It’s a big news week for A&Rs in the African entertainment landscape.
The last decade has seen the African music industry undergo some cultural shift moments, evolution, and explosion internationally. By chance, think of development in lyricism, sound engineering, A&Ring, songwriting, and collaboration.
With many accolades to some major key players and decision makers – Like A&Rs who continue to keep their nose to the grindstone, working closely with labels and independent artists to provide the kind of work execution to showcase their artistry to the world. Closing strategic partnership deals with major international labels, international repertoire, publishing deals, and many more.
There is still so much more potential within the African music scene and the community that has grown around it and A&R duty are first of its kind in building a marketplace connecting all aspiring artists with producers, songwriters, and industry decision-makers. Will also be responsible for developing superstar talents in creating a music catalog and the business side of it.
A&R Duty is an independent creative-based company founded in November 2021. Providing creative support and services to both inspiring musicians, A&R executives, and industry networks in each of the music market ecosystems and exploring new collaborations, and opening a wealth of opportunities for music creatives.
Based in Nigeria but with global outreach, A&R duty will work closely with labels, music distribution companies, Music journalists, and music executives to serve as a trend spotter, and talent developer responsible for breaking new artists to the music business markets.
“THE COMPANY WILL POSITION ITSELF AS A TOP-OF-LINE AGENCY JOINING FORCES WITH CREATIVES AND EXECUTIVES, LOOKING TO CONNECT THE DOTS AMONG A&RS ACROSS THE AFRICAN MUSIC LANDSCAPE, PRODUCERS, SONGWRITERS ALIKE SUCCEED ON A GLOBAL SCALE”. According to Babatunde Makinde Williams, Co-founder and Director of A&R for A&R duty.
Over the few years, A&R Duty has previously worked closely with different independent labels and a variety of artist projects in the Nigerian music scene with proven stacked records, under the umbrella of a parent company “Gidioti Limited” all while supporting up-and-coming artists and involving in talent development programs and mentorship.
The company’s rosters have featured the likes of Los Angeles CA, based Grammy award-winning singer-songwriter Jackiesboy, Cynthia Morgan, Kiss Daniel, Dapo Tuburna, Chinko Ekun, Shaydee, Psalm E, Wale Turner, Dj Neptune, Dj Jimmy Jatt and many more.
Added Omotola Slasha, Head of Marketing For A&R duty, Our Modus operandi at A&R duty is special delivery, the company which will also operate as a community and marketplace for diverse cultures, languages, and creative collaboration amongst other interesting business and creative opportunities the company has to offer. Working alongside A&Rs in their drive to empower artists across the African music continents.
Looking forward to expanding our repertoire with new talent and opportunities whilst continuing to drive our artist-centric culture forward.
To read more about where the future of Artists and repertoire in the African music industry is headed through A&R duty and to sign up either as an A&R or Music artist visit here – http://www.aandrduty.com
Connect with A&R Duty on social media: @aandrduty
In the music industry, signing an artist is a very important decision. You will be investing time and money into this person and their career. Therefore, either you are A&R,Label owner, producer or talent manager it is essential that you do your due diligence before signing that contract.
There’s a lot to consider when you’re signing an artist. Here are some of the most important factors to consider when deciding whether or not to sign an artist.
A&R is a crucial role in the music industry. It’s the job of an A&R person to find and sign new talent, as well as develop it for commercial success. But what makes an A&R person successful? What are the qualities of someone who excels in this role?
Here are some things you should keep in mind when hiring an A&R:
A good A&R will have a deep understanding of the artist’s history and how they’ve developed over time. That means knowing how they started out, why they decided to pursue music, and what happened in between.
If you’re looking at someone who has never signed an artist before, you want to make sure they have this kind of knowledge. It shows that they understand where artists come from and what drives them to create their art.
An artist who has been around for a while may not need as much coaching on their development process because they already know what works for them. But if you’re looking at someone who has never been signed before or doesn’t have much experience working with artists, it’s important to get them up-to-speed quickly so that they can help guide your new signing through their career path from day one.
As an A&R executive, it’s your job to find and sign artists that will help your label grow. But before you sign someone, you need to know what you’re getting yourself into.
Do they have a unique sound? Do they have a big social media following? What makes them different from other artists?
What kind of artist do they want to be? Are they looking for commercial success or is their focus on artistic growth? What’s their ultimate goal in music?
You also need to consider how well albums have sold for other bands in your genre. This will tell you whether or not this particular band might be worth signing or not
An A&R’s job is to sign artists and help them develop into successful acts. But the A&R must also look at the entire picture of an artist’s career.
If you’re just starting out as an A&R, there are some important things to consider when signing an artist.
You’re going to need fans before anyone else will take you seriously. If you don’t have a built-in fan base, consider if they have a way of building one on their own. Some artists have huge social media followings, while others make music that appeals directly to listeners who might not be on social media at all. The more options an artist has for growing their fan base, the better their chances are in making it in the music industry.
The best way to determine an artist’s talent level is by listening to their music or watching them perform live. However, if they’re still developing their craft, it can be difficult to tell how good they really are until they’ve had some time to improve their skills and build confidence on stage. In this case, ask yourself whether their songwriting abilities are strong enough for them
As an A&R, you’re going to be responsible for finding and signing new artists. But before you do that, there are a few things you need to consider.
The first thing you need to know is whether or not your artist is ready for the spotlight. Artists can be ready for fame at any age, but there are some things that will help them get there more quickly and easily than others. If your artist doesn’t have good vocals yet, you should probably wait until they do before trying to take them on tour or promote them in any way. If they don’t have enough experience performing in front of crowds or making music videos or photoshoots, then again this could be something you want to wait on before bringing them into the spotlight.
It also helps if your artist has a solid social media presence so that fans and potential fans can see what they have to offer before signing with your label. If they don’t have any kind of following already established online, then you’ll want to make sure they start working on this right away once they join your label so people will know who they are when their album comes out!
The next step is checking out
The history of A&R can be traced back to the early days of the recording industry when companies such as Columbia and Victor were signing acts to contracts. In those days, there was no such thing as independent record companies. The artists signed to labels like Columbia or Victor all came through the same talent scout system, which was referred to as artist and repertoire.
The first record company that used this system was Columbia Records in 1917. The company’s founder, Eraklai V. Phonograph Company, hired a young man named Frank Walker to find new talent for his label. Walker did this by going around New York City and visiting theatres where musical acts were performed. He would watch these acts perform and then sign them if he liked their sound.
This system continued until 1928 when Victor Talking Machine Company started its talent search department under the direction of Arthur Judson and Harry Jolson (father of Al Jolson). This department was known as the Artists’ Bureau; it continued until 1931 when it became known as Artists Records Incorporated (ARI).
ARA continued through World War II, but by 1947 it had been replaced by a new company called Artist Management Association (AMA).
The term “A&R” was coined by Jerry Wexler, who was then a talent scout for the Atlantic Records label. He coined the term “A&R” to refer to his duties at Atlantic, which included both artist and repertoire.
