14 Trends Musicians Can Do for Online Marketing

Music,

Band

 

What works, what doesn’t work in music marketing? The answer to this is often subjective because there are different target groups and countless possibilities for individual marketing. Nevertheless, aside from getting the services of the best digital marketing Manchester has, the following strategies are universally applicable. Also, but not only as an emergency plan in a crisis.

1. Content remains king and entertainment becomes more important

Point 1 is rather obvious: As in previous years, good content on social media is almost mandatory. Imagine a potential fan listening to your music somewhere, reading your name in an ad or on a flyer. He visits your Instagram or Facebook account but finds there only unsightly, shaky rehearsal room pictures that are months old or even worse: advertising, advertising, advertising.

He doesn’t tend to become a new follower, because nowadays we follow bands and artists not to miss any news, but to connect with the respective artist. That’s why it’s important that your newsfeeds and stories are interesting to outsiders.

2. Frequent posting is desirable again

In general, more frequent posting will increase again. Where not even two years ago it was said that you are not allowed to post on Facebook several times a day, because otherwise, one post steals the reach of the other, it will soon probably be said again: Fire free! This is due to the fact that Facebook and Instagram are experimenting with abolishing the Like function for posts. The reasons for this are probably rather controversial. Superficially, it is about protecting young people from getting involved in status battles over the most popular images and thus becoming psychologically stressed. For the platforms, however, there is the decisive advantage that users are encouraged to post more, even several times a day.

3. More text and statements in posts and posts

How much text you can put in a social media post changes again and again. With ads and posts, the tendency is to increase to more text (not in the image, but in the actual post). In general, however, this also has to do with the trend that fans really want to get to know their artists.

So in the corona year, don’t be afraid to write a few more lyrics, for example, to tell you in detail about your songs.

4. Be careful with free online streams

Nothing is currently as trendy as online streams, split-screen home-made videos and the like. You can jump on this bandwagon, but please be careful not to be authentic and not to sell yourself below value.

Those who are less well-known, do not headline festivals, and perhaps have 10k followers can and should make an effort to stay in the conversation by revealing a little, but not too much, about themselves. Streaming events from magazines and other organizers are basically a cool thing, but often don’t promise a lot of hits on social media. I recommend that you create your own stream on Facebook, Instagram, or Youtube, which is exclusive to your fans. Do not make it too long, a maximum of 30 minutes, and be creative and remain high quality.

5. Tell your (Corona) story

Like everyone else, you as a musician are currently very hard hit by the crisis. Talk to your fans, but also to the media about it. You can also keep your band in the race by telling your story in interviews with the press or on your own blog. These can be tour memories or strokes of fate for your career through the crisis.

Everyone has something to say – you just have to figure out what that is!

6. Give new media like TikTok an early chance

Point 4 contains the very bold statement that we need to turn to new social media. I’ve already experimented a bit with TikTok – admittedly a platform whose meaning and purpose are not quite clear to me yet: The audience is obviously very young and largely American. The platform shows short videos, mostly funny ones, that appear in masses in a feed.

But there are also opportunities here. Like Instagram used to be, the organic reach on TikTok is still immensely high and a video you upload reaches quite a lot of people. There are also features such as linking directly to the Instagram account. Especially if you make “Newschool” music, you could pick up new fans with some cool and funny videos!

7. Retargeting is the order of the day

As in recent years, you won’t get much further on social media if you don’t run ads. Facebook, for example, serves almost exclusively as an advertising platform. But social ads are not a bad thing, because there are now many ways to run good campaigns without spending thousands of euros.

In my opinion, the most important trend in the placement of ads will be retargeting. People who have already interacted with your content (for example, from other ads) need to be approached repeatedly to turn them into fans/buyers/streamers.

 

ALSO READ: Collaborating on Creating Music Online

 

8. Authenticity before “label speak”

Let’s finally leave social media on this list. This tip is rather general and applies to almost everything you do: Authenticity counts more than professionalism, especially with young audiences.

I see it with small bands that are on the rise, as well as with old hands: Hardly anyone presents themselves to the outside world in a press release style. Whether in social media posts, in interviews, on website texts, or at events: remains authentic.

