When you are a musician, whether a professional touring artist or a bedroom hobbyist, one of the most important goals you should have (next to making your music) is getting your music heard by all of those folks out there who might like it.
Decades ago, you would have to seek out a record label, recording professionals, establish a record contract, and land on the radio or television if you wanted your music to be heard by a wider audience. Thanks to the internet, that large barrier of entry into the world of music has effectively been eradicated.
Yes, you can still get a record deal and get heard by millions on the radio with a little more ease, but online, there are plenty of tools and platforms that exist to help artists get their songs heard and noticed by people all around the world, without having to seek out and impress recording executives.
How can you do this?
If you are a musician looking to get your tracks heard by a bigger audience, you simply need to make the internet work to your advantage. It has never been easier to break down the old barriers thought normal to the music industry and establish yourself as a master of your genre. You just need to know some strategies you should be adopting as you do it.
Getting Your Music Heard
So, what can you do to make sure your tracks are heard by more people? There is no single way to make this happen, and it will ultimately depend on how well folks connect with the tracks you write. Still, you can get them out there by using some of the same approaches for your music that you might use when trying to sell a product online.
In a way, that is exactly what you are trying to do. Your music is your product – ensure it is able to found easily by employing some social media marketing techniques just like you would if you were trying to sell a product or a service to someone.
To do this, take some of the following strategies into account and you might be surprised at how many folks might end up giving your music a listen.
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Always remember the importance of music platforms
When it comes to getting your music content out there for the world to hear, there is no better place for you to start than some of the music platforms for independent artists that available to you online today. There are many to choose from, but a good starting point would be to think about getting setup on SoundCloud if you aren’t already.
SoundCloud is one of the biggest destinations for independent musicians at the moment, allowing anyone to sign up for a free account and post their own audio. You can tag your tracks by genre so people will easily be able to find them, and if they are good enough, you can expect those folks to share them with their own followers, which could net you even more listens.
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Take advantage of your existing social media pages
Don’t forget to use your existing social media pages to give you a hand in promoting your musical content, as well. You have friends, family, and other followers with you on these platforms already, so why not give those folks a taste of some of the music that you are writing?
If you are already set up on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and any of the other major social networks, think about sharing a link to your next song upload for everyone on your timeline to check out. You might be surprised at how many folks will be interested in checking out your content.
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Post some of your songs as video content on streaming platforms
Don’t think that you are limited strictly to using music-centric social platforms for promoting your music online – you can also use established video platforms to help promote your stuff. Don’t forget, people listen to audio on these platforms all the time, so you don’t have to be a video editing whiz to be able to get your tracks on video platforms.
Think of sites like YouTube, Odysee, Vimeo, and similar video-sharing sites. Simply make a video with your album cover as the image and add in the audio from your track. It is quite easy.
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Engage with your fans and build a community
What do music fans love from their artists besides great original music? Engagement!
If you spend any amount of time making musical content online, make sure you take a second to appreciate the people who listen to your music and help you share it around. Engaging with your fans can go a long way in building up your popularity online because people love interacting with artists who engage with them.
In a way, you end up building your own community of sorts, where folks can find like-minded individuals enjoying your tracks together. You might be surprised at just how effective taking some time to engage with your community could be for getting your tracks in front of more potential fans.
Self-Promotion is a Good Thing!
Your main goal as a musician should always be to simply work on getting more people listening to and sharing your music with the rest of the world. Music is a huge passion for millions of folks around the world, the universal language that everyone speaks and can understand.
It has never been easier to make an attempt to break into the music industry and get your songs heard, so spend some time crafting a SoundCloud page, sharing your content on social media, and doing everything you can to begin creating a community around your music. When you have people listening to what you’re doing and engage with the people who follow you whenever you can, you will be able to see just what it’s like to enjoy some success in online music.