Wexler later became famous as the vice president of A&R at Atlantic Records. He had been hired by founder Ahmet Ertegun in 1947 after having worked with Ertegun at Billboard magazine.
In 1963, Wexler described his role at Atlantic Records: “I was doing all right by myself, but then I got into work with artists such as Ray Charles, Bobby Darin, and others. They were also responsible for discovering major talents such as Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, and Otis Redding.
Wexler claims that he turned down numerous artists including Elvis Presley, James Brown, and Bob Dylan because they did not fit the image that he wanted for the company: “Blues singers were beginning to be heard on what we called rhythm-and-blues stations on their local radio stations” (p. 12). However, he also states that “we didn’t get into the rock until we found out that it paid
A&R – BACK TO THE beginning over a hundred years ago the music industry consisted of the live industry and the music publishing business. The public could listen to popular songs by either going to see a live concert or by listening to someone playing the piano at home or by mechanical means via the Piano Roll. Before the invention of phonographic records (the 7 and 12-inch vinyl records as they came to be known), the music business was dominated by sheet music sales. Music publishers would discover a songwriter and print their music on sheet music to sell in music stores to the public.
The emergence of popular entertainment and the success of Vaudeville variety shows across America gave a huge boost to the publishing business. With Vaudeville and Broadway shows in New York, music publishers and instrument stores started to congregate around an area that would become, famously, known as Tin Pan Alley. These publishers would hire pluggers to promote their sheet music in stores and to Vaudeville and Broadway performers.
PHONOGRAPHnRecords were invented by Thomas Edison in 1877 and were originally called Phonographs – the ‘P’ in the copyright symbol ℗ stands for Phonograph. The development of Phonographs over the next few decades ushered in the first record companies that saw commercial value and market potential.
Record companies, in the form we know them today, came to the market soon after the invention of the Phonograph by Edison, and the further development and innovations made by Emile Berliner shortly afterward. With the advent of record labels at the turn of the 20th-century records became the main sound-carrier format that people purchased to enjoy music. Music publishers needed artists to record their songwriter’s songs, whereas Record companies needed publisher’s songs for their artists to record. For the first half of the century, the recording industry’s business model was founded on the hit singles market – it was all about the ‘Song’. In the early 1900s, there were three major record companies: Victor, Edison, and Columbia. Today, just over 100 years on and after many mergers and buy-outs, there remain three major record companies: Universal, Sony (that owns Columbia records), and Warner – and the business, once again, is all about the song.
Although phonograph records existed since the 1880s, for the first 50 years the album and Long Playing record format (LP) did not exist commercially. The technology not arrived at the mass market which could produce over 45 minutes of music in one sound-carrier format. The phonographic record was the disruptive technology of the time and the record industry replaced sheet music as the main form and structure of music consumption.
Artists such as Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, and Bing Cosby were amazing performers, personalities, and vocalists who could capture a great song’s emotional essence and vocal performance. However, they didn’t write the songs so the artist & Repertoire representative would marry the artist to the song (or the artist with the songwriter, composer & arranger). Song standards such as ‘Come Fly with Me’, ‘Summertime’, ‘Stardust’, ‘Mack the Knife’, and ‘My way’ were written by famous songwriters such as Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, Leiber & Stoller, and George & Ira Gershwin who wrote for Broadway Musicals and the popular artists of the time.
The 1950s saw the continued success of the phonograph record. This was thanks to technological advancements in recording and sound reproduction; the growth of national radio broadcasting, Broadway musicals, and the Hollywood film industry; the popularity of jukeboxes as well as the increased economic conditions after the great depression and World War II. The 1950s saw the record business boom with success from global superstar artists such as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, Peggy Lee, Bobby Darrin, and Andy Williams. It also saw the post-war growth of the youth market with the birth of Rock n Roll and exciting new artists such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Elvis Presley.
A&R was most evident during this period which saw the number of artist signings increase significantly to the major record labels. It was the decade that ushered in the 45” EP, the popular format for releasing singles, and the 12” vinyl record which was soon to become the significant format and game changer to the traditional business model. Originally best suited to classical music’s longer pieces, the 12” became an art form in itself with concept albums such as Frank Sinatra’s ‘The voice of Frank Sinatra’.
Although during the 1950s the 45” format was the biggest selling format, it soon became apparent that there was more profitability in selling the more expensive LP format and so record companies started using singles as promotional tools to sell albums. They also started making hit songs only available to buy on LPs to increase profits.
Singles have always been treated as a non-profit making promotional tool (i.e. a loss leader) but their purpose was to market and drive album sales. Of course, if you sell millions of singles and can license the song to compilation albums and synchronize it to a movie or television program then there is a very healthy income stream. However, the traditional business model and main income stream were in selling albums. Today with the fast-changing market conditions and the move to online digital download and streaming services the model is changing, although albums still account for half of the recording industry’s revenue streams.
By the mid-1950s and the explosion of rock n’ roll to the youth market, artists started writing their songs. Artists such as Chuck Berry, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Kinks, and Rolling Stones wanted to express the feelings of their generation and started writing their songs for creative and financial reasons.
with the advances in recording technology and technical complexities of the recording process the role of record producer developed and adapted as artists sought more sophisticated arrangements, experimentation, and artistic expression in their music.
During this period it was often the case that A&R managers were also recorded producers, composers, and arrangers for the artist such as in the case of Lieber and Stoller for Elvis Presley and George Martin for The Beatles and either worked or were hired by Record labels to work with their artists on composing, arranging, recording and producing their music.
Throughout the 1960s A&R executives became more focused on signing artists that could write their songs, rather than seeking songs for their performers. Those artists that didn’t write their songs started to form long-standing relationships with songwriters such as Elvis Presley with Leiber & Stoller, Elton John with David Taupin, and still happens today with collaborations between Robbie Williams with Guy Chambers or Adele with Paul Epworth.
This era was the domain of only 5 major labels that started acquiring other labels in buy-outs and mergers. It was a Singles driven market and the 12” was the new disruptive technology of the time.
Are sounds familiar doesn’t it? These days most people download singles, cherry-picking their favorite tunes rather than buying full albums. The business consisted of 5 major labels in the early 2000s but with the de-merger of Sony/BMG and the recent acquisition of EMI by Universal Music Group, the market is left with only 3 major record companies. Napster and iTunes are the recent disruptive technology. And all of this happened 50 years after the launch of the 12” record.
From its early days under Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson to its maturation as an industry segment in the 1990s, A&R has seen it all. It’s gone from a job title to an entire department of execs and artisanal record-makers. From its 1960s dominance to its struggles in the ’90s, A&R may never be quite what it once was (or in some cases, was again), but it has always influenced popular music.