9. Micromarketing is becoming increasingly important

As you can see, you have to think much more from the point of view of the fan/buyer/concertgoer in your marketing and PR strategies. Ask yourself: what does the audience want? Why is the audience interested in me? Try to start on a small scale. This can be a response to a private message or a comment. This can be a photo at the merch stand. A reaction to a shared song.

Many musicians also forget that they can define demographic and geographic marketing goals. Based on record sales, concert visits, and Spotify streams, you can quickly determine where your fans actually live and how old they are. If this is how your true fans emerge, then focus on this group to make them more loyal and expand at the same time!

10. Funding and assistance are no longer embarrassing

So-called “true” musicians like to demonize subsidies such as the Initiative Musik. But if you have a band with a vision and a concrete plan to conquer the music landscape, you should not be ashamed to apply for and accept subsidies in the form of cash grants these days.

Musicians are paid poorly, studios, etc. are becoming more and more expensive, and record deal advances are becoming increasingly rare. So be open to it if you let yourself be supported by the Initiative Musik or other newcomer funding.

11. Spotify is platform number 1, but streaming numbers are not the most important thing

It’s all about streams, isn’t it? As an organizer, booker, and PR manager, I actually look at the streaming numbers of the bands that apply to me. But here you have to pay close attention to whether Spotify (as an example for the other streaming services, but Spotify is the largest) is actually your platform.

Streaming, in my opinion, is a great thing for young artists to spread their music. The payment is negligible if you don’t have a lot of streams, but uploading to Spotify is now nothing but expensive. If you don’t have a label and distribution, which I would still recommend, you can use various services to manage your entire band on Spotify.

12. PR and online promo displace physical sales but don’t make them obsolete

Everyone has now noticed that the physical distribution of records is declining. Online promo has to be used because flyers and posters at concerts and in trendy shops are simply no longer enough. In many places, PR campaigns are overtaking the competencies of music labels, which are already working with agencies themselves.

As a musician, you, therefore, have to think about what you want and what you need. For example, for an EP whose songs are to be released individually as singles, the search for a label may not be worthwhile. A small self-distribution for the merch stand at live concerts may make more sense, coupled with a good PR campaign that you set up yourself or with an agency!

13. Originality in playlist pitches

Briefly back to Spotify & Co.: Since Spotify curators are always easier to find and the distribution for streaming services is also affordable for artists, as I said, everything is rushing into the playlists. In order to stand out from the crowd here, you should be creative, but also decisive in your so-called pitch. When you apply for a playlist, you need a few bullet points that show what makes your music and your band particularly worth listening to and relevant.

In the future, it is important to get more and more creative, perhaps also to look left and right at playlists that may not have so much to do with your music on the surface, but have a similar message.

14. Homepage becomes important again

The last point is also obvious again because actually not only since this year relevant. For heaven’s sake, get a homepage. You can see it with bands, labels, and agencies: “owned media” is slowly but steadily replacing large portals. Where you had to have everything bundled on Facebook in recent years because you wanted to retrieve information quickly and easily, now the trend is coming back more and more to stay longer on the profiles or homepages of the artists.

With a good homepage you also protect yourself from a possible catastrophe: Due to data protection, lack of reach, or paid functions, it is not entirely unrealistic that the most used social media so far will no longer be attractive for you or your fans at some point. With a nice homepage where everything can be found, you can at least continue to exist online. In addition, a homepage also radiates a degree of professional discipline, which plays into your cards when applying to labels or festivals!

Collaborating on Creating Music Online

Music,

Musician discussing music online

 

All the online music platforms examined are characterized by the fact that relationships within user groups have the highest priority. The establishment of relationships between people via the net is closely linked to active music practice, whereby the musical preferences of the participants are taken as a starting point. Some platforms seem to allow a spontaneous entry like on Reddit where you can get upvotes from people in your community (How Reddit Upvote Works? Read this article for more details!), others are more integrated into professional contexts. Many users of music platforms generally apply traditional criteria to the resulting music in the digital space and use the net pragmatically. Familiar musical practices such as rehearsals and jams as well as the use of notation programs and music studio applications are (experimentally) transferred to the medium of the Internet.

