You’ve been making music in your bedroom for years, dabbled in putting tracks on Soundcloud and received a fair amount of traction whenever you did, but you never really knew how or if you’d ever get anywhere with your artistry moving forward. One day everything changed, you woke up with a new spice for life and decided to pursue a career in music. You’ve spent many nights dreaming about, but the question is, where to start? How do you begin when pitching yourself as a brand? What is music marketing and what is the integral intel into creating a successful and long-lasting career in the music industry?
There is no textbook way to kick-start a career in music, it is, by all means, situational but there are some bog standard initial first steps you can take to heighten your chances of having a successful career as an artist.
Music marketing isn’t about being the most vocal person on the internet. In fact, some of the most successful and respected artists have an essence of exclusivity when posting online, platforming quality, not quantity. When getting started, it’s all about getting all your best assets online; from music to mixes to video content of you performing. Look smart, understand your audience and don’t be scared to try new and exciting things. Platforms like Instagram, IGTV, Facebook and Twitter are ready to be used and abused for your artistry needs. Take advantage of all platforms and become savvy with the way that they work.
Make sure you know exactly who you are as an artist, what your sound is and then imagine you’d like to portray to the public. If you don’t have a healthy self-image and vision as to how you see yourself as a brand, you may get lost amongst the masses of artists attempting to break into the scene.
Marketing yourself can be a little cringe-worthy and sometimes a little off-key, especially if you either undermine yourself or consider yourself higher than your station. Make sure you’re realistic with your imaging. Ask friends or family what they think of your content so you can get a feel of how others view you and your work. Before you know it, you may find yourself in a position financially where you can hire a manager, an agent or someone to help run your social media. When done correctly, this can tighten up your artist persona online. Not only do they have your best interests at heart to make themselves money, but they also have an outsiders point of view of you as an artist. Always make sure you communicate accurately with the people you work with, the last thing you want is for them to subconsciously sabotage you through lack of experience. Before hiring anyone, become knowledgeable of their experience within the music industry and ask for examples of their work if possible.
Head over to our 10 Things You Can Do To Promote Yourself As A New Artist (hyperlink to other article) article to pick up 10 essential music marketing pointers.