A&R Terminology – A&R stands for Artist & Repertoire. This is the department in a record company that is responsible for scouting upcoming talent, signing new artists, and overseeing their creative development. (To read more about the history of A&R see Wikipedia – A&R)
A&R terminology is a working knowledge that will help you and your colleagues stay on the same page when referencing an artist and his or her work. It is also useful if you wish to enlist the help of professional music execs. Knowing A&R terminology will also help you understand how artists (and their record labels) are evaluated.
A&R stands for Artist & Repertoire, it refers to the person who searches out new music talent. The Scout is at the frontline of their label’s A&R team and they are responsible for discovering new talent
Where the artist, the A&R representative, and key record label staff (and any invited special guests) listen to the finished record together for the first time – can be quite nerve-racking for the artist and A&R person.
The artist will be listening out for any negative comments from their new team; the A&R person will be looking out for signs that their role has been usurped by someone else. The whole team will be hoping that the record is good enough to get signed on the spot, but in reality, this rarely happens.
Playbacks should take place as soon as possible after the completion of production so that there’s still time to make changes if necessary, but not so early that everyone gets bored of hearing it over and over again. The ideal situation is when everyone can all sit down together in one room at one time and listen without interruption, but this isn’t always possible.
If you’re doing a playback over email or phone, then it’s best to send out one track at a time so that people can respond to each one individually before sending on to the next one (there’s nothing worse than hearing two tracks back-to-back which doesn’t work). Make sure there’s enough space between tracks so that
The monitor mix is the version of a record that leaves the recording studio before it has been professionally mixed.
A rough reference copy from the recording studio to send to the artist, A&R dept, and mix engineer before the mix session.
The monitor mix is usually made with a limited set of speakers or headphones, so it sounds as close as possible to what you’ll hear on other systems.
The sleeve notes contain the songwriting and producer credits, the long list of thank you’s, lyrics, and the copyright information contained in the inlay sleeve of records.
Artists & Repertoire. The person or people who have control over an artist’s musical direction, including their selection of songs to record. Often these people also act as producers.
The visual elements that are used on an album cover or CD booklet include photographs, illustrations, typefaces, logos, etc…
An audio processor used for correcting out-of-tune vocals during recording sessions or live performances. Andy Hildebrand originally developed Auto-Tune from Antares Audio Technologies Inc. His original intention was to use it as a tool for singers with disabilities such as laryngitis or bad vocal habits (such as poor breath support) but it has now become a standard studio tool for many mainstream pop artists too!
A non-refundable amount of money is received by the artist and songwriter from record and publishing companies for the exclusive right to copy, sell, adapt, distribute, broadcast, and perform their music. It is paid upfront before recording commences and allows the artist to concentrate and focus their time and energy solely on their music. An advance is negotiated between the artist manager and the record company via music lawyers.
The person who manages an artist’s career on a day-to-day basis acts as an intermediary between the record label and the artist or band. Artists’ managers are responsible for all aspects of their clients’ careers including booking shows; booking studio time; negotiating recording contracts with labels; negotiating publishing deals with publishers; marketing; promoting tours etc.
A type of record deal where an artist receives a small amount of money upfront from a record company in exchange for ownership of their master recording (the finished album). This type of deal is most commonly used by developing artists who are not yet making any money from touring or merchandise sales (or have only just started doing so).
This is an agreed % of revenue an artist will receive from every record sold, e.g. a 20% artist royalty rate will mean that the artist will be paid 20% of the published dealer price (PPD) of each record sold. If an album’s dealer price is £8 per CD then the artist will receive £1.40 in royalty payments from the sale of that one CD after all costs have been recouped by the record label (see below).
These are expenses that are charged back to an artist on a per-unit basis, such as manufacturing, marketing, and distribution costs. The recoupable period for physical products is usually between six months and one year after the release date, depending on the type of product being released. For digital releases, there is no recoupable period, as all costs are borne by the label and then recovered out of royalties earned every month following the release date.
This refers to units lost during manufacturing or handling processes due to breakage or damage. Breakage rates may vary depending on how sensitively fragile your product is but we recommend budgeting
The ‘drop-down’ section of a song comes directly after the second chorus. It features either an instrumental solo section or an alternative melody line to that of the verses and chorus. It is usually 8 bars long, hence why it is known in the UK as the Middle 8.
A section of music within a song that directly follows the Chorus and precedes the Refrain.
The main refrain of a song is repeated several times throughout the song.
Refrain (or Chorus): The main refrain of a song that is repeated several times throughout the song.
The first part of each verse typically sets up what will be said in the second part (the body) and often ends with an incomplete thought or idea (incomplete rhyme scheme).
A solo played over an instrumental backing track without any vocals present; this can be during or after a bridge or middle 8 sections of a song, or at any other point in time within an arrangement where you feel it would suit your purpose best! Instrumental solos are usually between 4-16 bars long but can be extended beyond this if required.
A&R (Artist & Repertoire) is the department in a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the careers of recording artists.
As the undisputed leader of A&R (Artists & Repertoire) in Nigeria, A&R Duty is an A&R services company with a difference. Where other companies claim to be one thing and turn out to be something else, making promises they can’t keep, we are honest and respectable people who believe in quality and value for money. We are true professionals who put YOU first.
A&R is a music industry task that has been around in Nigeria but still remains unknown to a large number of Nigerians. What exactly is the role of an A&R? With the gradual takeover of social media in Nigeria and the need for new music and songs, A&R becomes even more relevant within the Nigerian Music Industry.
A&R is a term used in the music industry that stands for Artists and Repertoire. A&R people are responsible for scouting new talent, signing acts, running established artists’ signings, and that ey often coming up with creative new ideas to keep the musicians popular. Sometimes A&R personnel get involved in an act starting from recording part of their demo recordings to producing their debut albums.
An A&R representative plays a pivotal role in the industry. An effective and professional A&R rep can find, pinpoint, and develop new artists while shunning those with insufficient talent from ever-releasing an album. Naturally, due to their importance in the business, some A&R reps earn large salaries in the seven figures, while others make small fortunes for themselves. No matter what the salary, these individuals must keep up with new music trends, listen to hundreds of albums each month, work long hours, go to many concerts, and scout anywhere they think they might find the next big name.
A&R DUTY is the only Independent A&R firm that signs and empower A&R Officer/Managers to join forces and respond to artists.
We are a team of A&R and music experts who conceptualize and execute bespoke artist development services to support our clients’ artists’ general careers, including their singleartistsum releases and tours. We design and develop artist strategies, target fan bases, and generate public awareness.
A&R DUTY offers A&R services that are unparalleled. The service it offers includes:- Signing and educating A&R. Signing, training, and empowering artists for you to maximize your brand succesartistsng term.- Acquiring and developing new talents or independent artists with their fan pages from grassroartistsajor online commercially successful artists. We also provide music production services to most of the signed acts we handle depending on the genre of music they are related to.- Managing your offline activities.- Promote your brand through quality digital marketing.- Sales and marketing strategies.
We can’t deny that Music is an integral part of us and has the capability to shape our lives.
