Q. How to better market your music?

[Royce2]

Has anyone been involved with promoting and/or creating music and then getting on platforms like Spotify? I am friends with a seriously talented singer and we need all the suggestions we can get.

Our goal: To market this music to the masses and make money without giving away equity or signing record deals.

It used to be completely impossible with the chokehold the label companies had not too long ago. But now thanks to TikTok, Youtube, Spotify, things are different and independent labels are popping off.

What we are currently doing:
Reaching out to major playlists on Spotify and paying our way into the top of the list.
Youtube music videos
tik tok campaigns with viral like videos.

If anyone who has experience or knows someone please let me know. All suggestions are welcome.





sk

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[StrikingViper69]

Check out Jessie Cannon on YouTube, he has some pretty good advice.

Depending on your genre, paying for playlists is counterproductive. When I paid to get my music on some, I got tons of streams quickly, but no-one "stuck around" after I was dropped from the playlist.

When I reached out to people on Facebook to go on their playlists, I got my songs on there for months, even over a year for some of them now. And some people are saving those songs to their personal playlists / library.

I would do the maths on what it takes to make even a semi decent income from music. The numbers are not good. Your friend may be talented, but the competition / noise is insane. He should think about something he can do that will give him a good income and not gamble everything on his music taking off.

 

[Royce2]

Check out Jessie Cannon on YouTube, he has some pretty good advice.

Depending on your genre, paying for playlists is counterproductive. When I paid to get my music on some, I got tons of streams quickly, but no-one "stuck around" after I was dropped from the playlist.

When I reached out to people on Facebook to go on their playlists, I got my songs on there for months, even over a year for some of them now. And some people are saving those songs to their personal playlists / library.

I would do the maths on what it takes to make even a semi decent income from music. The numbers are not good. Your friend may be talented, but the competition / noise is insane. He should think about something he can do that will give him a good income and not gamble everything on his music taking off.

Thank you for the advice! It is without question that music is not going to be the main income or even considered supplementary. But the talent is so raw that the idea is, share with the world and make sure you know how to make money off it.

 

[Royce2]

Also @SamRussell. Facebook?! I totally just read over that and didn't get to me until now. Facebook has playlists that people still listen to?? I just don't remember the last time I used Facebook and completely forgot that it has music!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[999michaelh]

I’m not a music guy but just an idea:

- commenting a lot on YouTube coukd get you free views? It’s not ideal but hey, I’ve seen a guy get a few hundred thousand views through this method. People get pissed when it’s a bad song but a lot of people are pleasantly surprised when it’s a banger(use this method at your own risk).

If it’s a great song I’m sure the algo would promote you even further

 

[Deleted85763]

Has anyone been involved with promoting and/or creating music and then getting on platforms like Spotify? I am friends with a seriously talented singer and we need all the suggestions we can get.

Our goal: To market this music to the masses and make money without giving away equity or signing record deals.

It used to be completely impossible with the chokehold the label companies had not too long ago. But now thanks to TikTok, Youtube, Spotify, things are different and independent labels are popping off.

What we are currently doing:
Reaching out to major playlists on Spotify and paying our way into the top of the list.
Youtube music videos
tik tok campaigns with viral like videos.

If anyone who has experience or knows someone please let me know. All suggestions are welcome.L





sk

That's great thinking. In todays world you don't need millions of fans; you just need enough to earn a living and more. Like 10,000 people who love your music and each time you release a song they all or most pay $1.00. You release 1 song a month, for example. If run like a well focused business you can do it. There are various platforms to sell your music.

I put out about 800 songs over several years and I have listeners in almost 150 countries. I'm in the US but many of my listeners are in the UK and Sweden. I have gotten emails from people in Finland and Germany asking for the lyrics. I was asked to appear in a film. I have received many compliments from people all over the world I have never met and frankly the sound quality of my music is not too good.

So you can get listeners and from there sales. Just treat it like a business, focus and build your brand. You never know where it may lead. Here's one site my music is on:

https://www.youtube.com/user/wisztrock

 

[GPM]

https://www.youtube.com/user/wisztrock

Wisztrock! I know that band!!

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Royce2]

I’m not a music guy but just an idea:

- commenting a lot on YouTube coukd get you free views? It’s not ideal but hey, I’ve seen a guy get a few hundred thousand views through this method. People get pissed when it’s a bad song but a lot of people are pleasantly surprised when it’s a banger(use this method at your own risk).

If it’s a great song I’m sure the algo would promote you even further

Thanks for the input! That reminds me of how Soulja Boy got famous, he was one of the pioneers of marketing their music on the internet. When limewire was a thing he used to upload his music under titles of already popular songs so that when people go to download a Britney spears song they got YOOOOO crank dat Soulja boy! Can’t be mad at the hustle I will admit.

