The options for online music marketing and promotion are growing year by year, and in 2020 you will find a lot of new and different ways to promote your music online.
As new possibilities arise, social media and online music promotion have become the most empowering solution for musicians who run their own music marketing in 2020.
And guess what – it’s not difficult! This is our guide to the freshest music marketing and promotion tips you should put to work in 2020.
1- Fanbase Segmentation
Guide your fans to your best content, especially the new ones. That can be a very successful single or a music video that had lots of views. It’s always tempting to release new content every month, but make sure you lead with your best stuff when directing new fans. It is also very important to direct old fans to NEW stuff through newsletters or social media, linking through your site and news feeds. Most importantly don’t keep pounding your existing fanbase with the same content over and over again.
2- Crowdfunding is Always an Option
It takes approximately $15,000 to start a band, along with the expenses you might need to keep going as the months and years go on, which makes up a very big number.
3- Stream Your Music
Streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube, Amazon, Google Play, and Deezer make up the majority of streams worldwide, so make sure to get hold of these services. Those are great tools for music monetization. Share your music with millions of new listeners in playlists, and make sure to handle the ticket sales through these platforms as well as merchandise.
4- Do More Merch
For up and coming artists with a new audience, merchandise can be an essential part of their business. To be good at merchandising you got to follow-up the same style trends that any clothing or fashion label would.
5- Performance Royalties
Performance royalties are globally known revenue streams. Those are usually generated from radio airplay, music venues, malls, bars, sports venues, college radios, etc. The more you pay attention to those, the bigger these performance royalties will be. Make sure to pitch to various organizations like radios and venues to have your music played there.
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6- Synch (Synchronization) Fees for Television, Movies, Video Games and Ads
If a company or an individual wants to use your music in “synchronization” with motion picture, they need to get a “synch” license and a negotiated price to pay you for that use. More precisely they need two licenses. One for the track, and one for the master license. Typically those licenses have different fees. If you own your master, they need to get the master license from you personally. And if there’s a label that owns your master, they need to obtain the master license from the label. Every “synch” has two fees included; A master fee (recording), and a publishing fee (composition). Both of those need to be agreed on in two separate contracts. Be wary of signing any agreements to “Synch” your music, or you might risk to not get signed by a publisher or label.
7- Create a Spotify Playlist
Another way to add your music exactly where your audience might want to listen to it is to create a Spotify playlist. People go to Spotify to listen to music, so why not make them listen to your music too. Create cool playlists that include a mix of other artists, but don’t forget to also add your music too. You can also get in touch with popular playlist creators and ask them to feature your music on there too. This is a great way of promoting your music, but also a possibility for you to promote other musicians too.
8- Post on TikTok for Gen Z
Of course, depends on your music genre and the fanbase you want to attract, but in case if this is true, don’t underestimate the power of TikTok. TikTok is an app where users upload fun and short video clips adding a lot of effects and music. Currently, the app has more than 500 million monthly active users globally every day. They are constantly on the lookout for new music to mix with their videos, so why not add yours to it?
9- Create Facebook Events
Before creating an event on Facebook you have to make sure that you have a Facebook Page for your music. This way, not only your loyal fans can easily keep up with your gigs, but also people who are looking for something fun to do for the day might stumble upon your event. Also, consider buying Sponsored Facebook Events Ads to effectively target your audience interested in similar music to yours.
10- Traffic is Key
Think about traffic as when someone is looking for something and is being redirected to your music. Examples are Google Search, your website, Facebook, Pandora, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Make sure your Spotify, Apple, Amazon, YouTube links are easy to find in all of these places when potential fans might encounter them.
11- Advertising
As simple as this sounds you are going to need some paid traffic and awareness. Especially if you manage to convert your traffic right it will bring you income. Advertising is not just for new releases. You need to advertise for gigs, merch, and even streaming. For example, Facebook ads can generate 3x income.
12- Pre-orders
The bigger your pre-order is, the better your first week sales will be. Therefore your music will gain a much bigger footprint. As a result of all of the preparation, ad campaigns, and branding in the pre-order stage, you will increase your sales during the release of the music.
13- Don’t sell yourself short
You can ask for a Follow for a track or share for a track as a promotion. Unless its charity you should always get paid for your time and effort and don’t do too much free stuff.
14- Money Saved is Money Earned
The most essential thing to take into account is to be smart with money. Try to have everything inhouse wherever possible, look for endorsements and sponsorships from fellow artists (strings, drumsticks, microphones). Also, used gear is a good way to save money and using artist discounts when it’s possible.
15- Plan Your Development
In the new streaming dominant marketplace, music development plans are the key to a successful album cycle.
We hope you learned a few things about how to make money with music online and elsewhere. Most of all, we would love to hear your comments, questions, and additions in the comments below.
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