If you’re looking for A&R Services in Nigeria, then our A&R department can help. We work with A&R and artists to produce music that gets airplay and helps gain fans. Our Music Selection Team (MSL) and A&R Department can also assist in finding producers, engineers, and even PR companies and shiz like that.
A&R Duty is a rating system that rates artists and their music on four different disciplines: Relatability, Delivery, Replay Value, and Mixing. We have created this company to help bring artist development to the forefront of the modern music business and bring about a positive change in the way artists push their music.
At A&R DUTY, we know that the most effective method of identifying hits is to find songs method resonate with our audience. We design innovative A&R services and techniques that are proven to get us closer to pinpointing these songs. Our dedicated teams of music experts and specialists help us uncover this untapped potential in your tracks and ensure that they are positioned to hit with listeners around the world. The audience must be able to relate to a song. The kind of lyrics you have on your music determines the audience that will listen to your song. There is a correlation between lyrics and audience. A bad lyric can make listeners become bored but a good lyric gives listeners something to relate to and appreciate.
It’s one thing to have a track, or even an album that you feel represents you well. But it’s another thing altogether to know how the music will be received by the listeners. The best way to do this is to get the perspective of someone in your target audience, and A&R services can provide that type of insight. An A&R representative can listen to your music and offer their thoughts on how popular it will be, what genre it would fit into, or many other things depending on the specifics of your project. Once you know this information, you can adjust based on their feedback and give your project the exposure it needs to succeed in the long run.
Are you looking to take your brand to the United States or across the world? Are you hoping to get a contract signed in Nigeria? Are you struggling with trying to find local music? Then you’ve come to the right place. If you’re facing these issues and many others, then A&R DUTY is the answer to your problems. Our team of dedicated professionals has 20+ years of experience in the music and entertainment industry. We know how to help you build your foundation and secure your future.
Building an audience for your music isn’t easy, but it can be done. In this post, we’ll explore how to build a fanbase from scratch. We’ll go over the different types of fans you want as well as how to get them, and then we’ll talk about strategies for success with each type.
When it comes to building a fanbase from scratch, many aspiring musicians have the same question: how do I get people to follow me?
To answer this question, we’ll look at some of the most common mistakes that new artists make when trying to reach out beyond their initial social circles. We’ll also examine what kinds of things you should be doing and saying on your social media channels to gain followers and fans who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer. If you’re looking for more detail about creating an emotional connection with your audience at large, check out our article What Is Fan Engagement? How To Build A Fanbase From Scratch.
There are three types of fans that you can build.
Don’t take anyone for granted. You may be the most important person to yourself, but don’t ignore the people around you.
Don’t just focus on your fans. Focus on your music, brand and business too!
Don’t just focus on your music. Focus on social media and email marketing too!
One of the best ways to build a fanbase is by being yourself. When you’re building your brand, it’s important that people can see who you are and what makes you unique. To do this, there are some steps that you need to take:
Social media is a great way to engage with your fan base, but you shouldn’t post constantly. Posting consistently is the key to building a fanbase.
When you start your podcast, you’ll likely have a goal in mind for the size of your audience. Maybe it’s 100 downloads per episode or 1,000 listeners on any given day. Whatever the number is, don’t get too hung up on it:
It’s important to realize that numbers aren’t everything when it comes to building an audience. The quality and engagement of your listeners are much more important than the sheer quantity of them. If two people follow you and engage with each episode then they’re going to be more valuable than 100 people who just listen passively without commenting or interacting in any way with what they hear (or worse still don’t even download episodes!).
Live shows are a great way to build an emotional connection with your fans, and they’re also a great way to build trust. Your fans will know you’re not just making stuff up in the studio or on the Internet they can see for themselves that you’re real and that what you do is worth listening to.
Live shows also give people a chance to connect with you in person, which can lead them down the path of becoming your biggest fan (and perhaps even becoming your friend). If someone enjoys meeting up with other people who like something they like, then they’ll probably want more opportunities like this one.
If all else fails, ask them if they’d be willing to help promote your show! This works especially well if there’s something fun or interesting going on at the venue where it’s happening (like free food).
Collaborating with other artists is a great way to build your fanbase. When you collaborate with other artists, you can gain exposure, receive feedback on your work, make new friends and learn new skills.
I’ve collaborated with many people over the years. Some of my favourite collaborations were when I was in college and made a music video for my song “Life Is Good” with the band The Rival Rockets in 2011. This helped me gain exposure because it was shared on social media by more than 100 people who were fans of both bands at the time. It also helped me receive feedback on my work because we had a few rehearsals before filming so that we could make sure everything worked out well during filming as well as post-production editing work afterwards.”
Giveaways are a great way to build your fanbase! But you have to do it right.
First, it should be fun. People love free stuff, but they don’t want something lame—they want something cool. When you’re giving away a prize that’s only worth $5 or even $1,000 (yes, we’ve seen artists do this), the contest has to be interesting enough that people will pay attention and share with friends so they can win too! If you can tie the game into some aspect of what you’re doing as an artist or brand then even better: if someone likes your music they’ll probably like anything else related to it too!
You should also make sure it’s something relevant—don’t just throw anything out there because “it could work.” Make sure whatever prizes/giveaways are available to fit well with what your fans want and love about themselves because then when people see them they’ll feel good about themselves too which means more fans joining up with us later down the line when our careers take off thanks again, guys!!
Building a fanbase from scratch can take time, so be patient and persistent. Don’t get discouraged by the slow progress at first, because it’s normal to feel like you’re not making much progress when you’re just starting. As long as you continue working hard and stay consistent with what you do, then eventually your efforts will pay off!
The music industry has become more and more competitive over the past few years. With the rise of streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, there’s a whole new way for artists to get their music heard by fans. This means that you need to be proactive about promoting your music online. Here are some simple ways to get your songs noticed.
You can promote your music online by taking advantage of social media and radio, but you also need to think about offline opportunities. Promotional strategies for music include social media marketing, radio marketing, and online marketing.
Marketing companies that specialize in music promotion offer an array of services to help artists get their sound out into the world. These companies can make it easier for you to reach new audiences and gain exposure by helping you find new fans through a variety of means—including social media sites like Twitter and Instagram as well as traditional outlets like print magazines or radio stations.
When choosing a promotional strategy for your band’s next album release or another upcoming project (like an EP), consider your options carefully before making any decisions about where your band will focus its efforts. What kind of audience do they want? How much money are they willing to spend? What kinds of opportunities exist within each category? What kind will benefit them most at this stage in their careers?
In the music industry, especially in Africa and Nigeria, A&R stands for Artist & Repertoire. An A&R is a person who manages the recording contract of an artist and ensures that all aspects of their career are handled professionally. This includes securing studio time, booking shows and making sure that your brand is promoted effectively. A&R Companies in Nigeria play a vital role in helping artists record their music professionally and get it distributed to top radio stations across the country. They also develop strategies to help you reach new audiences while growing your fan base by sharing your content on social media channels like YouTube, Instagram etcetera…
A&R DUTY is an independent A&R company with a passion for music. We are creating a community for A&Rs to come together under one umbrella, training and educating them on how to trade in their business space without being ripped off, and also creating an avenue for a record label and independent artist to hire professional A&Rs when the need arises, to increase the population of the artist making hit records in Africa.