Even experienced musicians address hurdles in the technical design of interpersonal interaction on the platforms. In addition, workshops show that the use is also unusual for technically experienced young people and that the technologies must first be acquired by them. The expectation “It’s the same, only online!” turns out to be a fallacy in practice. This has consequences:

  1. The fear that online music platforms could replace face-to-face lessons or joint studio meetings on an equal footing is exposed as a hollow and unnecessary phrase. Apples are compared with pears.
  2. Simply transferring traditional methods to the online sector is questionable. Alternative methods must be developed if one wants to be effectively artistically and pedagogically active. Superficially, the conditions for interaction require a rethink. The knowledge of music, related to basic musical and technical questions, initially seems to be less conspicuously influenced by the medium.

In order to better understand the peculiarities of network media, it is worth saying goodbye to the widespread view that such network media, as presented here, are to be understood as tools or tools. Online platforms are more than a neutral means to an end. Rather, they act as mediators who (co-)shape the conditions and process of music design. Media theory emphasizes that the medium always performs a strong constitutive performance for the process, the product, and mutual perception.

The Internet is therefore to be regarded as an independent, virtual space in which not only everyday things are depicted. In it, sound, visible and physical interaction spread differently than in physical space. There are laws whose effect does not simply result from the operation of interfaces. If you want to use opportunities to make music at a distance, you must therefore be willing to engage in a research process and make the digital world “habitable” bit by bit.

Typing

The selection of the considered forms and concrete examples on online music platforms of the broad-based investigation took place regardless of whether they can be assigned to pop music genres, experimental music, or classical art music, and independently of quality judgments. The central selection criteria of the analyzed online music platforms3 were two aspects:

1. The role of the Internet for collaborative interaction between the participants goes beyond sending (e.g. by e-mail or Dropbox) or making files available in archives (e.g. podcast and sheet music collections for download).

2. Structures have been established that are used by several people to interact with each other dialogically.

This excluded applications such as Chrome Music Lab or Groove Pizza from the investigation because they can be used interactively in the browser to make music, but do not offer opportunities for sharing. Rather, the focus is on websites that provide conditions that enable the establishment and maintenance of relationships within user groups in order to enter into a collaborative and dialogical exchange.

The typification presented below is based on basic musical practices that can be found on the net in the differentiation of the respective characteristics. It is based on four basic types of music-related practices on the Net that are geared towards collaboration. The two types of use of online music platforms for making music together (“The net as a rehearsal room”) and for synchronized music experience (“The net as a concert stage”) were already presented in the previous issue of this magazine.

 

ALSO READ: How DJs Can Leverage Social Media

 

3. The Net as a Production Tool – Collaborative Music Making

From the first two forms of musical practice on the net, in which directly related interactions in the here and now are of central importance, production tools must be distinguished that enable collaborative forms and can take place asynchronously – i.e. independently of each other in terms of time. Instead of an execution-oriented interaction, the representatives of the third and fourth types focus on a dialogical reference that is primarily conveyed symbolically (e.g. in the form of notes, sequencer tracks, or text).

This form of collaborative development of music pieces means the production of a composition with the result of a score, but also the production of instrumental tracks and songs – e.g. in the studio using DAW software – with a recording as a result. In contrast to the widespread image of the lonely composer or the lonely home studio producer, specific practices have developed on the net, which operates under the term “collabs”. Forums such as fawm.org or websites such as Kompoz are often used as a collaboration platform. Recordings, mixes, sheet music, texts, video cuts, and other musical material are sent via the Internet, whereby compositional additions, music recordings, and cyclical revision loops of the joint material with many participants can be undertaken. With this form of collaboration, however, it can be very time-consuming if the project is worked on in parallel and project iterations that have been created in parallel in different local studios have to be brought together.

A more modern approach is offered by online platforms such as BandLab, which offers a studio environment (consisting of e.g. sequencer, sample library, effect devices, and software instruments) to become productive directly on the net – making the network a workshop. Notation software for composing is also available as an online version (e.g. Noteflight and Flat.io), which can be accessed via the browser. All project files and even the sound recordings remain on the network, which means that they can be accessed on any device and access can also be granted to individual profiles or groups.

With such music platforms, dialogical processes in composition and production can be given a different weight than in working methods in which individual recordings or (project) files are sent back and forth. On the one hand, collaborators can create material for the joint project. On the other hand, by taking place directly on the net, the collaborative process can make the interim results visible to others for inspiration. All project participants can develop their own interpretations of the currently available material, which in turn can be taken up, commented on, and further developed.

