Independent musicians are always looking to establish a fan base and promote their original songs/tracks. To do this, they must first become familiar with branding and marketing.
This is because for the business to grow, establishing the specific areas within your business that include things such as colour schemes, logos, and consistent posts across social media platforms are important when making music your full-time career.
Another aspect of marketing your music that should be a top priority is to get yourself an established email list set up. This is owned by you and gives you direct contact with your fanbase so that you can keep your audience up-to-date with upcoming gigs or live performances, or when new music is going to be launched.
The end goal for musicians is to create a solid fan base that you (the musician) can keep in touch with regularly so that they (the fans) know what you’re up to.
This helps you as an artist because you can keep track of your fans by monitoring the lists. It also allows you to reach out to them easily. There are free resources online you can use to do this, but this can also become a lot of work on your part that you might not have the time (or expertise) to do.
Musicians tend to want to focus on their craft – making and performing music – and not on all that goes along with it.
With digital platforms in the online world becoming more of a means to distribute and get noticed, there are multiple opportunities with companies that will allow music submissions by independent music artists. Many of these can take the guesswork out of how to get your music shared and noticed, without you having to do much of the leg work.
Utilizing online music submission software is a way to get your music directly in the thick of things. This site, in particular, called Share Pro, will immediately allow your original music submission to be viewed within a 48-hour window and get back to you if they are going to share your music on their platforms, maybe even work with you or offer a record deal.
It’s a fast-track way of getting your music heard by professionals and can be helpful when you want some feedback to see if your music can truly make “the cut.”
If you’re confident that your music is mixed and mastered and ready for the big leagues, this is a great step for you to take as a musician – you never know who might be looking for your specific sound.
A music licensing company is ultimately one of the best platforms for you to submit your music to, and Marmoset is a great licensing company to start with that cares about giving indie artists new opportunities.
The music licensing process is taken care of by the company, so you don’t have to worry about all of the legalities, allowing you to be more focused on making the music rather than selling it.
The company not only accepts your original music and tracks, but they have a wide range of networks that have already utilized their services to find music. This means that you don’t have to do any networking or submitting directly to professionals, since the consensus is that many music supervisors, filmmakers, or other creatives don’t tend to “try out” new music if they are unfamiliar.
But, when a musician is accepted and part of a bigger library of tracks that creatives already go to find their perfect fit, your chances of being noticed (even on a larger platform) are much better. Plus, when your music is chosen there is an even bigger chance that you may be contacted from that point forward to produce more music for specific projects.
Believe it or not, many music-centred blogs and websites out there want your music to be promoted. One of the main reasons for this is that a lot of times with independent musicians you want your music to be heard in any capacity. There are also no royalty fees necessary as long as your music is copyrighted.
There are multiple music blogs like Indiepulse and Emerging Indie Bands blogs and articles where you can submit to have your music featured. They tend to prefer it to be unsigned and unknown, so newer and emerging music artists should consider this route.
This may now seem almost like a very old-school way of doing things, but this is always an option as a musician. You would simply send out demos of your music to multiple record labels through the mail and/or email.
This method can be a long, uphill battle, and many times your music probably won’t even be listened to (or might be listened to by a lowly intern who doesn’t push it up the chain of command).
One thing you should keep in mind if you submit directly to a record label is that many of them do not accept any unsolicited materials. This can mean two different things: the main one being that the record label themselves is not inviting you to send – which means, unless you were asked to send a demo, don’t do it.
The second thing is almost the same as the first – you have to have had some sort of business association with the record label for them to accept your music submission.
Whether you decide to submit your music is up to you. Still, the insight you gain here points to the idea that as an independent musician, you need to be sure to network and establish relations within the industry as much as possible. There are some easier and more difficult ways to do so, depending on how hard you want to work for it.
After creating the music you’re wanting to share with the public, your next priority should be marketing that music and gaining more visibility. Once you can start establishing relations with others in the business and they start to approach you for new music demos, then you have a shot at an actual record label.
When it comes to music and the entertainment industry, there’s one thing that everyone needs: connections. And while you might not be able to control where your next big break will come from, you can make sure you’re making the right connections at the right time – by getting in touch with managers and record labels early on in your career. But how do you know who these people are? How do you find them? And how do you approach them in the first place?
A lot of artists have a good idea of what they want to achieve but have no idea how they’re going to go about it. For example, “I want to be famous” is nice, but it’s not enough on its own. You need to think about the steps you need to take for that goal to become reality—and then outline those steps in detail and start taking them!
Having this kind of plan will help ensure that you don’t waste time or energy on things that aren’t effective at getting you closer to your goals (or worse yet, put yourself at risk). If someone signs their name with their contact information on your demo CD and hands it back without listening or responding at all? Maybe try something else next time!
The second thing you should do is make sure the manager or A&R you are approaching has a track record of success. This is especially important if you are an indie artist with no backing from a label or management company yet.
To do this, look at the artist’s past successes and failures under their management team. If they don’t have any artists signed to major labels or haven’t had any success with their careers, this may not be the right person to approach yet (unless they can show that they have experience in managing up-and-coming talent). You also want to make sure that the label has had some success in working with other artists before approaching them as well if not, there’s no guarantee on whether or not your album will sell once released on their label!
Check out their social media, too. Most artists are active on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; if they’re not posting regularly, it might mean they have other things going on in their lives. Don’t send a cold email if that’s the case!
If you’re sending a physical package (CDs/DVDs), don’t send more than three items in one package; otherwise, the label may toss the whole thing out when they see how much room all those packages take up in their mailroom! If possible, try sending only one item per package if multiple items are being sent together; this will help ensure that all items arrive safely at their destination.
Don’t ask for money upfront. You’ve heard the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover” and it applies here.
Instead, when approaching a record label or manager, simply ask for an initial meeting to discuss your ideas and plans. There are no guarantees that they’ll be interested enough in what you have to say (or your musical talent) to sign you on immediately but if they do like what they hear, then they may be able to help with funding later on.
It’s important not only not to be afraid of asking for meetings but also not too greedy with them either – don’t expect every meeting with someone new will lead directly into a record deal! If anything it’s more likely that being persistent will bring results faster than being quick-witted both because people tend not to take kindly towards being pestered as well as those who come across as too pushy during initial exchanges often lose credibility quickly so keep trying until one day someone says “yes!”
You should follow up with an email, text, or phone call if you don’t hear back straight away – but don’t bombard them with pestering messages every day! It’s important to be persistent but polite.