A&R Duty also assists new artists in finding their footing in the industry by offering them professional management services and guidance through their careers. You can hire HiRE A&R for your upcoming album release or single launch!
If you want to make your music popular, there are a few things that you can do. First of all, you need to make sure your fans are aware of your music. The Internet is the best way to do it. This can be done by creating an online presence for yourself and putting up links for people who may not know about you yet. You can also use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to promote yourself with ads on these platforms or create a blog where people can find out more about what you have done so far in terms of promoting your music online in 2022
When it comes to promoting your music online, one of the best things you can do is revisit the goals that you set for yourself at the beginning. When you are clear about what these goals are, it becomes easier for you to track your progress and see if anything is holding back your success. Once you have decided on a goal and have started working towards achieving it, make sure that:
Your website can be a separate entity. It doesn’t need to be part of your social media sites or any other online platform; it should be an independent site that hosts all of your music and information about you, your work, and how people can get in touch with you. Not only will this help you build up an audience and increase visibility for yourself as an artist, but it will also make it easier for potential fans to find out more about you and the work that you do.
The first thing that people will notice when they visit your site is its design – so make sure that it looks professional! You don’t have to hire a web designer if this isn’t in the budget – there are plenty of free tools available which give easy access to creative templates. However, always remember: just because these templates may look good now doesn’t mean they won’t look dated later on down the line…
You’ve probably heard about the benefits of using YouTube to promote your music, but did you know that it’s also one of the world’s largest search engines? The platform has over 1 billion users, which means that if you create content and share it on YouTube you can attract a huge audience.
YouTube is an excellent way for musicians to get their music heard by a wide audience. The platform allows artists to build their brand by creating quality videos about themselves and their work, as well as providing valuable information about how artists can use the platform effectively.
If you are an independent artist and want to expand your reach, social media is a great way to do that. You can use social media to interact with fans and get feedback on new songs or music videos, promote events and shows you’re going to be at or working at, or just run contests for free stuff (t-shirts, posters, etc.). With the rise of Instagram live streams becoming popularized by celebrities like Diddy and Kanye West any artist needs to be able to show off their talents. This is not only good for promotion but also for gaining new fans as well as keeping current ones interested in what you have going on.
Social media algorithms are constantly changing, so it’s important to keep an eye on the latest trends.
Make sure that you know what works best for each platform and adapt your strategy accordingly.
Don’t forget to engage with your existing fans constantly.
It’s important to produce and post content frequently on social media, but it’s even more important to engage with your fans in the comments section. This will help build a stronger relationship between you and them, which can lead to more shares and likes on each post. Additionally, this increases the likelihood that they’ll purchase tickets for shows or stream/purchase music from your site!
You can use Facebook ads to reach new fans, but don’t just blast your music on Facebook. You will likely annoy people and end up with a bad reputation.
Instead, target people who are already interested in your music genre and live near where you will be performing.
Facebook advertising is a great way to get more eyes on your page and build loyalty among your existing fan base if done correctly!
The Reddit community is a large and passionate group that loves new music. They’re constantly looking for the next best song, album, or artist to listen to! If you want your music to be promoted by thousands of genuinely interested in hearing it, then this is the place for you.
Reddit is also great for finding feedback on your songs! You can post links to specific songs or even entire albums on Reddit and ask questions about what works well and what could be improved upon. This is a great way of getting constructive criticism from people who want nothing more than to help out musicians like yourself!
Another benefit of using Reddit as part of your marketing strategy would be reaching new fans who may not have otherwise heard about your work before now. Since there are so many users looking for new music all the time, there’s no doubt someone will stumble across one of yours soon enough!
Collaborating with other musicians is one of the best ways to get your music heard.
It doesn’t matter whether you’re just starting or well-known; everyone can benefit from having a network of people who share similar interests.
The more connections you have, the greater your chances will be forgetting noticed by other artists and labels. Websites such as ReverbNation are great places to find like-minded individuals who may be able to help further your career.
Music marketing is about building momentum over time and creating exponential growth. If you are releasing music once a year, how are you supposed to create any noticeable momentum or build a fanbase for the long term? Planning your next single release is great. But what about the next few singles? Releasing one song without knowing when the next single is going to be released means you are starting from scratch after every music release. This causes you to have popularity and focus spikes which constantly lower over time because you aren’t focused on consistent growth.n Quality of music and consistency come first.
look after your fans and provide value over and over again with consistent and frequent releases. remember you’re only ever ONE song away from greatness. One song can completely change your life. You never know JUST how close you are. Keep writing, releasing, and learning!
ITogrow online and expand your reach, it’s best to stick with the strategies mentioned above. If you’re not sure how to use any of these tips, just ask us! We have experience helping musicians and artists promote themselves on social media, YouTube and other platforms.
So, if you are looking for a way to promote your music and get it noticed by the right people, then A&R Duty is the best option.
In this article, we’ll go over some of the basics of digital marketing for musicians. What is digital marketing? How do you know if your page needs more followers? What kind of content should I post on my social media accounts? These questions will be answered as well as how to use each platform effectively so that your brand can grow organically and organically.
Digital marketing is the process of growing your audience through online channels such as blogs, social media platforms, and email newsletters. It’s important to note that this is not just about Facebook ads and YouTube views. Digital marketing is about building relationships with your fans, learning about them, and ultimately sharing their stories with others.
Not having a team of people to rely on can be frustrating and time-consuming, but with the right tools and techniques, it can also be fruitful and rewarding.
You’ve got a great product and you’re ready to share it with the world. But before you start your marketing campaign, you need to think about your digital presence. What are your customers looking for when they search for your type of product? How will they find you? What do they expect from your website?
You can’t just set up a website and wait for customers to come knocking—you need to put on some spandex and go out there and find them! The first step is knowing what keywords your audience is using when they search for products like yours. You can use tools like Google’s Keyword Planner to get an idea of how frequently people search for each keyword, how much competition there is for those terms, and how much traffic each term gets. You’ll also want to look at the competition—the number of websites that rank well in the search results. The more people who have websites that rank on top of Google’s results page (SERP), the more competitive it will be for you to get good SERPs too. Once you know what keywords people are using when they search online, it’s time to make sure they find YOU first when they type those terms into Google or another search engine like Bing or Yahoo! The easiest
An Electronic Press Kit (EPK) is a marketing tool that helps you promote your business through a digital media kit. The EPK includes a wide range of information about your company, from the products you sell to the history of your business. The EPK is an important way for businesses to get their name out there and make sure potential customers know about them.
An electronic press kit is a collection of documents and files that provides details about a company’s product or service offerings, background information, contact information and more. The equipment can be distributed through email or on CD-ROMs.