4. The Net as a Forum – Exchange Language

The fourth form of musical practice on the Net, which is geared towards collaboration, focuses on linguistic exchange (as text, as voice recording, or as a video response) and can be found in Internet forums and in comment areas of music blogs. In forums such as musiktreff.info, the largest German-language brass music forum, for example, playing techniques are exchanged and hardware and music recordings are discussed. Participation is thematically bound, to which references take place at a staggered time. I would also like to include such music-related practices in the systematics of this article in the typification since the exchange with other users in the form of feedback up to intensive discussions decisively determines the practice of music and can be a component of learning.

Such social media platforms can also be counted among them, which are based on the principle of “user-generated content”, such as YouTube or ultimate-guitar.com. Often, the uploaded sheet music, videos, podcasts, or photos are a starting point from which discussions in the comments section arise.

How DJs Can Leverage Social Media

Music,

DJ performing in front of a crowd

 

Everyone wants to be a DJ nowadays, not only young people but also older people. As an artist, you want to reach as many people as possible with your music, but how do you get that done? You depend on your fan base, but you have to build it. And how do you ensure that you maintain and increase this fan base? The answer to these questions can be found in this blog.

Why?

First of all, you have to ask yourself why you are going to use your social media. Social media are of course extremely suitable for marketing, but only really come into their own when you enter into the interaction. Therefore, try to think a little further than promotion. We believe that there are four reasons to use social media as an artist:

  1. Awareness: make sure you can be found online by building a portfolio of your talent. This way you can easily be found by potential fans, but also by bookers, promoters, and collaborators.
  2. Feedback: social media is the ultimate way to interact with your fans. Therefore, use it to hear what fans think of the musical path you walk.
  3. Communication: communicate the value you stand for as an artist, but also how you stand out from your competition. By building this yourself, you prevent others from doing it for you when you gather more fans.
  4. Network: last but not least. Use the short lines of communication from all channels to look for possible artists to work with, but also to maintain the relationship with your fans.

How?

Often you are so busy with your musical career that you forget to sell yourself. You should always prevent social media from becoming a neglected child because it is important to keep track of this on a regular basis. Don’t you do this? Then you get into a fight with the algorithm. And let’s be honest: you don’t want that. You might want to get an SMM panel service to help you get started.

Therefore, think of 3 or 4 pillars for your communication. By doing this, you bring focus and always know what to post about! It is important that you always think from the outside in, so: what do your followers want to see? And not: what do I want to tell my followers? That way, you’ll address the needs of your followers and they’ll probably be more likely to follow you at all and interact with you.

In addition, it is of course always good to show that you are a person. Light-hearted, everyday content does very well! This way your followers also get an impression of your interests outside of your person as an artist. For example, you can think of funny, inspiring, or informative content.

The most important thing here is: “trial and error”. Produce content, check statistics, and report to yourself. This way you get better and better little by little and you get a better insight into which content appeals to your target group.

 

ALSO READ: Ways for Online Music Promotion

 

Common mistakes

In addition to things that you do have to do, there are of course also a number of things that you should not do. And because after reading this blog you know exactly which mistakes you should not make, you can take that into account.

First of all, there is the well-known “Big things are coming, keep an eye on my channels-hype-message”. Our advice: don’t. Unfortunately, you’re (probably) no Hardwell, Tiësto or Steve Aoki yet, so the hype doesn’t outweigh what your fans can expect.

Secondly, there is a fine line between engagement and spamming. Make sure you don’t just post “download my mixtape now” messages, but also show interest in your fans’ opinions and involve them in your life. Of course, they don’t have to experience every minute of your day. We’ll say it again: it’s a fine line.

You see it more often, but it is better not to do it: place work that is half finished. It’s almost always accompanied by a shaky video, poor sound quality, and imagery that’s not really interesting. If you do want to do it, make sure it’s of absolute quality and that your fans are happy that they listened to your preview.

And last but not least: never post anything on your social media if you are angry or disappointed. An open door of course, but many people do it anyway. Oh yes, wrong behavior is of course also part of this!

The overall conclusion of this blog boils down to the following: be smart, use your wits, and make sure you have a clear strategy in mind. Using social media as a DJ is essential to reach your target group, but can also ensure that you lose your fans quickly. With these tips, we’re sure you can start building your fan base!

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