 

[Royce2]

That's great thinking. In todays world you don't need millions of fans; you just need enough to earn a living and more. Like 10,000 people who love your music and each time you release a song they all or most pay $1.00. You release 1 song a month, for example. If run like a well focused business you can do it. There are various platforms to sell your music.

I put out about 800 songs over several years and I have listeners in almost 150 countries. I'm in the US but many of my listeners are in the UK and Sweden. I have gotten emails from people in Finland and Germany asking for the lyrics. I was asked to appear in a film. I have received many compliments from people all over the world I have never met and frankly the sound quality of my music is not too good.

So you can get listeners and from there sales. Just treat it like a business, focus and build your brand. You never know where it may lead. Here's one site my music is on:

https://www.youtube.com/user/wisztrock

Wow! That’s amazing!

 

[StrikingViper69]

That's great thinking. In todays world you don't need millions of fans; you just need enough to earn a living and more. Like 10,000 people who love your music and each time you release a song they all or most pay $1.00. You release 1 song a month, for example. If run like a well focused business you can do it. There are various platforms to sell your music.

I put out about 800 songs over several years and I have listeners in almost 150 countries. I'm in the US but many of my listeners are in the UK and Sweden. I have gotten emails from people in Finland and Germany asking for the lyrics. I was asked to appear in a film. I have received many compliments from people all over the world I have never met and frankly the sound quality of my music is not too good.

So you can get listeners and from there sales. Just treat it like a business, focus and build your brand. You never know where it may lead. Here's one site my music is on:

https://www.youtube.com/user/wisztrock

This is a nice idea and something the "music marketers" always use to sell their programs.

In reality, to get this level of people to buy a $1 song, you need 1million - 10million people actively following your work, at least.

EDIT: The most effective way is to play as many live shows as possible. That can lead to a following and getting on the lower rungs of the industry quite effectively (getting a booking agent, more shows, maybe a low level deal with a niche label), but turning it into a "fast lane" income will be chance as much as anything else, unless you're truly exceptional.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Deleted85763]

This is a nice idea and something the "music marketers" always use to sell their programs.

In reality, to get this level of people to buy a $1 song, you need 1million - 10million people actively following your work, at least.

EDIT: The most effective way is to play as many live shows as possible. That can lead to a following and getting on the lower rungs of the industry quite effectively (getting a booking agent, more shows, maybe a low level deal with a niche label), but turning it into a "fast lane" income will be chance as much as anything else, unless you're truly exceptional.

Maybe sell a song for like $.25. To earn $10,000.00 per month you would need 40,000 songs sold. The world has 8 billion people. So having 40,000 people pay a quarter a month is certainly possible with focus and effort. In todays world you don't need a "record label".

 

[StrikingViper69]

Maybe sell a song for like $.25. To earn $10,000.00 per month you would need 40,000 songs sold. The world has 8 billion people. So having 40,000 people pay a quarter a month is certainly possible with focus and effort. In todays world you don't need a "record label".

Again, these are all nice numbers and sound great, but to get 40,000 people to pay, you need a dedicated audience that is 100x (at least) bigger.

And if you have a dedicated audience of over 4 million people, selling an MP3 is probably at the bottom of your "to do" list.

And you won't get an audience that big by selling MP3s

 

[Deleted85763]

Again, these are all nice numbers and sound great, but to get 40,000 people to pay, you need a dedicated audience that is 100x (at least) bigger.

And if you have a dedicated audience of over 4 million people, selling an MP3 is probably at the bottom of your "to do" list.

And you won't get an audience that big by selling MP3s

No you don't. You only need 40,000 customers who will pay $.25 per month. Imagine instead of selling mp3's you sold a pair of shoes for $.25 per month. Would you need 100x more people interested in your shoes? No you would have millions interested and most buying a monthly subscription. To some people an artist songs are worth shoes. Those are the people you need and there's easily 40,000 people like that.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[StrikingViper69]

No you don't. You only need 40,000 customers who will pay $.25 per month. Imagine instead of selling mp3's you sold a pair of shoes for $.25 per month. Would you need 100x more people interested in your shoes? No you would have millions interested and most buying a monthly subscription. To some people an artist songs are worth shoes. Those are the people you need and there's easily 40,000 people like that.

Again, you're making up numbers.

Selling 40,000 downloads every month would make you a top 40 artist in most countries.

 

[Deleted85763]

Again, you're making up numbers.

Selling 40,000 downloads every month would make you a top 40 artist in most countries.

It's only an example of what is possible today, that was nearly impossible before the internet. The only thing that matters is profit, not the number of downloads. Anyone could get a million downloads in a month - if they gave everyone who downloaded their song say $10.00.