The purpose of an EPK is to provide journalists with easy access to information when they’re writing articles or doing research on companies and industries. It should include all relevant information about the company — such as its history, location, CEO biographical information, financial data and any other pertinent facts that may help journalists write accurate articles about the company.
While we’ve seen a decline in the need for websites as a whole, artists are still building them (and they’re pretty awesome).
An artist’s website is a hub for all of your social media channels and other promotional materials. It’s where you can direct people who want to learn more about you or engage with you as fans.
If you’re putting out music at any frequency, having an artist’s website is essential. It gives you control over your brand and lets you control the conversation about yourself. It’s also important to note that having an artist website doesn’t mean you shouldn’t also have social media accounts or EPKs – it just means that these are all connected. You should treat each one as its piece of the puzzle, but they should all work together toward the same goal: getting people interested in what you do!
In the same way that social media can be a great tool for connecting with fans, it can also be a great way to promote and market your music. The key is to use social media in a way that fits your personality and style. If your brand or style is more personal, you may want to consider using Twitter or Instagram as your primary marketing platform. If you have a more professional brand or are looking for ways to remain consistent with your brand image, Facebook may be the better choice for you.
The important thing to remember is that no matter which platform you choose, it’s important that you make sure that every post has a purpose and fits into your overall marketing strategy.
The email was one of the first big revelations associated with the digital age, and as a result, it can be viewed as ‘old school’ in a rapidly evolving environment. Regardless of this, email lists can be extremely impactful for artists. Sure, tweeting or sending a direct message might seem the easiest way to communicate with fans directly, but like anyone else, music fans check their email inboxes, too. Additionally, email has the highest engagement rates per post – fans are more likely to read any email than anyone on Facebook posts or tweets, both of which exist in a virtual sea of content.
As a result of this information, many artists have turned to email marketing as a way to not only expand their reach but also build an engaged fanbase that will support them throughout their careers.
Email marketing is also an excellent way to make money from your music since most emails include an opt-in box where users can sign up for updates on new releases and tour dates. This means that every time you send out an email there’s potential for new income streams through ticket sales and merch sales!
Pitching your music is something that you should be doing regularly, no matter what stage of your career you’re in. It can be a long, tedious process but it will get easier as you become more familiar with the process.
Just because you released a great single, EP or album doesn’t mean people are magically going to know all about it. Yes, you’ve sent your emails, you’ve posted on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, you’ve made the release available on your site, and you’ve shared links to digital stores and streaming platforms with friends and family. If you think that your digital marketing efforts are over after all of that, guess again.
The goal of pitching your music is to get people talking about it so that they eventually come across it in their daily lives — whether it be through SEO (search engine optimization) or serendipity (someone stumbling upon something they didn’t even know they were looking for).
Playlists are an important part of the music industry. As streaming continues to attract more and more music fans, platforms like Apple Music and Spotify have found ways to offer these fans curated playlists of music they may love, or, in many cases, not KNOW they love yet. That’s why streaming has laid a foundation for new music discovery levels– independent artists are not being left out of the fun!
Playlist curation is still a relatively new concept for indie artists, but it can be very rewarding for those willing to put in the time and effort. In this article, we’ll dive into how you can start building your playlists on Apple Music or Spotify and leverage them as a marketing tool for your career.
As the music industry continues to evolve, there are more and more outlets for musicians to share their work with the world. From blogs and online magazines to social media platforms, musicians have a wide variety of options when it comes to promoting themselves and their music. As mentioned above, you can get started on these efforts early in your music career without paying for a publicist – it just takes some work.
Find blogs and magazines that cover your type of music. Look at their websites and social media accounts to see if they post about upcoming events or feature artists they like. If they don’t, send them an email introducing yourself and asking if they would be interested in hearing your music (this goes double if the publication has an email address or contact form specifically for writers). You might want to include a link to one of your songs on SoundCloud or YouTube (if applicable) with your initial email so they have something to listen to right away.
Follow up with emails every couple of months after sending out your initial pitch, as well as when new releases come out from artists you have covered previously – this will help keep you at the forefront of their minds when they are looking for new artists to feature on their sites.
With this newfound confidence in your ability to market and brand yourself, start taking steps to do so properly. Building a solid online presence is the first step in marketing your music, as it gives you a virtual presence for potential listeners to discover.
There is a lot of marketing terminology thrown around in the music industry. It’s pretty confusing for musicians, and if you are trying to find information about your options, it might be hard to discern all the different types of music marketing platforms out there for musicians. Six main forms of music marketing platforms are available to musicians. And those are:
Marketing platforms of the music industry can be divided into the following types:
Social media marketing is a powerful tool for customer engagement and building brand awareness. However, to build a following on social media, you need to understand the demographics of your target audience and set goals in terms of web mentions or content engagement metrics. In the digital sharing age, your fans are the media itself, one that can sometimes be much more powerful than conventional communication channels. However, don’t forget about other channels. Social media marketing should be just a part of your overall communication strategy.
Social media has become an integral part of modern marketing strategies for small businesses. As this trend continues to grow with each passing year, social media marketers continue to refine their methods and focus on new strategies.
When you’re looking to reach out to a specific audience, digital advertising is a great way to go. Digital advertising allows you to choose not only the time and place of your communication but also the type of people you engage with. Advertising through social media (e.g. Facebook ads), search engines (e.g. Google AdWords), digital displays, or even digital audio platforms of Spotify/Pandora allows you to target people based on demographics (age, location, income, etc), musical preferences, and interests.
This is different from physical space advertising like OOH (out of home) advertising — although it remains reserved for more popular acts, targeting wider audiences — because it allows us to target people based on their interests and preferences rather than just their location or age range.
Paid advertising is a great way to get in front of the audience, but it should be approached with caution — the acquired traffic won’t stick around for long if you’re not able to spark an organic interest across other channels and platforms.
When it comes to cultivating a loyal fan base, direct-to-fan communication is crucial. First and foremost, music is a passion and part of people’s identity. Direct engagement helps to build a deeper connection with your audience — and that is something that can come a long way in the music business.
Emails, text messages, or direct messages over social media — whether manual or via bots — will help you build a tight-knit ring of fans that will stick with you (and consistently support you).
Digital Service Providers (DSPs) play a crucial role in the digital music consumption landscape. They help artists reach their fans and grow their careers, by distributing their music to the various platforms that host playlists.
Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, SoundCloud: the digital music consumption landscape is made up of dozens of DSPs. Getting in front of the audience of these platforms is key to expanding your fan base and growing your career.
One of the most prominent channels to reach the audience of the various streaming platforms are playlist placement. That’s why the playlist strategy is now at the heart of any music marketing campaign.
Playlists are a powerful tool for digital service providers to connect with their listeners, but they can also be dangerous if you’re not careful. There are five types of playlists on DSPs:
Generally, playlists on the DSPs can be divided into five types:
Today’s most successful artists are building their brands on multiple platforms. And one of the best ways to do that is through a playlist.
