A takeaway tip you need to always remember is: the music industry is constantly evolving and in order to stay relevant you need to be highly adaptable, embrace change and use effective communication to keep your fans updated.
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