Promoting your music can be very stressful! There are so many things you can do to get exposure and generate a buzz for your music that it gets overwhelming. It’s an age-old problem. There are so many options that you’re somewhat paralyzed from making an actual decision. If you are stuck in this rut, here’s how to get out. Pick 3 feasible things and JUST DO IT!
Apart from your budget and time commitment, the only thing that could prevent you from actually moving forward is your mindset. We talked about mindset at length in our 5 Day Mindset Makeover Challenge. If you haven’t taken that challenge yet, check it out here.
Your time commitment is something you have to decide on your own. So that leaves us with your budget.
Allocating money for marketing and promotions can get super expensive pretty fast if you’re not strategic. I suggest exploring the free options first before investing money into different strategies. In this post, we’ll cover 15 free options for promoting your music online.
Utilize online platforms.
There are tons of online platforms you can set up a profile on and add your music to. TONS. GigSalad, Indie On The Move, Bandcamp, and NoiseTrade are a few examples. These platforms all have different purposes so it makes sense to find as many as you can to add your music to. I know it can be some work to set all of this up and keep up with it, but it’s worth it. Here’s why…
- The more links you have on other platforms directing back to your website, the more credibility you receive with search engines.
- Each platform offers a different set of benefits.
- Multiple platforms can put you in front of a wider range of audiences.
When it comes to online platforms, don’t skip the local ones. Look around online to see if there are any local listings of musicians and ask if they can add your music as well.
Set up a free website.
Did you know you can create a website for free? A free website can offer you the basic features needed to build a decent website. If you’re on a limited budget and can’t afford to purchase a domain and web hosting, then start with a free one. You can always upgrade to a paid version later. Weebly, Wix, and Ucraft are free website builders that allow you to have a decent space on the web. If you’d like to go this route, check out my post: How to Create a Music Website for Free.
The only downside to a free website is that you can’t control ads. Also, the platforms will slap their logo on every page making it known to everyone who visits your site that it’s a free site.
Although you can create a website for free, it will be more beneficial for you if you make an investment to get your own domain. You will look more credible, you will have control over ad placement, and you will have a lot more freedom in how your information is presented. If you’d like to have your own domain, check out my post: How to Create a Music Website for Less than $4 a Month.
Participate in Social Media.
If you’re running any kind of business, you need to be on social media for sure! Social media attracts a lot of people. According to Statista, in 2020, over 3.6 billion people were using social media worldwide, a number projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025.
Social media is a necessity. But don’t go overboard or bite off more than you can chew. Select a few platforms to invest your time in and focus on posting quality content with the intent to engage your followers and attract new ones.
Comment, Comment, Comment.
In addition to posting quality content, social media is made for networking and promoting active community. This means in order to get the most out of it, you really need to engage. This means commenting. But not just one line of thought here and there. You should be sharing meaningful and thorough thoughts on topics that you are interested in. Not just on your page. You should spend time posting comments on other people’s pages. Pick pages that you know your fans follow and make your presence known. Comment and engage with fans of those pages as well.
Comments don’t have to be limited to social media. Pick some blogs and YouTube channels as well. Make sure these platforms attract your ideal fans. You wouldn’t want to comment on topics that are of no interest to your fans. That would be a waste of time as it relates to marketing your music.
Start a YouTube channel.
Another free option to market and promote your music online is YouTube. Starting a YouTube channel and sharing your music in video form is a great way to increase your exposure and attract new fans. What’s the trick to getting people to notice you on YouTube? Try capitalizing on current events and hot topic trends. Try doing covers. Use relevant hashtags with every video. Make your channel interesting. Create a variety of videos such as music videos, live footage, lyric videos, you talking about things, behind the scenes stuff, etc. For more ideas on what to post on your music YouTube channel, check out 20 Video Content Ideas for Musicians on YouTube.
Make unrelated-style videos and add your music to them.
Another way to boost exposure for your music on YouTube is to create other types of videos that are unrelated to your music and then add your music to them. Covering topics like unboxing, hobbies, reviews, and animals are great ways to extend your brand outside of music and reach other potential fans that may be looking around for those topics as well. Add your music as a background, or at the beginning and end. Add a blurb about where the music is from and how to listen/buy more.
Invite your fans to use your music in their videos.
A great free option to promote your music is to have other people do it for you. Invite your fans to make videos and use your music as a backdrop. Give some of your tunes away for free to all of your fans who have YouTube channels or TikTok. Encourage them to make videos using your music. In fact, you could even host a contest where your fans submit videos where they used your music for a chance to win something from you.
Blog.
One of the great features of having your own website is that you have a blogging engine at your disposal. Blogs are a great way to attract search engine traffic. You can blog strategically by using keyword terms targeting your ideal fans. For example, if you write songs about the cosmos, you could write monthly cosmology updates. If you write love songs, you could share your take on your favorite love stories from blockbuster movies.
There are a lot of things you could blog about to attract people to your website and your music. It especially can make a huge difference if you’re trying to build a local following. You could blog about best local bands in your city, for example. So when someone goes to search for that, your blog would come up. I’ve got an entire list of things you could blog about to attract a local audience to your website here if you’re interested in learning more.
Create a GMB Page.
A Google My Business (GMB) page is a profile on google that you set up for your business so that it shows up on Google Maps when people search for a service you provide as shown in the image below. I typed in ‘party bands Dallas, Tx’ and this is what showed up. Your website can show up in a similar fashion when you create a GMB page.
This option gives you an opportunity to reach people who are searching for live entertainment providers – musicians. It gives you visibility and could lead to gig opportunities.