Playlists can offer a vast opportunity to reach new fans, but at the same time, they put the artist at risk of being reduced to just another name in a long list — so you have to build your story on other platforms first and turn the streaming audiences into fans who will go out to your shows.
In the music industry, there are few things as important as publicity. It’s a good thing, then, that there are so many ways to get your name out there:
Promotion of this kind of free advertisement — except that it never comes for free. It would help if you had a PR strategy, a network of connections across different mediums, a press event, and a solid (and preferably data-based) pitch. News doesn’t create itself, so musicians have to work with journalists and media pros to make it happen.
The world is more connected than ever. And while music was always a social phenomenon, the digital space has made the world even more connected than ever. Digital Word-of-Mouth can now travel around the globe overnight and turn an unknown artist into an international sensation.
Right now, TikTok is the user-generated content platform on top of everybody’s mind — but the fan-driven content can live on several platforms: from Twitter to YouTube to Spotify (remember those user-generated playlists?). However, you have to remember that virality doesn’t just happen — it’s always driven by a solid strategy.
No matter what kind of music marketing service you need, there’s a platform out there for you. But the world of music promotion is incredibly complex, and it can be not easy to know where to start. These six music marketing platforms offer a variety of services, so no matter what your needs are, you’ll find something that meets your criteria. click here to hire a professional
The challenge of music promotion in the 21st century is to develop a 360° marketing strategy that reaches all these audiences and connects with every potential opportunity and to do that you need the right tools. From platform-specific advertising managers to CRM solutions and link shorteners: every music marketing tool plays its role in creating, organizing, and distributing your content (and your message) so that it reaches the right people at the right time.
A&R DUTY is a unified, intelligent platform that leverages the most advanced technologies to grant you access to all of your fans. Now, it’s easy to get the whole picture that helps you to truly understand your audience – their needs and expectations inside and outside the circle of your influence.
As a music marketer, there are more platforms and plans to choose from nowadays than ever before, many of which are difficult to work with. That’s why the real challenge isn’t the choice but the choice architecture itself: We have so many possibilities that we don’t know which one to choose. That’s where this guide comes in: To help you navigate through all these options, I’ll show you which tools I use and how I use them when approaching this gigantic task of “music marketing.” From platform-specific advertising managers to CRM solutions, there are plenty of tools to consider when trying to reach potential fans. But the point is: we should use all those available tools to their full extent!
In this post, we will cover 9 music marketing tools that we believe deserve more attention. Some of these are very powerful and some are more on the creative side. If you want to go deeper into marketing, here is a list of tools that focus on your target audience — I’ll give you a hint — it’s not just fans…
Spotify for Artists is a powerful tool that gives you the ability to manage your presence on the platform. It’s part of Spotify’s overall strategy to create a more equitable playing field for all artists, regardless of their size.
Spotify for Artists gives you the tools to optimize and improve your performance on the platform. This starts with customizing your Spotify profile and accessing critical data on playlist additions, number of streams, and number of followers/listeners.
Playlist additions are the lifeblood of Spotify performance, and Spotify for Artists gives you a direct channel to pitch your music to Spotify’s editorial team, leveling out the playing field for independent artists out there. You can also use this tool to track where your music is being played across the site and make sure it’s being promoted appropriately.
SSound chartsis a music intelligence platform that provides data insights for artists and brands. SSound chartsgathers all the various data points to help you assess your marketing strategy and figure out what is (or isn’t) working. Sound charts platform gives you a comprehensive view of an artist’s performance across the music industry, including:
With Soundcharts, marketers have access to insights that help identify new opportunities, highlight high-potential markets, assess the results of the campaigns, and make strategic, data-inspired marketing decisions. success. Try Ssoundchartsfor free — no credit card required.
ReverbNation is a music marketing platform that includes tools for social media, email newsletters, targeted advertisements, and more. It’s ideal for artists and bands with established audiences who want to expand their reach.
ReverbNation is one of the world’s largest online communities of music professionals with over 10 million users. The platform offers a suite of tools to help artists increase their visibility, including email newsletters, viral marketing widgets, electronic press releases, and more.
ReverbNation also sells advertising space on its website for musicians who don’t have large followings but want to reach new listeners on platforms like Facebook or Spotify.
HubSpot is a full-suite Customer Relationship Management tool that music professionals can use to construct and carry out a cross-platform marketing strategy, then assess the success of this strategy and optimize moving forward. You can centralize all your marketing campaigns (emails, blogs, social media posts, advertisements) on HubSpot — and track exact metrics at the same time.
HubSpot’s key features include:
Email Marketing – You can send one-time emails or create email drip campaigns for automated follow-up messages.
Landing Pages – Create landing pages for your website and promote them through social media ads or other paid advertising channels like Facebook or Google AdWords.
Social Media Management – Schedule posts across multiple social media channels with pre-made templates so you won’t have to waste time creating them every time you want to post something new. HubSpot also tracks how well each post performs so you can look back at what was successful in the past to inform future posts that might do well too!
Blog Management – Publish blog posts from within your dashboard by writing directly in the editor and scheduling when ittheyhould go live on your website.
With Show.co, you can promote your new music with a full suite of tools that will help you grow your audience and sell more music.
ToneDen is the world’s best music marketing platform, with everything you need to promote your music, from the first single to a tour. ToneDen is especially valuable to music professionals as a marketing platform for live events. With ToneDen, you can:
Amplify is a link shortener that allows you to customize your links with artwork, metadata, or videos. It also tracks how many people view your links and creates landing pages and smart links.
The Amplify app is free for iOS, Android, and the web, so it’s easy to use across platforms.
The app has been around for a few years now, but it was recently acquired by Spotify and updated with new features like analytics tools. It’s now part of Spotify’s strategy to improve its social media presence by offering its users more ways to share their music on different platforms.
Why Use Amplify?
The main reason to use an app like Amplify is that sharing music on social media is complicated. If you just give someone a Spotify link, they may not know how to open the file or play it on another device (especially if they don’t have Spotify). With Amplify, you can customize your link with artwork or even add a video preview so people know what they’re clicking on before they hit play. The last thing anyone wants is for someone to click on something only to find out it doesn’t work!
Buzzstream is an outreach and PR tool that automates critical parts of link-building and marketing. You can send out bulk pitches tailored to different audiences and create a link-building database. Buzzstream is also an excellent way to find social media influencers in your genre.
If you’re just starting with link building, BuzzStream’s interface can be intimidating. But once you get the hang of it, you’ll save hours on content promotion and outreach.
Facebook Messenger bots are the next big thing in marketing. The platform is already being used by many businesses to provide customer service, sales, and social media management, but they can also be used to engage with your audience in a personalized manner.
Engaging with your audience in a personalized manner becomes more and more difficult as you gain traction. With social media bots, you can engage at scale and send customized direct messages to your listeners en masse. It’s great for viral marketing campaigns.
The platform also lets you integrate with other apps like Shopify and Salesforce so you can directly connect with customers and provide them with deep product information or order tracking info when they need it most. k.
Marketing platforms of the music industry can be divided into the following types:
Social media marketing is a powerful tool for customer engagement and building brand awareness. However, to build a following on social media, you need to understand the demographics of your target audience and set goals in terms of web mentions or content engagement metrics. In the digital sharing age, your fans are the media itself, one that can sometimes be much more powerful than conventional communication channels. However, don’t forget about other channels. Social media marketing should be just a part of your overall communication strategy.
Social media has become an integral part of modern marketing strategies for small businesses. As this trend continues to grow with each passing year, social media marketers continue to refine their methods and focus on new strategies.
When you’re looking to reach out to a specific audience, digital advertising is a great way to go. Digital advertising allows you to choose not only the time and place of your communication but also the type of people you engage with. Advertising through social media (e.g. Facebook ads), search engines (e.g. GoogleAdWords), digital displays or even digital audio platforms of Spotify/Pandora allows you to target people based on demographics (age, location, income, etc), musical preferences and interests.
This is different from physical space advertising like OOH (out of home) advertising — although it remains reserved for more popular acts, targeting wider audiences — because it allows us to target people based on their interests and preferences rather than just their location or age range.
Paid advertising is a great way to get in front of the audience, but it should be approached with caution — the acquired traffic won’t stick around for long if you’re not able to spark an organic interest across other channels and platforms.
When it comes to cultivating a loyal fan base, direct-to-fan communication is crucial. First and foremost, music is a passion and part of people’s identity. Direct engagement helps to build a deeper connection with your audience — and that is something that can come a long way in the music business.
Emails, text messages, or direct messages over social media — whether manual or via bots — will help you build a tight-knit ring of fans that will stick with you (and consistently support you).
Digital Service Providers (DSPs) play a crucial role in the digital music consumption landscape. They help artists reach their fans and grow their careers, by distributing their music to the various platforms that host playlists.
Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, SoundCloud: the digital music consumption landscape is made up of dozens of DSPs. Getting in front of the audience of these platforms is key to expanding your fan base and growing your career.
One of the most prominent channels to reach the audience of the various streaming platforms are playlist placement. That’s why the playlist strategy is now at the heart of any music marketing campaign.
Playlists are a powerful tool for digital service providers to connect with their listeners, but they can also be dangerous if you’re not careful. There are five types of playlists on DSPs:
Generally, playlists on the DSPs can be divided into five types:
Today’s most successful artists are building their brands on multiple platforms. And one of the best ways to do that is through a playlist.
Playlists can offer a vast opportunity to reach new fans, but at the same time, they put the artist at risk of being reduced to just another name in a long list — so you have to build your story on other platforms first and turn the streaming audiences into fans who will go out to your shows.
In the music industry, there are few things as important as publicity. It’s a good thing, then, that there are so many ways to get your name out there:
Promotion of this kind of free advertisement — except that it never comes for free. You need a PR strategy, a network of connections across different mediums, a press event, and a solid (and preferably data-based) pitch. News doesn’t create itself, so musicians have to work with journalists and media pros to make it happen.
The world is more connected than ever. And while music was always a social phenomenon the digital space has made the world even more connected than ever. Digital Word-of-Mouth can now travel around the globe overnight and turn an unknown artist into an international sensation.
Right now, TikTok is the user-generated content platform on top of everybody’s mind — but the fan-driven content can live on several platforms: from Twitter to YouTube to Spotify (remember those user-generated playlists?). However, you have to remember that virality doesn’t just happen — it’s always driven by a solid strategy.
YouTube is a great place to begin your music marketing campaign. It’s the most popular video-sharing platform, and it’s where you can expect to reach the most people. People watch over 1 billion hours of YouTube videos every day. Music is by far the most viewed category of video (27%), and 95% of the most watched videos on YouTube are music videos.
It’s no secret that the digital world is congregated on a trio of social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Your presence on each platform is critical to maximizing your reach.
You know the drill. Twitter has 330 million MAUs, which makes it the playground of most influencers and budding music journalists at the heart of all things viral and word-of-mouth. Facebook has a staggering 2.38 billion MASU; it’s the most-used social media platform worldwide — and people will discover your live events there. Finally, Instagram has 1 billion MAUs; it’s a great place to cultivate a unique brand and visual aesthetic.
Each platform requires a tailored approach since all of them have their niche, demographic, and most importantly, content format. Your social media marketing strategy should tie all three together — and make the best use of their corresponding advantages.
Spotify is the world’s most popular music streaming platform, controlling 31% of the global streaming market with its 365 million annual active users.
If you’re looking to get your music on Spotify, there are two main ways to do it: through editorial or label-owned playlists, or by getting featured by 3rd-party influencers.
Editorial and label-owned playlists can provide colossal exposure and transform careers — they’re the centre of attention for any music marketing campaign. But they’re also tough to get onto, so it takes time and resources. On the other hand, getting featured by 3rd-party influencers is easier to reach but doesn’t have as much of an impact — although even a single plug can be a game-changer. The bottom line is that 54% of people say that digital playlists are replacing albums for them, and platforms like Spotify have driven this change in listening behaviour
TikTok is a music marketing platform that allows users to repurpose music into shareable memes. Music is a powerful motivator for sharing, and TikTok has found a way to harness that power by giving artists the ability to have their songs featured on the platform.
The platform has been an incredible success, and it’s not hard to see why: it taps into a vein of fan content that has always been important in music marketing but has never before been so easily accessible. This is the new frontier of music marketing: making your music available to users so they can generate their content and build word-of-mouth. TikTok is the pioneer in this budding area.
Radio is still one of the most effective ways to reach new audiences. It’s one of the most powerful mediums for reaching your target audience and building brand awareness, which is why it’s still so important to have your song on the airwaves.
The power of radio varies from market to market and from audience to audience, but it remains an effective way for performers to build momentum for their careers. Whether you’re looking for a broader reach or just want more listeners in a specific area, radio airplay is still a vital performance indicator and a key component of success..
Marketing tools are the instruments of your marketing strategy — the tools you use to analyze your performance on major digital platforms and amplify your success there.
Marketing platforms are streaming services, radio, and social media — all the different spaces where musicians can promote their music and connect with their audience.
Marketing tools and platforms work hand in hand: you can’t reach an audience without a presence on major digital platforms, but cutting through the noise and putting together a successful marketing strategy requires the right instruments — and the right insights.
Overall, making changes to your music marketing strategy doesn’t have to be daunting, scary, or even difficult. Just keep in mind that your strategy needs to be as fluid and agile as the music industry — so keep tabs on how your audience is engaging with you on each platform, and what they’re responding to positively. If a certain type of marketing approach performs well for you on any particular social platform — gravitate towards it. But most importantly: use the resources available to make those data-driven decisions that will help grow your fan base.
Find out more about how A&R DUTY can help you do this.