Seek out features and interviews with blogs and other online platforms.
Getting featured or landing an interview is free (most of the time). If it’s not free, then they are on some pay-to-play bs that I strongly suggest you stay away from. But, getting your music featured or landing an interview is not easy. You have to do some serious outreach and your follow-up strategy has to be on a high level. Don’t just reach out to one or two platforms. Reach out to 10 or 20. You should get responses from at least half. Out of those responses, half of those should result in a feature.
When reaching out, give yourself the best chance of getting a response possible. Here are a few tips for getting good results with your outreach…
- Be professional
- Be brief
- Call the person you are reaching out to by their name
- Share a BRIEF description of who you are and why you are contacting them
- Be specific about what you’re asking for.
- Don’t add any attachments to your email. All of your materials such as promo pictures, videos, social media handles, etc, should be shared from a single link.
- Follow-up at least three times before giving up.
*MEMBERS ONLY CONTENT* Excerpt: As an editor of this blog, I get emails from artists wanting to be featured a lot. I’m going to share with you some of these examples and why I end up ignoring a lot of them. I’ll also share with you an example of the type of emails that I do respond to so you can see the difference. I’ll also share my template that I use to get blog features...(This content is for Crafty Members only. To unlock this content either login below or become a member. Memberships start at just $5/month.)
Write for music industry-related platforms.
Platforms like this one, music blogs, and other music industry websites are great options for promoting your music. In addition to the possibility of doing features and interviews, you could also contribute as an author. Offering to write a relevant article could get you in the door quicker than asking for an interview because platforms are always looking for help with editorial content. Just make sure you are writing content that is exclusive and relevant to their audience.
This is beneficial because you get to share a bio as part of your author credit along with a link to your website. It puts you in front of a new audience. Plus, it gives you more opportunities to generate links back to your site, which gives you more credibility with search engines – a win-win!
Related: Get Blogs to Ask You Instead
Answer questions on Quora.
In the same vain, you could offer to answer questions on Quora. As a Quora member, you can write a short bio about yourself with a link back to your site. Then, you could look for questions and answer them. If you do something like this, make sure your answers are detailed and well thought out because you’re doing this to pique interest in you. So if someone sees your answer to a question and they really like it, they will want to see more from you. When you answer a question on Quora, your profile is clickable which means you can use it as a way to market your music. Have fun and invoke your artist persona with this.
So what kind of questions should you go after? Questions…
- related to music
- about famous musicians
- about the music industry
- related to your brand messaging/purpose (topics you write about)
Create playlists. (Spotify, Soundcloud, etc.)
Add you’re music to streaming services such as Spotify and Soundcloud. If you open an account, you can add your music for public listening for free. Soundcloud and Spotify both offer widgets that allow you to post music players on your website for your fans to stream.
You could also create playlists that include music from other musicians. This is a great way to collaborate and co-promote. Get together with your musician friends and create playlists with different themes. Add your songs, add their songs and promote it to your collective audiences. Now you’ve been introduced to a new network of potential fans. Rinse and repeat.
Submit to playlists.
In addition to creating your own playlists, you could also submit your music to others’ playlists as well. Getting your music added to more playlists gives you an opportunity to reach even more fans all for free. You can submit directly to Spotify or submit to individual playlist curators.
Ditto Music has a great article about submitting directly so Spotify here.
You can find individual playlist curators by doing a search on a web browser or within Twitter or IG.
Submit to online radio stations.
Another way to promote your music online for free is to seek out online radio stations that accept music submissions. It doesn’t cost you anything to send an email asking to be added to their rotation. To get the best results, make sure you’re sending an effective pitch. Take a look at my radio pitch for inspiration.
If you’re looking for radio stations to submit your music to, check out this list or subscribe to our radio directory here.
Engage in email marketing.
Let your fans keep up with you via email. Your email newsletter is one of the best ways to market yourself and stay engaged with your fans. A mailing list is a database of fans that you own. Unlike with social media, you have direct access to your mailing list subscribers and you have more control over what you can say and how often they hear from you. Your newsletter is your best marketing tool to expand your reach and earn money. A mailing list can help you…
- Cultivate deeper connections with your fans
- Keep track of your fans’ important dates such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc (great for auto-responders)
- Sell merchandise
- Crowdfund
- Pre-sell music/albums
- Promote upcoming shows
- Book shows and house concerts
- and more
For help establishing a mailing list and monetizing it, see my email marketing series for musicians here.
A big theme that a lot of musicians miss when it comes to promoting music is that marketing for creative entrepreneurs is more about building relationships. Whether you are trying to build your online reputation, trying to get exposure for gigging opportunities, or trying to get exposure for your music by working with influencers – you are actually building relationships with people. When you shift your mindset to a relationship-building approach, you have better clarity regarding what you need to do, who you should be reaching out to, and how to do it. It doesn’t feel so business-y!
Do you need help customizing a specific and affordable strategy for promoting your music? Let’s connect! You can set up a free (for first-timers) music career strategy session with me here. If you’ve chatted with me before and would like to book a follow-up session go here.
Promoting your music online doesn’t have to cost a fortune. In fact, there are a lot of ways to promote your music online for free. Have you tried any of these options? What things have you tried? What’s worked and what hasn’t? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Email Marketing Essentials: How to Grow Your Fanbase
10 Effective Strategies to Grow a Fanbase for Your Music on Social Media
How to Write a Press Release for a Song
Let’s Write a Captivating Artist Bio Together- Workshop and Demonstration
twentyfourelder.com is also a free platform to promote your songs for free